How Do I Connect Participants in ‘Farawayistan’ to my Conference Call?

Business is conducted on a global basis.

In response to this reality ZipDX has created a network of local access lines in 60 countries.

The network continues to grow as we see new demand for local access. For example, we recently added a toll-free access line in the Philippines.

Even so, there are times when a conference organizer is faced with the challenge of connecting participants in a far-off place where there is no local access line.

What follows are some strategies for connecting those most remote participants.

They Call ZipDX

If there’s no local access line, and the participant must dial-in to join the conference, they will be incurring the bulk of the cost of their participation in the call. Since telephone calling plans vary widely around the world it helps to have some options to consider.

The US Access Line

In many countries calling to the US is inexpensive.

If the remote participant is willing to incur the international long distance they can always call our US non-toll-free number, which is:

• +1 214 416 0400.

A Nearby International Access Line

Alternatively, the remote participant could resort to calling our nearest international access line.

For example, a participant in Guatemala might connect via one of our our access lines in Mexico or El Salvador. Similarly, a participant in Zimbabwe might take advantage of the access line in South Africa.

When selecting a nearby access line it’s important that they opt for one that is not a toll-free number. Toll-free numbers can only be dialed from in-country.

Have ZipDX Call Them

By far the most practical approach is to have ZipDX call them. We can call literally anywhere in the world, so reaching out to them is no problem at all. Of course, there’s more than one way dial out to a far off participant.

Automatically

The distant participant can be registered with ZipDX. This gives them a profile in the system, which may contain one ore more telephone numbers. If the Call-Me property is allowed for one or more phone numbers the system will automatically call them at conference time.

When the participant answers the call from ZipDX they hear a prompt saying,”This is ZipDX with a conference call for [their name]. Press 1 to accept this call.”

Hopefully they hear and understand the prompt, pressing 1 to actually join the conference. If there’s a chance that they won’t understand the automated prompt another approach many be necessary.

Host Dial Out

The host can use the conference dashboard to dial out to a distant participant. The fact that a human handles this process allows greater flexibility to handle the situation if the call reaches a receptionist, family member, or the participant doesn’t understand English.

The process of using the dashboard to performing Host Dial Out was described in a previous blog post.

It can also be done using just a telephone keypad, which was also detailed previously.

Dial Out Costs

Calling out to a very remote participant is often the most cost-effective approach to take. The cost of the call is incurred by the conference organizer. While calls to many places are charged at our base rate, it’s worth noting that calling outside of North America or Western Europe may carry a surcharge.

Further, outside of North America it’s very common that calls to mobile phones cost more than calls to land-lines. Of course, land lines are preferred solely on the basis of their superior call quality.

Plan Ahead To Avoid Surprises

Whatever strategy you choose, it’s best to plan ahead to ensure that your conference happens in a productive manner. You don’t want to keep a group waiting while a key participant struggles, or even fails to get connected.

In some countries phone companies restrict long distance, international or toll-free calling. This is especially true of mobile carriers.

If your most remote participants are going to call in to ZipDX ask them to try making a brief test call in advance. Even if they simply connect and hear our recorded greeting they will have confirmed that they can successfully make the call from that telephone.

If they find that they cannot place the call from any phone available to them you will know that you must have ZipDX dial out to them.

Questions?

If you have questions about any aspect of ZipDX please contact our support team at:

• 1-888-947-3955,
• Or, +1-312-348-8175,
• Or, email support@zipdx.com.

We’re here to help you get down to business.