Make a Conference Call From Home

If you work from home and need to make a conference call, consider buying a speakerphone so your hands can be free to write or thumb through reports as applicable. It also allows you the freedom to move around and prevents accidental hang ups. Some people use their cell phone for conference calls. I don’t use mine because if the signal drops and I’m on an international call, I would be totally upset, so I opt for the landline. Follow these steps for a professional, business-like persona when you work at home and need to make a conference call.

1. Tell the family about the scheduled conference call. Conference calls are usually scheduled because they involve other people. Let the family know in advance that you will be using the phone for business for a certain period of time. They should instruct their friends to call them on their cell phones or to wait until after the conference call before calling for their chat.

2. Deactivate call waiting. Just before you make your call, deactivate call waiting by pressing *70 (check with your provider to make sure this is the appropriate code for you). Call waiting is such a common feature until most telephone providers include it in your plan for “free”. You can deactivate this feature to make sure your phone does not beep with incoming calls while you are on your conference call. Once the call is complete and you hang the phone up, call waiting typically resumes automatically.

3. Activate call forwarding. If you have another number (such as a cell phone), forward all of your calls to that number while you are on your conference call.

4. Use your telephone provider’s answering system. Some people uses their providers answering service so they can easily retrieve messages while traveling. Use this feature to pick up messages that might come in while you are on your call.

5. Disconnect extensions. Just in case somebody forgets you are using the phone, disconnect the phone line on the other extensions. If they pick up the phone unintentionally, they won’t interrupt you. The dead line will remind them about your conference call.