Alternatively, an operator might call each participant individually to connect them via the conference bridge (or audio bridge). Participants connect to a call by dialling a designated phone number. Many businesses use these calls to deliver updates or news as a more one-way call, and others use conference calls to brainstorm and collaborate more interactively. In conference calls, business users can communicate with hundreds of listeners over their business phone system. In recent years, computer telephony has developed to improve the teleconferencing experience for business users significantly. Teleconferencing is the exchange of information between two physically distant parties. This post will focus primarily on the more contemporary, online-based teleconferences, which are now commonly used in our everyday business environments. While landline conferencing is still available, most modern businesses will conduct teleconference meetings online or via a VoIP handset or softphone as a robust and efficient method. Features available such as VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and video now offer teams an easy and effective way to communicate with each other or with clients and partners from a distance. In essence, a teleconference is a digital meeting between two or more participants and is mostly conducted via an audio or video call. We will examine each in a little more detail later in this post. Still, for the most part, and for the sake of simplicity, these can be condensed down to the essentials: audio conferencing and video conferencing. Some argue that there are six different teleconference types: voice communication, audio graphic, computer, video, business television (BTV), and distance education. However, as telecommunications technology has developed, the term is increasingly used more generically to describe the numerous ways in which we communicate in groups electronically. Historically, these teleconference meetings were conducted via traditional PBX and PSTN (public switched telephone network) telephone lines and were restricted to voice calls. One example of a teleconference in its simplest form might be an audio conference call between two separate locations, with more than one person on either end speaking into a speakerphone. Teleconferencing is a more sophisticated alternative to a two-way long-distance phone conversation (usually allowing more than two participants). The term is mostly used to describe a telephone meeting between more than two people. Teleconferencing is the umbrella term for connecting two or more participants electronically.