Conference Calls – Choosing the Best Conference Phone

There are a number of important factors to look at when choosing a conference phone to get the best quality from your conference calls.

First of all don’t just go out and buy the cheapest conference phone you can find. Do your research and make sure the phone you choose has everything required to meet your conference calling needs.

A conference phone is so much more than a phone with a speakerphone on it. You will find that speakerphones don’t offer anywhere near the same clarity that you get from a conference phone. For example, if there is going to be more than two people taking part in your conference calls you will want to make sure that the phone you choose provides 360-degree coverage to make sure everyone can be heard. Another important detail that you are likely to want is an echo/noise suppression feature to ensure background noise or feedback is kept to a minimum. Wireless is another option that is likely to be important for you to ensure maximum flexibility and range, although most decent conference phones will have the wireless feature.

One of the most important factors to consider for larger scale conference calls is the range of the conference phone. Many of the top end models will have coverage of anything up to 20ft or more. If you need more coverage than your phone offers you can look into a number of other options, such as extension microphones or two phones with the ability to sync together to increase coverage. If you want to have a natural two way conversation where you don’t have to wait for the other person to stop talking completely before you can chip in then make sure the conference phone you choose has full duplex technology, although these days most conference phones will have this feature.

So do your research and make sure all your conference calling needs are covered before choosing your conference phone. It’s not worth trying to save a little money by choosing a phone that doesn’t have every possible feature that’s needed, you will only regret it. You will be much better off in the long term by spending the money on a phone that meets all your requirements.

James King has been working in the business services industry for over 15 years. He enjoys writing about business, technology and especially conference call facilities.