Hosting conference calls involve a number of issues for the capable facilitator. Despite this teleseminars and other conference calls are an extremely powerful tool for the information or learning content marketer. This is especially true as most of the problems aren’t unique to teleseminars.
But running an international conference call is different.
There are a number of issues that the wise facilitator takes into account when running an international conference call. On the other hand, the rewards are also likely to be greater. Hosting internationally opens up the world to your business.
Here are three tips for hosting an international conference call.
1. Keep the conference call service nearby. This might not seem obvious at first, but having a “local” hosting service is important. It is important that your guests be able to access the service. However, it is critical that you be connected. Having a “local” service helps to ensure that you will be connected if the service is operating.
The trick here is that the definition of “local” changes. Virtually all of my conference calls are international. So is my hosting service. The host (and most of my guests) are located on the same continent and telephone service within major cities of North America is reliable. On the other hand, other countries may find that service within their country is the only way to ensure a connection.
2. Know where your customers are. Most of my clients are located in the U.S.. However, I do have some clients located in Australia, Europe and Africa. If I schedule a teleseminar for 2:00 pm Eastern, my clients in North America can attend (let’s ignore work for a moment). So can my clients in Europe and Africa. However, to my clients in Australia we’re talking a 4 A.M. phone call. Not a good way to guarantee participation! Similarly if I schedule a 7:00 pm Eastern call, my Australian customers can participate but my European and African customers will have to stay up quite late.
3. Always provide a recording. There are a number of other issues related to your customer’s country — or possibly your own. For example the reliability of international connections. One of the solutions to these problems is to avoid them entirely. Provide a recorded copy of the conference call to all registered participants. Even if they didn’t show for other reasons. Of course, this won’t help for highly participatory calls but it will help for most conference calls including teleseminars.