Should You Offer Chat During Online Conference Calls?
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more participants and to make the conference calls more
interesting. The Internet offers the advantage of audio and
video capabilities. Important or difficult subjects can be
illustrated with pages from your own or other websites.
You can also offer participants the opportunity to communicate
through online chat.
Many teleconference organizers, however, choose not to offer
chat capabilities during their calls. This is because it
presents some potential problems. Here we will examine
the pros and cons of facilitating chat during an online
conference call.
Arguments for Offering Chat
Conference calls are designed to bring people together to
discuss things. However too many people talking at the
same time prevents anyone from being heard. To prevent this
most call services allow the call’s originator to mute the
audience during presentations so that presenters can be heard
clearly. Chat offers a way that people can still
communicate without disrupting the presentation.
Offering chat will allow listeners to ask questions as they
come to mind without interrupting the speaker. Chat can also
allow the audience to communicate with one another.
Listeners may have experiences or thoughts they can share that
add to what is being discussed, and chat provides a way for
them to share them without being disruptive.
Another good thing about chat is that users can give
feedback to the speaker. If she isn’t speaking loudly
enough, for example, a listener can let her know that it is
hard for him to hear what she is saying. Listeners can
also advise about any technical problems that occur.
Arguments Against Offering Chat
Critics of using chat during online conference
calls say that it’s distracting. Listeners may get
so caught up in chatting that they miss what is going on during
the call. And that can be detrimental to your call’s
success.
Chat needs to be moderated. Someone needs to
monitor the chat to watch for users who are being rude
or inappropriate language. There is also the
possibility of someone and promoting their own
agenda. These types will need to be warned or removed,
but by the time that happens they could have already derailed
the discussion and lowered other participants’ morale.
The argument that offering chat during a conference call is
too expensive is no longer true. Online conferencing
software often includes a chat program. Those who do not
have full-featured conferencing software can purchase chat
software on its own for a reasonable price. Most services that
offer online conferencing include chat at no additional charge,
no software is needed by you or your callers.
Whether or not to offer chat capabilities during your
conference is a matter of preference. It has advantages
and disadvantages, but if properly moderated the opportunity
for users to chat is usually an asset. It makes your
conference more interactive while minimizing audible
distractions.
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