At Home with Tech

When was the last time you had to remember someone’s phone number? These days, your smartphone is used to handling all that. Right? Did you know it can also dial the complex code at the right moment when you’re joining a conference call? As long as the human ‘leader’ remembers this lesser-known step…

So I’ve got to first admit I didn’t know about this little trick when joining a conference call using your smartphone. I’m sure it may be an obvious point to the majority of you. I’m embarrassed to even bring it up…

But this blog is intended to be a safe space to discuss how to navigate our tech-infused world… no matter how ‘advanced’ you may or may not feel.
(Okay… there’s the disclaimer. So don’t hurl any “Duhs” at me, please.)

Okay, here goes…

The Power of Three Commas and Your Next Conference Call
Who really prefers dialing manually into a conference call when you can tap the listed number on your smartphone, and your phone dials the number for you?
(No, that’s not the trick. Come on. Wait for it…)

You’ve got to believe the entire smartphone-enabled human population is quickly losing its collective ability to memorize any phone number, because smartphones now do all of that heavy lifting for us.

Then, you’re forced to tap in the participant code.
(The password to get in)

And how easy is it to remember another set of seven or more random digits?
(I’ve often had to double check the participant code at least once while tapping the numbers.)

Recently, while joining a conference call, I stumbled across the ‘better way…’
(Thanks to someone a bit more At Home with their Tech)

After I tapped the conference call number with my index finger, my iPhone somehow grabbed and dialed the entire line, which also included the participant code.

Then, magically, my iPhone waited the perfect amount of time to offer up the code, and I seamlessly joined into my call without doing anything more.
(It was like butter…)

How did all that happen?

Was it due to some new iOS update?
No…

I looked more closely at the conference call invite and noticed three commas between the phone number and the participant code.

Was that some kind of typo?

No… that was the trick.

The three commas are what simply directed my iPhone to pause long enough and then dial the participant code.

Huh.

Okay… you can say it.

“Duh!”

Hashtag It
So the next time you set up a conference call, use the ‘three comma rule’ to speed up the day of your smartphone participants on iOS or Android.

Remember…. three commas.

Oh… and don’t forget to include the pound sign at the end of the participant code.
For all the cool kids on the block, that’s a hashtag.
As in…

#HowToSetUpAConferenceCallForDummies

This Post will Self Destruct in Ten Seconds
Okay… Now, you can take your right hand down from above your head with your index finger and thumb extended.
(I just did.)

Remember, this blog is a safe space.

But let’s not discuss this again.
Really.
Enough said…