[Bradford] Green light for trial of Conference Call facility.

Thu Jun 10 11:17:13 UTC 2010

I agree that this system is not ideal but it does mean that people who are out and about do have the opportunity to contact via mobile phone, possibly just briefly.
To give you a bit of background of my experience with a similar regime....
When I was at Uni I was on the exec of the Radio club and built up membership to over 30. Nearly all members eventually held and Amateur Radio licence (which was at the level now classed as 'full'). On pub nights we would arranged a 'sked' for 21:00. Some people just had fixed stations whilst others had portable. Granted no one was commuting but it always worked out very well for our purposes considering there was no such thing as mobile phones.
I don't have any objection to making this public if it is found that there is a need to do this. However, I do have experience, in a group I was running, where some kids would keep ringing me. I wasn't too concerned because the number was very expensive to call and it wasn't long before a parent, receiving an enormous bill, called me. Then it all ceased. With a local number there is no such economic brake. 
As I say, we could give 'public' a try if need be. If it fails then I can change the number.

An purely Internet solution is no good unless you have internet access and many don't have this on their mobile phones.
I have an idea for an alternative system using SMS but it will require a lot of research and that takes time. Meanwhile I think this is a good standby and it does have the advantage of interaction. On a cold winter's night a conference call might prove a good alternative to going to the pub. Certainly, in Amateur Radio some are known to be having a pint together whilst communicating on the radio.

Brian

--- On Wed, 9/6/10, Wayne Hanley <wayney at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Wayne Hanley <wayney at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Bradford] Green light for trial of Conference Call facility.
To: "BradfordLinuxUserGroup" <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Date: Wednesday, 9 June, 2010, 21:45

Evening all,
Nice one Brian for setting this up firstly:)! I thought I would throw out a couple of concerns I see of how this might actually work in practice, though in theory I like the idea I'm not sure how viable it is for people to call a hour or so before the meeting on the day of the meeting.  The time slot might be a tad shy of convenient for some people that don't have the luxury of working from home and  might actually be on the commute from work directly to the social or home and having a quick shower and change and before coming out etc.

I do see the appeal of letting people know who is going to be there and it will certainly be interesting to see how this works out I do hope it will but I can't help personally but see it as a tad redundant as if its not public the only people that can find out is the people that generally already know who is going as for the most part the a core group attends the socials (Yes I know I have been missing from the last few and the next one!) calling up a few hours before to confirm something that as probably already been done via IM or IRC, Mailing list etc seems more of a distraction.  Maybe if it was open to the public so anyone that as not been before then sure.  

What might be a more usable evolution of this is a automated system where you can leave a message and say if you are attending and then just listen to a those a hour before or even just call to confirm on the day and a AVR just say "yes members will be at the social" or "no one is playing out tonight" type of thing maybe?

Could it be we need something on the table for people that don't know who we are as a group?  A Tux maybe and a laminated sign.  Possibly speak to the staff and ask if we could put a sign on the door while we are there so people know that we are about?  

All just idea's of course but thought it might be worth some space on the list :D
Wayne

On 8 June 2010 19:59, Brian <bradlug at leafcom.co.uk> wrote:

After consultations with David we have decided to unleash the Telephone Conference facility upon you. :-)

Here is the number:-
01274 291103

David has declared Friday  18th of June as the next social meeting date. Thus, on that night, if you intend to come along to the 'Corn Dolly', please call this number at 18:30 and stay on for a few minutes to allow other members to join you in the 'Conference Room'.

The first caller (that might be you) will be asked to enter a PIN. Please just key a '#' to enter. After that anyone else will immediately have access to the 'Conference Room' without being prompted for a PIN. (# means no PIN).

As other people join the Conference you will be alerted. 

The intention is to use this facility, similarly, on each social meting date.

N.B.   N.B.  N.B. (Got it ? )
This
 Telephone Conference Facility is for the exclusive use of BradLUG members. Please do NOT make the number public by putting it on a web site or otherwise. If you pass it on to a new member please ask them to keep it confidential to the group.

Hope to hear you in conference @ 18:30 on Friday June 18th !

If you have any questions please email me.

Thank you,
Brian

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