By definition, telephone conference calling is simply where the person initiating the call would have more than one person on the line, either listening or interacting/conversing. In reality, understanding conference calling can actually become a bit more cumbersome due to all the different terminologies being used. With an abundance of terms floating around, a lot of folks feel overwhelmed and confused at the mere thought of facilitating a conference call. Telephone conference calling can be referred to as:

• Three-Way Calling
• Polycom Call
• Audio Conference, Audio Tele-Conference (ATC) or Teleconference

These are just to name a few and each of these terms have some sort distinction!

Telephone Conference Calling 101

Three-way calling is commonly made available from telephone service providers to their clients for an additional fee on top of their existing home or business phone line charges. When you opt to subscribe to such a service, you are provided the ability to call two additional parties. The standard process is typically where you (as the calling party or host of the call) dial the first guest and get them on the line with you. Then you would press the “flash” button on your phone and dial the second guest phone number- as you hear the ringing, you would press the flash button again and as the second guest answers, all three of you would be connected. A great option to use if you are in the middle of an important call with someone and realize that the input of an additional guest would tie up loose ends.

A Polycom Call is characteristically where there is a piece of telephony equipment set up in a board room or office and people gather around and speak and/or listen to others connected- either another group of people (on another polycom phone) or another person (on a regular phone). Polycom, Inc. is actually a company founded in 1990, which specializes in voice, video and data solutions for business communication. Their flagship product offering is called the SoundStation, which comes in various shapes and sizes and is commonly referred to as a “Polycom” device.

A true Audio Conference or Teleconference occurs when a specialized piece of equipment is used, called a Conference Bridge. There is either one or multiple speaker(s), which are called hosts, leaders or moderators and they facilitate their call by dialing into a specialized phone number (either direct toll or toll-free) and their invited guests or participants meet them on the bridge by doing the same.