The customer experience of global conference calls

As we conduct business globally the need to communicate across borders increases which cannot rely upon air travel in every instance as the costs can rapidly spiral leaving us looking for alternative means of communications. The video conference has been a staple of modern business and Skype has found a home in even the most conventional organisation but we still rely on the conference call for the bulk of our interactions that can't be dealt with by email. We dial into the conference carefully typing in our 18 digit code then pressing the hash key to alert all parties to our presence. When you finally get in you need to establish your presence among the throng of voices as you question the value in why you bothered.  The chairman does their best to Marshall all the opinions and keep a single voice policy but this all to readily breaks down into anarchy as everyone battles to get their voice to the top of the table. Leaving the call your head aches and your ear throbs from the hours spent squinting at the earpiece. Conference calls. Epic fail with anything more than four people.