Conference calling has become more integral in team communications, work, and school. However new it seems, it dates way back to the 90s, when the CU-SeeMe program offered leeway to this incredible technology. Over time, it’s become mainstream, with virtually every organization and individual riding along in the Skype and iChat craze in the 2000s. This technology has trod a long path, from being a staple in the Macintosh and early Windows computer versions to become available in handheld android devices.
Conferencing on Android is quite a breeze if you have a more proficient application, website, or program. Luckily, numerous conferencing hosts exist, making it seamless, easy to connect, and quite a breeze to host group meetings. This article explains how to conference call on Android and everything else around it.
Insight into Conference Calling
Conference calling involves making an audio call where several people join simultaneously. It’s a more present-day and straightforward way of recreating real-time conferences in the virtual space, making communication much easier for teams in workplaces and family members in scattered locations. The earliest versions of conference calls were the pioneering Skype and iChat in the 2000s and a more vintage version in the 90s when the internet was ushering in a world of modern virtual communications. Video conferencing, a more complex version of communicating using the internet, isn’t so varied from conference calls, only that it incorporates videos and audio simultaneously.
Functions of Conference Calling on Android
Conference calling on Android offers various functions that facilitate group communications, guarantee security and call moderation. These functions appear in the default Android app and other applications by third-party developers, making calls more reliable and user-centric. Here are the various functions of android conference calling.
Pin Protection
Not everyone can join an android call without having a unique pin known only to the members. The call moderator or host must have a specific pin to allow members to participate in the conversation. That’s mainly common in dial-in calls, where the host calls the participants before the call, giving them a specific identification number to connect to the conference call.
Multiple Participants
Conference calling on Android helps connect several people in real-time to initiate communication. Android can support group calls, from three-way meetings to more than ten participants. Android’s default conference calling app allows a specific number of participants on conference calls. However, other downloadable conference call apps allow dozens and tens of people in a virtual meeting since they consist of more specialized plans.
Moderating Calls
Every conference call must have a moderator and a host that initiates and gears conversation and has maximum control of every feature. The moderator controls the functions, including the authority to start and end the meeting or drop a member from the conference call.
These functions don’t go far beyond and include playing recorded messages, adding more participants by moderators, and so on. That makes these calls more instrumental in virtual communications in executive business meetings, students and teachers, and workplaces, among others.
How Android Helps with Conference Calls
Android phones have an in-built conference calling feature, but you can still install more apps and software. Preferences for ideal conference calling apps vary since conference calling apps have various interfaces that are either straightforward or more complex. Besides, the features in a conference call app determine whether or not they’re practical to use. End users must understand how to do 3 way call on Android since it supports most of these apps. They’re mainly available in Google Play Store for easy download and installation. With all that said, how do your conference call on Android?
How to Do Conference Call on Android
Apart from Android’s default application, the system supports other third-party applications to make conference calls through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The latter has made teleconferencing more seamless and incredibly reliable for more influential organizations, facilitating meetings. The small corporate world, including SMEs and small businesses, use third-party applications to make conference calls on Android, making things much more accessible. But while that’s apparent, how do you make a conference call on Android?
Using the Default Phone Application to Conference Call
The default application mainly uses the dial-in method to set up conference calls in a maximum group of five. However, more recent versions allow these apps to accommodate more participants and rely on cell signals. Also, an internet connection can still come in handy where a cellular network isn’t available, offering an extra option. Here’s how you can conference call on Android.
- Step 1: Dial the First Person – You must have the first person’s contact to invite them to the conference call. Therefore, you can open your phone’s default app for conference calling and key in the digits before pressing the green call button symbol.
- Step 2: Prepare to Add More Calls – Once the first call connects, the interface will change, giving you an option to add another call. You can hit the “add call” button, which appears as a plus sign on your left screen side.
- Step 3: Select the Next Person from Your Phone’s Contact List or Dial their Number –After clicking the plus sign button, your contact list should appear to select the next person to invite to the conference call. However, you can still dial their number by clicking the “Keypad” icon on the bottom right corner of the icon menu.
- Step 4: Join the Three Participants – You now may need to fuse the participants to create a conference call. Therefore, you can tap the “Merge Calls” button, which appears like an arrow having two tails.
- Step 5: Add More Participants – If you have more participants to add to the conference call, you can repeat the second, third, and fourth steps to increase the number. Knowing how to drop a three way call on Android or other calls can be handy if you want to drop a participant. You can use the “drop” button on each caller’s ID’s right end.
Other Alternative Apps to Default Phone App for Conference Calls
Remember that you still have innumerable options to set up a conference call other than the default phone app. However, while some can be free VoIP apps like Zoom and Meet, others require a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription. The best thing with such apps is that they don’t constrain you to minute numbers of participants like the default app but can host up to a thousand members in a conference call. Here are the best free alternative apps to set up conference calls on Android.
Zoom
Zoom is one of the best free apps available on the Google Play Store to help you set up conference calls over an internet connection. You don’t have to pay anything or subscribe to a plan. However, you must be ready to go through a rigorous one-time account set-up before you use it to connect with others. Zoom allows others to connect to your conference after sending them an invite via email or text message. This invite is mainly a unique ID code or an URL that directly links them to you. Setting up a conference call on Zoom is intuitive since the interface is simple and takes you through the steps without a Glitch.
