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What are the Best Audio Conferencing Options for VoIP?

Business VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has made audio conferencing easier than it has ever been. Of course, audio conferencing has long been available over the standard public switched telephone network (PSTN), but on a limited basis, usually at substantial additional cost, and sometimes requiring third-party assistance to complete.

Business VoIP has made audio conferencing much easier, and many business VoIP offerings include this, along with many other sophisticated features, as a standard option. For larger conferences, many businesses prefer to use the services of a hosted audio conference company; these services offer several convenient options that require very little in terms of set-up. The most useful options include for example, the ability to offer a single call-in number for all participants, an auto-announcement to tell the group who has just joined or left the conversation, and the ability to denote certain participants as "listen only".

Hosted PBX or on premises IP PBX - Does it matter?

A hosted service is useful and convenient but some larger companies with an IP PBX on premises may take advantage of the built-in features of their on-premises equipment. Many modern IP PBXes include audio conferencing facilities so that the audio conference can be directed, conducted, and hosted in-house. Similarly, those businesses that use a hosted IP PBX will also often have access to easy audio conferencing facilities. In the case of on-premises IP PBX, a separate audio conferencing hardware attachment is connected to the IP PBX to enable the audio conference. Internally, audio conferences with members of the same exchange can be easily facilitated just by dialing them in; external participants can also be patched in assuming that the IP PBX is connected to the public switched telephone network with either a PRI or SIP server.

Some of the hosted services require advance reservations to schedule a conference; however, for companies that have a need for more frequent, impromptu multi-party audio conferences, a reservationless system will be more appropriate to allow for ad hoc meetings. Another desirable feature to look for is call recording. This can be especially useful for recording business meeting minutes for later use, or for cases where precise wording will prove important later on. The recording facility, and ability to subsequently play back a conference on demand, is also often very useful for presentation-type meetings such as stockholder presentations.

Other desirable features to watch for include the ability to dedicate a portion of the call to a broadcast-only presentation, followed by a participatory session such as a group Q&A. In most cases, the ability to join a conference by entering a passcode, without the assistance of an operator, is desirable, although in some cases an operator-assisted audio conference may be preferred. This may be more desirable if for example, there is a large group participating and a third party is needed to conduct polls, or facilitate a group Q&A discussion. In the latter case, the operator acts as a sort of "traffic cop" to make sure everyone who wants to ask a question gets a spot in the queue.

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