How To Use An IPhone For Conference Calls

On-the-go business professionals can customize their iPhones with apps to more efficiently perform in a virtual office. In iOS 8, you can add colleagues to a discussion in three taps using the phone app. Alternatively, host a team conference call with third-party apps such as Free Conference Call, InterCall MobileMeet, Speek or Uber Conference. The phone app has a built-in function to add up to five people to an existing telephone conversation. After calling the first person, ask him to hold and then tap the "Add Call" button. This automatically places your first call on hold. Place the second call, and then tap the "Merge Calls" button to connect everyone. Repeat the "Add Call" and "Merge Calls" process to add each person. You may add an incoming caller to your current call by tapping the "Hold and Accept" button to answer your call and then tapping "Merge Calls" to connect all parties.

You can manage your conference call through the phone app by tapping the "i" icon next to the person's name. Tap "Private" to hold a separate conversation or tap "End" to drop that person from the conference. Sign up and activate a free account to receive a unique dial-in number, meeting ID number and host PIN. You can host an unlimited number of calls at any time, with a maximum time of six hours per call. You can choose between using the Internet or your cellular network for the call. Stay connected in areas that are outside your mobile network or that have poor cell phone coverage by using a hot spot or connecting through your hotel's Wi-Fi. Many companies provide their business professionals with an InterCall Reservationless-plus account. You can use the MobileMeet app by InterCall to host and manage conference calls from your iPhone. Set up your MobileMeet app by entering your conference ID number, moderator information and host PIN. Use the app to automatically start the conference and identify all participants. Speek provides a conference call service that doesn't rely on phone numbers.

Instead, you can set up an account for a unique Web link and send this link to meeting participants in a calendar request, email or text message. Colleagues and customers can click the link on their smartphones or computers to connect or enter a telephone number to receive a call back. As host, you can manage the conference call through the app or a Web page. Speek for Business allows unlimited usage and free audio recordings played back on the Web. The UberConference app provides another conference call solution that doesn't require a telephone number or meeting codes. Once you set up an account, you can send a unique Web link to meeting participants through the app or in an email or text message. Attendees click the link to join the meeting or type a telephone number to receive a call back. You can use the app or log on to your account Web page for conference controls such as record and participant information, including social profiles. Pro and business accounts can host conference calls with up to 100 attendees.

Call the first person as you normally would. Let the person you call know that you’re going to add other callers. Tap the Add Call button on the iPhone. After the second person answers your call, tap the Merge Calls button. At this point notice that the names of the two callers are listed at the top of the phone. This is another reason to have party lines listed in your Contacts, because you can see their names listed during the calls. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each additional call. After each call is merged, the Add Call button will re-appear. Note, you can also tap on the Contacts button to call and merge another recipient into the conference. At this point, it’s best to tap the Speaker button so you can speak all party lines without holding the phone to your ear. You can also accept incoming calls during your conference call.

When you receive a call, tap on the Hold & Accept button, and then merge each caller into the conference call. If you don’t want to accept a call, tap the Send to Voicemail button. Pay close attention to the End & Accept button, it will end the connection with all current conference parties. During a conference call, you can talk privately with one person during the conference or end a call. To do this, tap on the blue “i” button on the top-right. This can only be done when all the calls are merged. In the next window, all the connected party lines will be listed and you can check which one you want to end or talk privately to. The other party lines will remain on hold. During a conference call, you can actually leave the iPhone app and open other apps. To do this, tap the Speaker button in the phone app then press the Home button on your iPhone.