Conference Telephones - Why They Are Better Than Speaker Phones

Don't conference on a speaker phone - use the real thing

You may think that you have a perfectly good speaker phone on your desk to use for conferences but is it really that good? If you ask the other people in the room or those on the end of the phone, they would probably say NO! Speaker phones on your telephone have a limited ability to produce good sound quality at both ends.

Speaker phones just give you part of conversation

With your normal speakerphone surely you have noticed that you lose some words due to clipping on the telephone line. It momentarily cuts off when the other person starts speaking. Sometimes even entire sentences can go missing during the call. If you end up spending more time trying to figure out what someone has said, you risk misunderstanding them. This isn't very professional. Good communication means that you need to hear each other clearly and speakerphones do not promote clear two-way speech and you end up having to compensate for missed words. Small cost effective conference phones are worth their weight in gold, especially those which connect to your mobile phone with Bluetooth and desk phone. You can use them virtually anywhere. They're pretty competitively priced nowadays and you soon get your money back in better communication and less travel time for meetings. With a conference phone you can hear the other person talking even when you are talking.

Why use a conference phone?

- If someone is out of town you don't have to miss your meeting - just conference them in and keep to your planned timetable
- They help promote group communication in your organisation - more people can receive clearer communication - they'll understand more
- If you are dealing with customers or clients, it's simply more professional
- It is a fast and easy way to bring small or large groups together with little equipment; and preparation for the same cost the phone call
- Sometimes it is better to talk to people rather than do group emails. Your audience will be able to clarify things and ask questions. They may not bother to ask in an email
- The cost of a conference phone far outweighs the cost of travel and amount of time saved
- be conscientious; conferencing is better for the environment than travel

Don't conference on a speaker phone - Conference on a conference phone

Author: Lisa Wall - Marketing Manager at Cackle Telecommunications Ltd
http://www.cackle.co.nz

Cackle is a supplier and distributor of conference phones, headsets for telephones and computers, voice recording units and analogue telephones within New Zealand. We're the experts at what we do in New Zealand and we have many happy customers. We're also very friendly and helpful. Call us if you have any questions. It's free in New Zealand.

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