As TMC’s (News - Alert) Tammy Wolf touched on in a recent article, conference calls can go awry, and most often, it’s because the individuals involved are unfamiliar with the unspoken rules that come along with any call involving a large number of people. Other times, it’s technical and IT has to step in, putting the conference call, and the tasks at hand, at a standstill. And, let’s not forget the host, who wants to be focused on the agenda at hand, but is bogged down by the end-to-end process of running a conference call.

The bottom line is, a conference call has the tendency to be annoying, boring and a big waste of time without appropriate energy, organized agenda, or strong moderator – and many in the corporate world can relate, as seen in this video in which comedian Dave Grady puts a hilarious, lighthearted spin on the topic during the recent Citizen’s Bank Employee Talent Show. To an obviously humored audience, Grady performs a parody by serving as the “moderator” of what a conference call can entail – filled with interruptions by individuals randomly entering the meeting. 

Although humorous in Grady’s parody, conferencing frustrations remain and TMC’s Group Editorial Directory, Erik Linask (News - Alert), reached out to Ring2 co-CEO, Steve Flavell, to receive some insight on how Ring2’s conferencing solutions could help reduce some of these engrained annoyances or frustrations. Flavell expressed, “In the world of audio and web conferencing, including online meetings, trying to make that everyday online conferencing experience a better experience is about trying to move past engrained annoyances.” 

Ring2 thinks of the conferencing experience from end-to-end. There are so many engrained frustrations when it comes to moving through the flow of the conferencing experience, and the way to resolve these frustrations is to start by recognizing what people do today.

Ring2's solution overcomes common end-to-end process with simple applications for Outlook, smartphones and the Web, enhancing visibility, security and control to the user experience. As soon as the host's first invited guest joins the conference, they receive a 'Call Start Alert' to both their smartphone and desktop. With just a click from this alert, they can see a real-time dashboard of their guests joining. From here, the host can easily see who's speaking at any given moment, add missing participants, mute background noise, record the call and assign billing codes to the conference.

Many may not realize a mobile app is the solution to their problem, but once tested, the user realizes that all their problems are solved at the first sign of the Call Start Alert.