Conferencing calling isn’t exactly a new idea. In fact, it’s been around for several years now, ever since hardware and software developers began to discover ways of connecting multiple users on the same line. Today, however, conference calls have become a significant factor in the efficiency and performance of modern businesses. After all, in a world where the average company is more dispersed and remote than ever before, a conference call could be the only way to truly keep your team connected.
The problem is, as conference calling becomes more popular, with statistics suggesting that the average brand spends about 3 billion minutes on conferencing solutions like Skype each day, the security risks plaguing companies grow more significant too. Whether it’s the fear of someone tapping into your calls and listening to your most sensitive secrets, or the worry that encrypted messages could somehow be decoded, it’s important to tread carefully when it comes to enterprise communication.
How Secure Was Your Last Call?
Interestingly, while the evidence suggests that we need to be more cautious with our conference calls, the truth is that most companies are simply ignoring security completely. Either they assume that their communications are safe enough without taking any precautions beyond a standard firewall, or they forget about updating their security measures, and allow their existing strategies to become increasingly outdated and ineffective.
It’s not just everyday businesses that are struggling either. Even the organizations you’d expect to have the best measures in place, like the FBI, aren’t always sure who’s listening to their conversations. While you might not be able to protect your brand from attack in today’s high-risk business world, you can at least be aware of some of the risk factors that could leave you open to threats.
Risk Factor 1: Endless Participants
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get everyone in your team involved in a call, but too many professionals in one room can cause a few problems. Not only does it mean that you’re more likely to have people talking over each other, but you also run the risk that you won’t know exactly who’s talking at any given time. The more people in a conference space, the harder it becomes to keep track of whoever is on the line.
Ultimately, one of the best things you can do for your business, is determine who you really need in your call in advance, then only invite the most essential participants.
Risk Factor 2: Regular Employee Turnover
High turnover in the workplace can be a significant problem at the best of times. Recruiting and training new employees – even remote ones, can eat up a huge portion of your budget, and make it harder to keep your organisation on track. However, regular turnover also leads to concerns when conferences are involved too.
If you’re constantly losing employees that could be heading to your competitors, they might be able to continue accessing your conference calls when they leave your business, which means that they get to listen to your secrets from outside of the “in crowd”. Making sure that you have full visibility over every call is key to keeping your company secure.
Risk Factor 3: Back-to-Back Meetings
Hosting back-to-back meetings for your company might seem like a great way to get things done quickly and effectively when you need to follow up with a number of different teams or sectors in your organisation. However, the chances are that if you continue to simply invite people into the same room, one after the other, you’ll eventually end up with someone in your call that isn’t meant to be there.
Sometimes, this can happen for a range of different reasons. For instance, your first meeting could run on longer than you expected, or the people who were invited to the second meeting could end up joining early. The easiest way to take control of this problem, is to make sure that you have a secure conference calling solution in place that allows you to remove people who aren’t supposed to be listening in on certain meetings.
Risk Factor 4: Complex Meeting Strategies
Many businesses assume that the best way to protect their company when it comes to conference calling security, is to make the meeting process as complicated as possible. The thinking here is that if there are multiple hoops to jump through, then people will be less likely to try and sneak into your conversations. Unfortunately, some of the people in your company might try to host their own meetings using third-party, unsecure solutions to avoid the complexity of your current tool. This might make it harder to keep track of your company’s conversations.
Today’s professionals are rushed, busy, and don’t have the time to deal with overwhelming programs when it comes to virtual or teleconferencing meeting rooms. The best way to keep your meetings safe may be to choose a secure conferencing service, that guarantees your privacy, while allowing you to enjoy the ease-of-use that comes with quick links, no complicated call codes, and high audio quality.
Risk Factor 5: Recurring Meetings
Finally, if your business regularly hosts recurring meetings, then anyone who has your dial-in details, or knowledge of the time that the meeting is taking place will be able to join in – even if they’re not necessarily supposed to be involved. This can make things particularly complicated when you need to discuss the performance of a certain team, or address the behavior of a team member without calling them into a conference.
The more control you have over your conference calling solutions, the more likely you are to feel confident and safe when you’re discussing all aspects of running your business. With the right services, you can even send your participants personalized invitations to improve their experience.
Are Your Conferences at Risk?
If you’re facing any of the risk factors above, or you simply don’t feel comfortable and confident using your existing conference service, then it could be a sign that you need to make some changes to your meeting strategy.
The chances are that the conference call won’t be going anywhere soon. That means that you need to think carefully about what you can do as a dispersed, and innovative company, to keep your brand secure, and free from risk.
