Audio Teleconference

Imagine a conference call in which a virtually unlimited number of individuals, calling from an unlimited number of sites throughout the world, can meet within a few moments.

Today's audio teleconference enables sales people and customers to participate from air or car phones, while management joins in from different departments at the main or branch offices. The meeting can begin with a large group, break into smaller discussions and regroup latter. And transcriptions of the conferences can be made.

The teleconference has moved well beyond the three-way or multi-line feature offered by most telephone systems. Nor is it the conventional, operator-assisted conference call. In both cases, the line quality begins to deteriorate when more than about five sites are connected. The extraordinary capacity and clarity of today's teleconference is the result of the audio bridge. This electronic device, like a computer, connects any number of telephone lines and adds special features and dialing options.

The bridge automatically adjusts the quality of each participating line; its value is evident during international calls, when the adjustment usually improves line quality. Most bridges allow the parties to dial in by themselves or to be called by an operator. Multisite conferencing started in the 1980s, but the practice didn't receive widespread acceptance until the '90s.

"Early bridge technology was not as sophisticated as it is now. Words were clipped, the level of interaction was limited and there was an echo," explains Rick Riviere, president of Conference Plus Inc., a teleconferencing services based in Oswego. Today, the audio bridge is efficient, and its use is limited only by one's imagination, business and training needs and the desire to save travel time and money. The bridge (or the service it provides) could become as universal a business tool as the fax. But first, prospective users must overcome their initial reticence about the technology. Participants usually wonder what it will feel like not to see others in the meeting. Or they worry that everyone will talk at the same time, or that they will be unable to hear the other conferees.

"Participants tend to be shy at first and worry about cutting in or being heard. But within 15 minutes of their first experience, they're comfortable with this new way of meeting," says Nancy Kouri, manager of the teletraining program and computer support hotline of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Johnston, Iowa-based seed company. "For our much larger teletraining courses, we suggest a test run the day before to explain teleconference etiquette to students."

At First National Bank, "at least a dozen department use (audio teleconferencing) regularly," says communications associate Mike Smith.

"One department uses it for semimonthly sales meetings, which include seven sites with two to six participants at each site. The conference updates regional offices on new product lines and allows them to share information without having to travel or write memos," Mr. Smith says. "(Participants) like the idea of this immediacy, and the only problem is when the sound is occasionally unclear."

Although the audio bridge can be purchased, "users might want to start out by using commercial bridging services, which offer time on their bridges for a fee," says Virginia A. Ostendorf, an independent conferencing consultant based in Littleton, Colo.

Ms. Ostendorf produces the Matrix of Bridging Service Options, the only list of commercial and non-profit bridging services in the country, which provides objective guidelines for comparing services and equipment.