TelePacific Monthly

The conference call: bane of some people’s existence and a lifeline for others. It’s one of the first tools that brought people in different locations together for business or fun (hey, some people think planning a camping/fishing trip is fun). A conference call is a useful tool with many benefits and reasons to use it. Some of those reasons are business-related...and some of those reasons may be related to a desire not to actually meet in person. Why would you not want to meet in person, you ask? Hmmm...maybe we can think of some reasons on both fronts:

1. You didn’t make it to the dry cleaner last night, nor have you had time to do laundry this week, so you’re working from home in your sweats.
2. You prefer an easy-to-use phone system to a complicated trip to a far away office with confusing directions and lots of gas usage.
3. You had a really tasty—but really stinky—garlic cheesesteak sandwich for lunch and you’d like the customer to still be your customer after the meeting.
4. You like having an 800-number available for your use anytime, anywhere.
5. You’re having a bad hair day.
6. You’re having a bad hair week.
7. You’re having a bad hair month. (Hey, it’s possible)
8. You’ve only had email communication with your customer, who seems to think you’re a man when you’re actually a woman (thanks for naming me Sam, mom and dad) and you don’t want to embarrass them...or give them a heart attack.
9. You like being able to record the conference call to play it back later.
10. You like that your recording is available one hour after your call and is there for 30 days.
11. You forgot about a call with your office until you were on the way home from the gym, but you can call in and participate without showing up all sweaty and sticky.
12. You can set up a conference call on the fly...anytime, anywhere.
13. You’d rather call in than show up after a filling at the dentist. It takes a long time for Novocain to wear off and you don’t want to be mocked by co-workers.
14. You can set up a conference call on the fly...anytime, anywhere.
15. You had a breakfast burrito with hot sauce and burned your mouth...not a pretty sight.
16. You like having technical support people available 24/7 in case you run into problems with a conference call. Not likely since it’s easy to use, but just in case.