As you host and participate in more and more conference calls, it is important to ensure they are both professional and productive. After the conference call, you want to feel that you accomplished your objectives and did not waste your time or the time of others. Following are several useful suggestions to help make your conference calls a success.

Before the Call

• Stay organized and be prepared for your conference call.

• Notify your participants of the date and time of the call.

• Communicate any items that need to be prepared prior to the meeting.

• Contact your conference provider about recording options and instructions if desired.

• Send the agenda to your participants.

• Be sure you are in a quiet location where you will not be disturbed and try to minimize background noise.

• Turn off call waiting, pagers and cell phones.

Starting the Call

• Be on time or early to your call.

• Begin your conference call in a timely manner with introductions and a review of the agenda.

• Introduce yourself when you speak and encourage others to do the same.

• Conduct a roll call so you know who is there.

• Briefly state the agenda.

• Do not put your phone on hold as this may put music into the conference and prevent others from continuing the meeting.

During the Call

• Keep your conference on track by engaging your participants and keeping them informed of upcoming tasks and meetings.

• Ask for feedback from specific participants instead of the entire group.

• Table any discussions that are not relevant to the agenda for a later time and place.

• Try to involve all of the participants in the discussion.

• Promptly deal with any noise or distractions by pressing *0 to request an InterCall operator.

• Summarize the issues discussed and recap any action items resulting from the call.

• Establish the day and time for the next conference call, if necessary.

• Electronic devices (such as Blackberries or cell phones and associated hands-free devices, laptops, etc.) can interfere with line quality if located too close to the phone. If possible, place such items a good distance away from the phone you are using for the conference call.

• If you are conducting back-to-back calls, make sure to disconnect your initial conference call line prior to dialing back in for the next call. (Failing to do so could produce a ‘flash hook’ scenario, which feeds a loud signal into the call.)

• When entering your conference code and leader PIN do not press the keys too quickly—this will enable the system to ‘read’ them most effectively.

• During an InterCall Operator Assisted Q&A session, participants should pick up their handsets to ask questions. This will ensure the best possible audio quality and volume from their lines.

• If you are conducting a call using a conference room phone, microphone or speakerphone, be aware of the location of the phone/microphone at all times and speak directly into the device to ensure the best possible audio quality and volume.

• If you are conducting an Operator Assisted call using a conference room phone, microphone or speakerphone, test the volume and line clarity with the operator prior to starting the call.