Easy English
Telefonkonferenzen sind eine Alternative zu Geschäftsreisen – sofern sie funktionieren. Lesen Sie hier auf Englisch, wie sich mögliche technische Probleme lösen lassen.
Technical problems during conference calls
Advances in communication technology are reducing the need for business travel and making it possible for virtual teams to collaborate more easily and more successfully. But such virtual communication is not without its technical problems. And if there are problems, it is important to deal with them competently and quickly so that they don’t continue.
Questions
As you read the communication between Anita and her colleagues, make a note of the answers to these three questions:
1. How could Anita have avoided the problem she has when trying to join the conference call?
2. How do the participants overcome the audio problems with Craig?
3. How do the participants deal with the problem of Dieter and Anita talking over each other?
1. Dialling into a call
Anita is having problems dialling into the conference call.
Anita: Hi, Dieter. I can’t access the call. I can’t find the code. Can you send it to me? Thanks. A. 11:04
Dieter: Sure. Dial in: 0800 3355991. Access code: #130499. We’re waiting for you. 11:05
2. Dialogue
The conference call
Dieter: Right, it looks like Anita’s here now, too. Anita, can you hear and see us OK? Anita: Yes, I can. Sorry I’m late, everyone. I had trouble accessing the call.
Dieter: OK. We’ve been discussing the first point on the agenda and have agreed to move the project timeline back by a week. Any objections, Anita?
Anita: No, that’s fine.
Dieter: Good. So, let’s move on to the second point on the agenda.
Craig: Sorry, Dieter, you’re breaking up.
Dieter: I said let’s move on to the second agenda point — our office layout.
Craig: OK. Got it. The connection’s not great. Dieter: Sorry about that. I’m just out of a client meeting and still on my way back to the office. Let me dial in again… OK, I’m back. Is that better?
Craig: Yes, that’s great now. Very clear.
Dieter: Good. Anyway, Anita, can you share your screen with the others and show them the office plan I sent you earlier? Sophie: Sorry, did you send a file? I didn’t get it. [Dieter and Anita talk over each other]
Dieter: I sent it to Anita earlier.
Anita: I have it here and am sharing it now.
Craig: Sorry, what? I didn’t catch any of that.
Dieter: Sorry, Anita. We were talking over each other there. Craig, I was just saying I’d shared the file with Anita earlier. Anita, you go ahead.
Anita: Sure. If you can all look here at this first slide, you’ll see the current office layout. As you know, we’ve been running out of space. There are some suggestions for changes on this second slide. Sophie: Sorry, I can’t see what you’re looking at. Can you share your screen with us? Anita: I thought I was… How about now?
Sophie: Yes, I can see it now.
Craig: Me, too.
Answers
Here are the answers to the three questions we asked:
1. Anita could have checked beforehand that she had the access details and then planned to join the call earlier in case there were any difficulties.
2. First, Craig actively points out that there is a problem. Then Dieter hangs up and dials into the conference call again.
3. Again, Craig points out that there is a problem and that he does not understand (or “catch”) what Dieter and Anita have said. Dieter repeats what he had said before, and then hands over to Anita.
Grammar “Have been” + “-ing” verb form
You can use the structure “have been” + “-ing” verb form to talk about ongoing activities that started in the past and continue into the present. Look at these two examples from the dialogue of the conference call:
⋅ We’ve been discussing the first point on the agenda.
⋅ As you know, we’ve been running out of space.