Though intended to facilitate communication, open concept offices can sometimes feel like they do anything but that for people who hold conference calls in them. In today’s blog, we’ll be offering some tips for more effectively holding conference calls and improving productivity in offices that feature open floor plans.
As the name suggests, the open floor plan office is characterized by a lack of walls or partitions within the workspace. With no structural barriers between people and departments, open offices are supposed to promote collaboration and stoke creativity among workers. For this reason, many companies operating in creative and technology-oriented industries have adopted open concept offices for their workspaces. While many workers enjoy the more social, egalitarian work environment that open layouts foster, they can prove less-than-ideal in certain situations such as private meetings and conference calls.
If you’ve ever tried talking on the phone while in a noisy setting ( or have been on the other end of such a call) you know that it can be exceedingly difficult to hear and be heard. As result, you may feel the need to resort to shouting or communicating via text or email just to get your point across. With no walls or barriers to protect yourself against the ambient noise of your surroundings, holding conference calls in an open office environment can be downright frustrating.
If conference calling from a noisy environment ( such as a busy open office) you may want to mute your own line when you’re not speaking to avoid piping background music into your conference call. Of course, don’t forget to unmute yourself when you have something to say. The FreeConference telephone touch-tone keypad command for muting / un-muting your own line is *6.
Headsets, especially those of the noise-cancelling variety, are an excellent tool for negotiating conference calls in noisy offices. Headphones that block out ambient noise will make it easier to hear other callers while noise-cancelling microphones make it easier to be heard by filtering out sounds coming from your surroundings.
Finally, if taking part in an important business call, you may want to take advantage of conference call recording and transcription so you don't miss a single word! Even if background noise is making it difficult to hear during a call, you can rest easy knowing that you can go back and review a recording or transcription of your conference calls at a later ( and hopefully quieter) time.
In addition to audio recording and the ability to request professional verbatim transcription services, FreeConference now offers CUE™ automated transcription and video recording for its premium subscribers. Learn more about Smart Summaries or compare plans at FreeConference.com
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