WhatsApp is also a sought-after application for setting up a conference call on Android phones. However, this app operates on iOS devices since it’s not only restricted to Android devices. Like Zoom, you need an internet connection to link other participants to the call, and it’s pretty easy to set up a conference call. You can find this app on Google Play Store and connect with up to 32 people simultaneously. The app is free and won’t require any subscriptions.
Free Conference Call App
Free conference call is an app available on the Google Play Store for all Android devices and operates over internet connections. You might want to download and install the app on your phone before using it to connect to up to a thousand participants. However, all your participants must install the app on their Android devices two create two-way links to the host through their accounts. Also, every member must have an account and an internet connection and follow through with the process to host or join a conference call.
Best Premium Android Apps to Use for Conference Calling
While numerous apps are free for setting up conference calls, premium types unlock more mouth-watering features, including screen sharing, more call durations, real-time coaching, and natural language processing. These potent AI tools help make conference call communications more seamless and incredibly productive by increasing focus and enhancing audio clarity. Here are some of the best premium conference call apps on Android.
Vast Conference – Vast Conference improves on most free Conference Calls Android apps like Meet and WhatsApp since it allows more participants to join on calls. The best perk of this app is that it’ll enable reservationless services that don’t require pre-scheduling and can host up to 250 people. Its monthly plans can be somewhat costly and vary between Essentials, Standard, and Professional plans. However, yearly billing can come at a cut price, and you can still use their 14-day free trial to taste its technicality. It’s an ideal conference calling app for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs to felicitate meetings and communicate issues via Android.
ConXhub
ConXhub, a provider of omni-channel commincations, is fastly becoming a favourite telecoms provider with its super lenient plan pricing and range of features. Their Conference Calling feature gives you high-quality audio conferencing at no extra cost as it comes as part of the conXhub suite. Crystal clear and seamless audio and fucntions such as screen sharing and recordings and with being non VoIP it means solid, reliable and high quality at all times. No set up, no equipment, nothing to install or download, just make a phone call & you’re in!
Webex
If your business involves working with remote groups, it’d be pretty convenient to use the Webex app. This app facilitates communication over a vast geographical setting, including overseas. Setting up a conference call using Webex is straightforward and offers various services, including virtual backgrounds, screen sharing, calendar integrations, and more.The downside is that Webex allows a small range of participants on the app, but meetings have a long span of up to 24 hours.
Dialpad
Dialpad is also one of the best applications to set up conference calls on Android due to its reasonably cheap plans and a free trial. It has numerous perks, including data transformation through real-time coaching, machine learning, recordings, and natural language processing, among innumerable others. Besides, it’s also simple to use once you subscribe to any of its three plans, reserving more than 100 seats. However, more significant seat volumes may need custom enterprise plans to hold expansive business meetings lasting up to five hours.
Tips for Conference Calling on Android
Now that you understand how to conference call on Android using the default phone, VoIP, and premium applications, you’ll be better equipped with the tips for using them. Conference calling can be seamless, for the most part. However, it’s not surprising that people complain about the vast array of issues, including the audio quality, the time it takes to connect, and other minor disturbances. These tips cut across all applications, including the built-in Android Phone app. Here are the best tips you can use to make your conference call on Android more productive.
Create an Engagement
Creating engagement in a conference call is essential since it minimizes the monotony of one-way communication. Most listeners get toned down if you fail to keep them active, which can be frustrating to you as the host. Therefore, ensure you can ask questions and encourage them to weigh in on the discussion so that it stays active and alive. That can be a handful, especially for virtual meetings and conference calls spanning hours.
Eliminate Echos
Echos are familiar with conference calling but shouldn’t necessarily disrupt. Any participant can encounter this problem due to underlying issues like faulty speakerphones. The worst that can happen is in a conference call with more than a thousand members, and it can be pretty challenging to identify the source of the problem. In that case, all your participants should mute their phones at once and only weigh in when they have something to say.
Ask People to Mute Calls When Not Speaking
Unmuted calls can create sound distortion and compromise clear communications. Hence, it’s better if they mute them. It works similarly to eliminating echoes, and since minor background sounds can be unsettling and limit clear communications, muting calls should be reasonable enough.
Discourage Open-Ended Conversations
Group responses can be chaotic; you need to set a chronology and order to the questions you ask your participants. Therefore, please avoid asking open-ended questions since they invite mayhem, and you won’t achieve your meeting’s call objectives. If possible, please assign questions to specific individuals to make it much easier to communicate and get the points home. Once you ask a question, direct the responsibility for answering to a single individual to make your meeting more orderly.
Select a Quiet Background
While a quiet background is a must for you as the host, it’s best that you also encourage the participants to choose more serene locations as well. That is handy if you don’t want the conference calling participants to mute their calls. Virtually every application has a mute button, but for those that don’t, it’s always best to find a supportive background that won’t disrupt the call or disturb the other during virtual meetings.
Conclusion
Conference calls have become mainstays in the modern age as communication becomes more globalized and advanced. It’s fostered seamless communications in a vast array of organizations, including small and large scale. The good thing is that most Android devices support this functionality and come with in-built applications that are easy to use and more effective in enabling communications. Nevertheless, throwing in some extra cash for more premium services and added features is reasonable. If you’ve been running around creating more helpful conference calls on Android, we hope this article will come in handy.
