The Plain English Campaign is an advocate for clear and concise communication, striving to rid the public of misleading propaganda and unnecessary business jargon. It has been helping businesses to improve the clarity of their communications since 1979.The straightforward attitude of The Plain English Campaign reminds business professionals that it is not about how you say something, it is about what you say. Therefore, ask yourself, how is your business jargon on professional conference calls? Are you using the correct terms, connecting with the listeners? Should your conference call lingo be put on hold or at least explained?

The Plain English Campaign advertizes a mission  “To get crystal clear information for people, giving them the power to use their democratic rights, and to make sure all public information is crystal clear and honest,” displaying devotion to the public and to honest, hard-working employees. Well, on behalf of the Plain English Campaign, I’m here to provide you with 10 common conference call terms, simplifying them for your conference call listening and participation.

Bridge: The equipment used to connect three or more telephone lines, allowing multiple parties to participate on the same phone call.

Leader/Moderator: The participant hosting the conference call, facilitating the conversation to be held.

Listen-only/Lecture Mode: One-way communication that enables participants to listen, but not speak, to others on the conference call. Only moderators can be heard. The feature is used to eliminate background noise.

Open Conference: All lines are open and callers can hear and interact with each other. The feature is most often used for smaller groups of participants since background noise will be less of an issue.

Passcode: A code used by moderators and participants to access the conference call.

Playback: A replay of your conference call.

Prompts: Voice guidance for a caller through a recorded bridge program.

Roll Call: The moderator learns how many callers are on the conference call, as well as their names and affiliations.

Telecommunications: Distant communications via a telephone.

Teleconference: Simply, another name for conference call – a meeting among remote parties via telephones and a bridge line.

As TMC’s (News - Alert) Tammy Wolf recently reported, many of us have taken part in a conference call, whether it’s for a meeting, presentation, or just a casual conversation among colleagues. Luckily, conferencing solutions provider, Eagle Conferencing, brings new and innovative ways to the table for today's competitive business environments and organizations to get the most of their meetings. So, before your next conferencing experience, study the simplified meanings of the above key conference call terms and read up on the latest tips provided by InterCall (News - Alert) University to get the most of your meetings.