Conference calling has become an integral part of the legal world. Lawyers routinely schedule calls for everything, from new client consultations to transaction negotiations to arbitration hearings with a judge in attendance.
In fact, a recent study conducted among 142 US lawyers by Harvard Law School found that 92% of respondents considered conference calling to be ‘useful’, whereas only 85% thought the same of actual in-person meetings.
However, as any regular conference caller will attest, this essential business communications tool comes with some familiar everyday frustrations. The first few minutes can be somewhat chaotic, as the host tries to work out who has joined, who is missing, and how to add people in – not to mention how to mute those participants with disturbing background noise who are dialling in from the airport or the middle of a traffic jam.
