How to Run Seamless Conference Calls in an Open Concept Office
Tips for Conference Calling in an Open Floor Plan Office
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.
Working in an Open Concept Office
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.
The Challenges of Conference Calls in Open Offices
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.
Tips for Holding Conference Calls [Successfully] in an Open Plan Office
Muting / Un-Muting as Needed
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.
Using a Headset
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.
Call Recording and Transcription
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.
Video Recording and CUE™ Smart Summaries now available at FreeConference.com
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
FreeConference.com the original free conference calling provider, giving you the freedom to choose how to connect to your meeting anywhere, anytime without obligation.
Create a free account today and experience free teleconferencing, download-free video, screen sharing, web conferencing and more.
Host a Free Conference Call or Video Conference, Starting Now!
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
FreeConference.com does not sell (as “sell” is traditionally defined) your personal information.
That is, we don’t provide your name, email address, or other personally identifiable information to third parties in exchange for money.
But under California law, sharing information for advertising purposes may be considered a “sale” of “personal information.” If you’ve visited our website within the past 12 months and you’ve seen ads, under California law personal information about you may have been “sold” to our advertising partners. California residents have the right to opt-out of the “sale” of personal information, and we’ve made it easy for anyone to stop the information transfers that might be considered such a “sale”. To do this you need to disable cookie tracking in this model.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
Additional Cookies
This website uses the following additional cookies:
Act-On
Facebook
Zoom Info
FullStory
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!