How to Choose an iPhone Audio Conferencing App: Top 5 Features to Look For
Audio conferencing is one of those vital business services where appearances are deceiving. Most services use outdated equipment with features that haven’t improved in a decade or more. More than a dozen services now offer iPhone apps, but most are little more than a web page tied to an old device. The lure is usually some form of “free conference calling.” Many simply arbitrate local access numbers, essentially using participants’ iPhones as roaming devices to find local numbers and avoid free call charges. While interesting, this approach has many moving parts and places the burden of connecting conference calls on the users themselves. The hidden costs of these “free” minutes are incalculable.
iPhone users should look for the following five (5) features in their audio conferencing app:
1. Call now!
This feature allows you to set up a conference call by simply selecting participants from your Contacts and tapping Call Now! For the first time in 30 years of audio conferencing, a conference call can be initiated without having to send PINs and dial-in numbers; participants are called directly. For example, your partners will be meeting over the weekend on an important project and need to go over the latest drafts right now; there’s no time to schedule a conventional audio conference.
2. i-Integration
A well-designed iPhone audio conferencing app will be a seamless integration of the power of the iPhone with the service itself. Two obvious connections are the selection of contacts from your iPhone’s Contacts and the automatic integration of your scheduled calls with your iPhone’s Calendar. Apps that don’t fully integrate native iPhone features are poorly engineered and should be avoided. For example, the calendar reminder should allow you to simply click on the dial number and enter the PIN automatically.
3. Lots of PINs
Many/most audio conferencing services offer only a “find me” PIN that you can reuse. However, users are forced to use the same PIN over and over again for different groups and topics. Each use of your unique PIN increases the risk of compromise where the wrong people dial into your conference call without your permission, simply because they had your PIN from a previous call. A well-designed iPhone audio conferencing app will allow you to manage multiple PINs. For example, a member of the media who participated in her conference call last month should not be able to secretly call into her confidential board meeting about the planned merger. This happens more often than might be expected when users of single PIN systems are busy.
4.Web 2.0
Web 2.0 audio conferencing brings many data-related services to the game. Simple, conventional audio conferencing is tied to the physical switch that connects the call. On the other hand, Web 2.0 conference calls allow you to manage your call in various ways depending on your requirements. User conveniences such as account management, call management, group contact lists, call reports, and call histories are the types of data-related services that differentiate Web 2.0 from the conventional Your iPhone audio conferencing application must seamlessly integrate a powerful user experience with the power of the global telecommunications network.
5.Privacy
Your iPhone app should give you privacy options, as not all conference calls have the same requirements. Some calls are public in nature, such as a community organization, while others are sensitive. Your iPhone app should give you the option of a single PIN or dual PIN conference. Single PIN conferencing can be used when privacy is not as important, or when a host does not need to be present to initiate a call, while dual PIN conferencing can be used for subject privacy concerns. You may want to use some PINs over and over again, while others will be used only once and then deleted. Your iPhone audio conferencing app should allow you to manage the privacy of your conference calls easily and flexibly.
Historically, audio conferencing clients have had few feature options other than “plain vanilla.” Selecting the right audio conferencing app for iPhone can greatly improve your productivity.
For more information, please Google “Web 2.0 Audio Conferencing”.
© Copyright 2011. Leader Phone® and Michael McKibben. All rights reserved.