Part 3/5
Last week we advised you to always ask about the conference call infrastructure used by a service provider. Today’s topic addresses how to access an international conference call. Most participants use a regular telephone or mobile phone to dial-into any conference call. Accessing your conference call from within the US and Canada is simple and straightforward. But…
Don’t Assume International Access is Easy.
Some international mobile service providers restrict access to toll-free numbers. There is no way to be 100% sure every participant on a mobile phone will be able to reach every toll-free access number. The best way is a try a test call and listen for the conference greeting message. The mobile service provider may remove the restriction if requested. A mobile service provider may also charge their customer a per minute premium for calling a toll-free number.
Hotels and pay phones may also block access to toll-free numbers to protect the revenue obtained from long distance charges.
To help address these access issues, many international conference call providers give toll (local dial) access numbers along with toll-free numbers to ensure alternate access is available.
There are also country-specific issues. Some telephone numbers are only accessible from some areas within a country. For telecommunications purposes, China is divided into north and south and may have different access numbers for each. Both India and the Russian Federation have restrictions on dialing telephone numbers that are based on where you are and the telecom network being used.
Most conference service providers will advise you of known access issues and work with you to address anything unexpected. For onConference, remember you can always press *0 to request live Operator assistance during a conference call. Contact our Conference Call Support Center (all hours) at 1.800.804.8608 or +1.514.282.4047.
Questions to ask:
Watch for the next blog post: Select support that never sleeps.
