Polycom 8 manual Participants Queue, Operator Assisted Conference, 7-17

Chapter 7 - Conference Types

Operator Assisted Conference

An Operator Assisted conference is a service designed usually for large conferences that require the personal touch. In many attended conferences, the name and the telephone numbers of each dial-out participant are given to the operator at the time the reservation is made. Using the enhanced tools for attended participant conferences, the operator or coordinator assembles the conference call, making sure all invited participants are on hand, then see to it that the conference proceeds according to plan. Usually, the operator dials out to connect participants and greet the participants when connected. However, the names and numbers of the dial-out participants can also be defined by the meeting organizer via the WebCommander application (through the WebCommander site).

In Audio Only and Video conferences with VoicePlus capabilities, the Operator can assist dial-in participants upon their connection to the Entry Queue or IVR-enabled conference; by greeting the participants and guiding them to the appropriate conference, or by helping them enter the conference if they have failed to enter the required information (password).

Once the conference has begun, Operator assistance continues to be available upon request, by telephone keypad or other DTMF input device (e.g. remote control). During an On Going conference, the Operator can also manage Question-and-Answer and voting sessions, connect and disconnect participants, mute/unmute participants, start a lecturing session, place the conference on hold and lock/unlock the conference to dial-in participants.

However, an On Going conference can also be managed by participants or by the Chairperson without the Operator’s assistance. Actions that can be performed by the participants or the Chairperson, are defined in the IVR Service that is assigned to that conference. This type of configuration requires the installation of the Audio+ card in the MCU.

Participants Queue

In the Participants Queue, the system lists those participants who require the Operator’s assistance or are on hold - in all conferences, regardless of the conference they belong to. The Participants Queue is mainly intended for Attended conferences. Using special toolbars, command buttons and options provided in the MCG Manager Participants Queue window, the Operator can easily move the listed participants from the Participants Queue to their destination (On Going) conference.

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