Opening the Bridge

1. At conference time, all participants dial the Conference Dial-In number.

2. At the prompt, enter the PIN Code followed by the # key. Multiple Leaders are allowed. If the Moderator is first to arrive, there is silence until participants begin to enter.

3. A tone will sound upon entry of any participant.

4. The Bridge closes when the last person hangs up their phone.

* Key Features for Moderater use: The Leader who presses the * key features below is the only person who will hear these messages.

* 2 to record this conference call: Starts a menu to begin recording.

* 3 to start the Recording Playback : Moderator or participants.

* 5 to mute all guests: Moderator only. Press * 5 again to un-mute.

* 6 to mute your individual line: Moderator or participants.

* 7 Security: This will lock out any new Leaders or Guests. Moderator only. No one may enter. Press again to unlock.

* 8 Participant Count: Moderator only. Plays a count of how many participants are on the conference at that moment.

Participant instructions: give these instructions to all your participants

Conference Date: [enter date here]

Conference Time: [enter time here]

Dial-in Number: 1-503-767-1200

PIN Code: [enter participant PIN code here]

1. At conference time, dial the Conference Dial-In number above.

2. At the prompt, enter the PIN Code followed by the # key.

3. You may hear silence until the Leader enters the call.

To mute/un-mute your individual phone line, press * 6.

Echo on the phone line

a. What causes the 'echo?'
Sometimes one or more participants 'brings an echo' with them when they dial in. This can happen because of the various telephone plans, phone cards, etc. which connect or "patch through" a number of carriers to reach the destination--your telephone bridge. Even though your participants may all be using different phone cards or plans, many of them may be "patched through" one of the major carriers like AT&T and not even know it.

NOTE:  The echo is not on the bridge end, it is coming from one of the participants on the call.

b. What can I do about an echo on the bridge?

1. First, if you notice the echo after a specific participant has joined, you might ask that participant to re-dial into the call. Always ask if anyone is using a Speaker Phone or Dial Pad, and ask them to go to a regular Dial-up phone.
Some people have discovered that their DSL line disturbs the bridge line--if you are a Moderator using DSL, you will want to check out the quality of your telephone line.

2. If you are not sure which participant brought the echo, you might ask all your participants to place themselves on mute by pressing the * 6 keys and then do a quick "roll call" and ask each participant to unmute by pressing the * 6 keys. You may be able to identify the one who brought in the echo. Do not make the participant 'wrong' for bringing the echo....this is a technical situation that the participant has no control over. Just ask that participant to remain on mute until they want to speak during the call.

3. If the TeleLeader brought the echo with them, they should re-dial into the bridge.

NOTE: Echos have been known to "fade" during a call as the equipment managing echos on individual carriers adjusts to squelch it.

Static on the phone line

a. What causes 'static?'
The most common causes of static are:

1) Faulty phone cords on the part of participants
2) Faulty carrier connections
3) Cell phones

b. What can be done about 'static?'

1. First, if you notice the static after a specific participant has joined, you might ask that participant to re-dial into the call. Always ask if anyone is using a Speaker Phone or Dial Pad, and ask them to use a regular Dial-up phone.

2. If you are not sure which participant brought the static, you might ask all your participants to place themselves on mute pressing the * 6 keys and then do a quick roll call and ask each participant to unmute by pressing the * 6 keys. You may be able to identify the one who brought in the static. Do not make the participant 'wrong' for bringing the static....this is a technical situation that the participant may not have control over. Just ask that participant to remain on mute until they want to speak during the call.

3. If the Moderator's phone is causing the static, they should re-dial into the bridge. NOTE:  Moderators, make sure that your headset or curly phone cords are in good working order. Have "zero tolerance" for worn out equipment that can cause static on the bridge.