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How to Fix Bad or Poor Quality Conference Calls -- Some Common Issues and Remedies

Submitted by lees on Fri, 2013-05-10 12:12

Author: Lee Simonson

 

Here are several easy fixes to remedy poor quality conference calls.
 
1)  The biggest culprit these days involves VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone connections.  If you are using an Internet provider to give you phone service, that could be the problem.  Here's the fix:  Ask your Internet provider to boost your QoS (Quality of Service) setting to allocate additional bandwidth to your phones.  While digital and analog technologies are completely different, the higher the bandwidth setting on your phones, the better they will be able to match the quality of your landlines and cell phone connections.  However, please remember that it will be a long time before VOIP connections will be able to provide you the same quality as an old-fashioned fiber-optic landline connection.  VOIP service is less costly, but with telecommunications, you get what you pay for.
 
2)  Having a hard time getting into the conference because your passcodes aren't accepted?  That usually happens for two reasons.  First, you are inputting your passcode on a speaker phone.  Or again, you are on a low bandwidth VOIP connection.  The conference bridge is unable to detect the slightly different DTMF (tones) that it normally hears from a landline phone.  Increasing your bandwidth and boosting your QoS settings usually resolves the issue.
 
3)  If you are experiencing echoes in your call, makes sure that you eliminate "feedback" by having each caller in a separate room or location.  Another issue could be using a conference speaker phone that "hears" itself from another nearby phone.  99% of the time, echoes or weird noises are not the fault of the conference bridge.  The problem is with the signals the conference bridge is receiving from those who are calling in.
 
4)  Are you hearing static?  It could happen when your lines get physically wet after a rain storm.  Or it could be a loose phone cord somewhere and an issue with a cordless phone.  Believe it or not, there was situation where a squirrel has started chewing through some outside phone lines and caused considerable static.  A call to your phone service provider might be necessary to check your lines.
 
5)  There are times when a conference participant will have a bad cell phone connection.  They could be in a bad reception area, or get cut off if traveling through a deadzone.   A conference bridge will only pass along what it hears, and if there is a bad connection, a moderator can "mute" the call so that it doesn't contaminate the entire conference.  The highest quality can be achieved when all your hosts, or moderators, use landlines and then the conference is placed in "lecture mode."  That will instantly silence all your of your participants and any background noise that they are inadvertently passing along to the whole conference.  Your hosts will be able to converse while your participants listen.  Of course, you can toggle out of lecture mode anytime you want to enable everyone in the conference to participate in the discussion. 
 
At 24Conference.com, we continue to strive to provide you the highest quality conference calls available.  We use the latest technology and are constantly upgrading and improving our systems to bring you reliable, steady and dependable service.  If you are having conference quality problems, give us a call at 877-254-2424 and we'll do our best to help you.  You have nothing to lose by trying us out, and maybe you'll discover what a conference call SHOULD sound like.

Is VOIP the Answer? Not Yet Anyway.

Submitted by xpedite on Tue, 2009-05-12 08:07

Author: Lee Simonson

I've talked before about the potential issues involving VOIP -- or Voice Over Internet Protocol for phone call conferencing.  Simply, it's talking over the Internet.  Hundreds of thousands of businesses and organizations are turning to VOIP to cut telecommunication expenses.  However, please be warned.  There's another price to be paid and that involves quality and bandwidth.

Conference calls can deteriorate quickly if someone calls into the bridge using a VOIP connection.  Yes, we do have special conference bridges that are "VOIP friendly," but even then, you can experience some problems.

But don't take my word for it.  Here's a great article from an expert you should read that tells the whole story -- the good, the bad and the ugly.

I think he does a very good job of giving real life examples of what happens when you switch to this new evolving technology.  Someday it might work perfectly, but for now, it has a way to go.  Check it out.