Today, your company holds a conference call with 25 people. Tomorrow, it’s a group of 250. Hopefully, you’re using a call provider who can cover both of those.
But what about that quarterly review of 500 just around the corner? Or the 1,000 person, all-hands call at the end of the year?
You might expect most conferencing providers can cover your call capacity, no matter how big your call gets. Fact is, every provider is dependent upon the technology they have. Their exchange and gateway. Their servers. Their mixers. They have to ensure those systems are configured to meet the needs of a large call. Carrying these calls also requires advanced software utilizing an efficient codec.
The right investment in infrastructure is a minimum requirement to achieve large calls.
Unfortunately, not every provider can assure system configurations for calls that soar into the thousands.
When we surveyed a group of providers, we found that only 50% could cover organizations that have calls of 1,000 people or more. Now, some of these companies can still cover calls of the size noted above – but only at an additional cost.
MeetingOne recognizes that many organizations need flexibility and scalability for calls. And we don’t throw asterisks on our offerings.
MeetingOne has a range of customers who have differing conferencing needs.
Some hold highly confidential group calls. They only need audio rooms for 12-25 seats. Another organization we work with facilitates large conference calls between the various hospitals on a regular basis. These calls require, minimally, a thousand lines be available.
That’s quite the range. And we have to cover everything in between. So, how do we manage these huge variations in call capacity? Let’s explore.
While I don’t want to say too much, our team has developed configurations that allow for thousands (not one, not two, not three…) of attendees to join calls.
Typically, our audio rooms are outfitted to cover 150 callers. This number was based upon an understanding of our customers’ most common needs.
Don’t think that means your company is limited to 150 callers at any one time. MeetingOne users can create a nearly unlimited number of audio rooms. So, you could have dozens of calls going on at the same time, all hitting that 150 mark, and there would be no issue!
But our service doesn’t end there. Like I just mentioned, we have clients who need to host calls with thousands. We simply coordinate with them (just 48 hours notice is needed), then we take the steps required to assure our systems are configured to cover the number of callers they have. We do this at no additional cost.
That’s what makes MeetingOne different. We have the flexibility to scale up to meet call capacity needs of any size.
Scaling up for calls is a terrific way to help organizations manage their various gatherings. But large calls need to be well managed. To some extent, you want attendees to feel they can engage and participate. Yet, you don’t want your call to become an exercise in herding cats.
We’re well aware of this complexity. Engagement is critical for meetings regardless of the medium (in-person, online, or over the phone). It translates to better retention of information. It encourages teams to be more active in their organization. It sustains the idea that everyone’s voice counts. But on calls, you can’t just un-mute 1,000 attendees. That’s like opening Pandora’s box.
So, we’ve taken two steps to help callers manage these large events.
First of all, we offer a free tool for managing calls, Click&Meet.
Click&Meet provides an interface that allows you to “see the call” as it happens. Attendees are represented by avatars, and call commands can be enacted by clicking icons – no more need to punch them into your phone dial-pad.
Rather than having to mute and un-mute all callers, with Click&Meet you can select just a few who need to have access to the line. But this doesn’t mean participants will be entirely unable to participate.
Click&Meet features a “Floor Request Mode” which allows callers to participate in Q&As. Click&Meet also offers voting functionality. Callers can respond by punching in a number in their phone.
To ensure the calls run well, MeetingOne also provides call moderators who can help you produce large conference calls.
These moderators manage the technical aspects of the calls, like audio quality and call connections. In turn, this gives call hosts and speakers greater opportunity to focus on engaging these large audiences.
In the long run, it’s this type of conference call solution – scalable offerings, effective call tools, and production services – that is essential to organizations that host calls of various sizes. Especially those who need to increase call capacity into the thousands.
Make sure your organization has the flexibility to scale calls from small group discussions to all-hands talks. Not every provider can configure their call system to be flexible enough to scale up as needed. Or, it costs a pretty penny.
MeetingOne has your back! Not only does our conference call solution provide you the flexibility to scale up calls, we give you a great tool to engage and manage callers. Our moderators cover the technical components so you can focus on hosting a great meeting.
That’s how we meet our customers’ needs: By being solution oriented. It’s about the right call capacity, plus a terrific management tool, paired with the support needed to hold conference calls of any size.
One Cherry Center
501 S. Cherry St., Suite 215
Denver, CO 80246 USA
Toll Free: 1-866-523-1137
Local: (303) 623-2530
Fax: (303) 623-1294
450 rue Baden Powell
34000 Montpellier
France
Tél: +33 (0) 1 84 88 01 67
