Ensuring the success of your ReadyConference^® Plus conference calls is easy. Simply follow these tips and hints for a more successful unattended audio conference:

• Disseminate your conference information appropriately. Ensure that the correct dial-in information is relayed to your participants and hosts/presenters/speakers. If you have been given specific dial-in numbers and passcodes for your participants, and different ones for your hosts/presenters/speakers, please make sure the correct information goes to the appropriate people. 
• Limit the number of hosts/presenters/speakers you invite. Too many people in the call with access to host features can create chaos and disruption. 
• We do not recommend using Skype or other native VoIP technology with our automated audio conferencing. The DTMF tones critical to our equipment’s ability to recognize which conference you are attempting to join are often incompletely delivered using Skype, resulting in an invalid passcode message when you are attempting to join the conference.
• International callers experiencing an invalid passcode message when joining your conference should contact support at 719-785-4947 to be connected to the conference.
  • As the host, you may dial out to that participant if International dial-out is available on your account. To find out if you have this service enabled, please chat live with a reservation agent in Reservations Account and Setup.
• Telephone handsets almost always have better sound characteristics than speaker phones and headsets. If you need to use a headset, make sure it is a quality headset. Any audio defects you would hear normally when using your audio equipment will feed into your audio conference. For best audio quality and sustained connectivity to the conference, please do not use your cell phone.
• Calls can be accessed from any location; however, it needs to be a quiet spot. If you have multiple lines on your phone and can disable the ring from the other line, please do so. Posting an "On the Air" sign on your office door will prevent inadvertent interruptions. If you are holding your conference from home, take the call in a closed door environment where callers will not hear your dogs barking, your children crying, your door bell ringing, etc.
• When using ReadyConference Plus audio, minimize ambient and background noise into the conference from your participant lines by muting all lines in the conference using *96. Remind participants to use *6 to un-mute if they need to speak.
• Turn off all cell phones and other electronic devices not in use. Certain types of cell phones can create disruptive feedback into a conference as they search for a signal. This feedback is most acutely heard when the cell phone is placed near your phone or computer monitors.
• Always begin and end your conference on time.
• If you need to step away from the call for any reason, DO NOT put your line on hold. Doing so may feed on-hold music into the entire conference.
• Paper can make a lot of noise. If you are using paper charts to assist your delivery, slide the top page off the stack when you need to go to the next chart instead of turning it. If you are following on a PC screen, turn off your sound so that message alerts from your system don't come through into the conference.
• Keep table-level noise to a minimum: typing, shuffling papers, tapping fingers etc. can all be magnified by the microphone and are distracting to remote callers.
• Voice modulation is especially important in this type of venue. Where you can naturally do so, modify the pace of your delivery. Perhaps slightly slow down to emphasize a particular chart or point on a chart. Slightly increase the pitch or timbre of your voice occasionally to keep callers engaged. 
• If your call is set up for replay or archived for several months, references to a relative date ("yesterday's announcement of ...."), or time of day ("Good morning  ... "), etc. can be confusing. Try to avoid using them.
   

If you have chosen a web component, please view related topics for our tips for using web conferencing.