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Aptela Knowledge Base » Key Features » Conferencing » Conference Organizers and Users Guide

Conference Organizers and Users Guide

Aptela Conferencing allows organizers to host conference bridges, enabling multiple callers and/or account users to join a conference call.  This feature is useful for companies who need to host meetings amongst multiple people via phone calls.  It is also recommended for companies who enjoy the advantages of hosting conference bridges via a single service provider.

It is important that conference organizers and users use the product as intended.  Doing so can help increase productivity for all participants joining the conference bridge.


CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS
The conference organizer is the one hosting the conference.  This person would select which conference (department) to use, and would provide the any required access information to the participants joining the conference.

Responsibilities of Conference Organizers:
1.   Send each participant a notification for the conference bridge, including:
    • The date and time of the conference
    • Your company's phone number (this is for participants who are not part of the Aptela account)
    • Any required access information:
      • Provide the conference (department) extension number if the "conference" call tree menu option is set to "Caller Selectable"
      • Provide the PIN if the "Use conference PIN" is checked in the department. Note: only the Account Operator can view if this box is checked or enable and disable the setting.
      • If neither the call tree menu option is not set to "Caller Selectable," nor the PIN marked as required, the participants will automatically be connected to the bridge.  No access information is needed.
2.   Join the bridge prior to your participants' arrival
3.   Read the "additional notes for conference organizers" to understand how not to use the product (see below notes).
4.   Read the "expectations on entering and existing conference calls" to understand what happens when callers enter and exit the bridge (see final section on this page).  We suggest organizers share this information with their participants as other conference bridges may alert callers upon their entering and exiting the bridge.


Joining the conference:
Organizers should always be the first one to join the conference to greet other joining participants.

Organizers can either join a conference via the phone or via the web portal.  To learn how to join via phone, click here*.  To learn how to join via the web portal, click here.
*Note the important instructions on how to join via your SIP (desk) phone.


Additional Notes for Conference Organizers:
  • There is no reporting system to notify you of the participants on the call
  • The Conferencing product is not designed to work with:
    • Aptela's virtual transfer feature (## Menu)
    • Aptela's Call Recording feature
    • The following hardware buttons on your SIP (desk) phone: Forward, Transfer, Do Not Disturb
  • Know how your "conference" call tree menu option is setup prior to organizing the conference to verify if the extension number is required to access the bridge
  • Know if a PIN is required in order for participants to access the bridge.  Note: only the Account Operator can view if this box is checked or enable and disable the setting.
  • If you would like to secure each bridge and have each participant enter access information (e.g. a PIN), the Account Operator must check the "Use conference PIN" option in the department.  We recommend that a new PIN be assigned for every new bridge.  To learn how to enable or disable the PIN requirement, click here and scroll down to "Choose whether to require a PIN in order for participants to join a bridge" section.

CONFERENCE USERS/PARTICIPANTS
Conference users are the participants who will join the bridge hosted by the conference organizer.  Depending on how the bridge is setup, participants may need access information in order to join the bridge.  If access information is required, organizers must provide it to each participant.

Joining the conference
Participants can either be part of the Aptela account or not.  Depending on their association to the Aptela account, the method of joining the bridge will vary.

Aptela users can join a bridge either via phone or web portal
To learn how to join via phone click here*.  To learn how join via the web portal, click here.
*Note the important instructions on how to join via your SIP (desk) phone.

Participants not part of the Aptela account
Participants not part of the Aptela account can only join by calling the company's main phone number.  Click here for instructionss and scroll to the "Participants not part of the Aptela account" section.



ENTERING AND EXITING CONFERENCE CALLS

  • When entering the call:
    • Callers will not hear a chime when entering the bridge
    • Callers will not be prompted to state their name
    • Callers will not be alerted to the quantity of callers already on the call
    • Joining parties will not be introduced to callers already on the call
  • When exiting (ending) the conference call:
    • The organizer must announce when the call is finished
    • The call will not announce when other callers exit the call
    • The call will remain in progress if all callers do not hang up

 
Related Articles:
Getting Started with Aptela Conferncing
User Guides

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