Troubleshooting

Tips

Symptoms

Help

Tips for Successful Teleconferencing

To assure a successful call, follow these guidelines.

• Dial in on a landline or cell phone rather than a speakerphone, cordless phone or VoIP.
• Make sure any batteries in headsets are fresh.
• Charge up your cell phone before the call.
• Use a long distance service instead of a calling card.
• Use the mute feature instead of putting your phone on hold.
• Disable call waiting before dialing in.
• Test the working condition of your equipment by scheduling a test call before an important meeting.
• Consider having a least two Hosts on the call, one to lead the call and the second one to handle any potential technical difficulties.
• Provide an email address where the Host or an assistant can be reached during the call to troubleshoot.

 

For Additional Help

We know it is frustrating to have technical challenges. It is helpful to refer your callers to this page in advance, so they may avoid problems. If you experience difficulty, please take the actions recommended. If you find that you still experience difficulty, contact us and we will assist you.

Silence when dialing in

Symptom:	You hear silence after entering your PIN followed by the # sign.
Cause:	You are the first person on the call. People are on the call, but no one is speaking.
Solution:	Ask if anyone else is on the call. If not, wait until you hear a beep. Then ask, “Who just joined the call?”

Static or other disruptive noise

Symptom:	You hear static, echoes or other disruptive noises.
Causes:	Someone on the call… is not in a quiet environment. is roaming on a cell phone. has poor signal strength on a cell phone. is using a battery operated headset with a low battery. is calling in using VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). is calling in using a speakerphone. is calling in using a cordless phone. is entering or exiting the call. is pressing a keypad command.
Solutions:	Call in from a place with a quiet environment. Avoid speakerphone, cordless phone or VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). Use the lecture mode to mute the guests. Use the guest mute feature to self mute. Hang up and dial back in using a land line. Make sure call waiting is deactivated. Check the battery on your headset. You may ask that the entry and/or exit tones be disabled.

Busy signal

Symptom:	You hear a busy signal.
Causes:	If you hear a fast busy signal, the long distance carrier system may be overloaded. If you hear a slow busy signal, the Telebridge system may have reached its caller capacity.
Solution:	Try your call again. If you don’t get through, wait a few minutes and try once more. Email or call the Host and ask them to determine if the call is full. The Host can check the number of participants by dialing *8.

All circuits are busy

Symptom:	You hear a message saying that all circuits are busy.
Cause:	The long distance carrier system is overloaded.
Solution:	Try your call again. If you don’t get through, wait a few minutes and try once more. If you have another long-distance plan, try this alternative route to dial-in.

Disconnect

Symptom:	A caller or callers are disconnected during the conference.
Causes:	A temporary break in the long distance service. A cell phone with no signal strength. The host(s) on the hourly reservation Telebridge have hung up.
Solutions:	Hang up and call back in. If you are on a landline and the dropped call occurs a second time, ask someone connected with the Telebridge account holder to contact Telebridge.

Unable to connect using PIN

Symptom:	You are unable to enter your PIN, or you are unable to enter the conference using the PIN you were given.
Causes:	You entered the PIN incorrectly. You were given the wrong PIN. You are calling in using VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). Some VoIP systems have non-standard touchtones that can’t be deciphered or that work sporadically because of delays. You are calling in using a calling card. The pound sign you are asked to enter after your PIN may also be a calling card command to hang up the call. You forgot to enter the pound sign after the PIN. You entered the PIN before the recording asking you to enter the number was completed. You entered the PIN before the tone that occurs on some Telebridges, after the recording asking you to enter the PIN.
Solutions:	Wait for the end of the recording asking you to enter the PIN.  Wait to see if there is a beep after the recording. Then enter your PIN. Check the PIN with your confirmation. Enter it slowly. Use a land line telephone rather than VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). If you are using a calling card, try entering the PIN without the pound sign. Wait 10-15 seconds after entering the PIN. If you enter the PIN incorrectly three times in a row, you will be blocked from entering the call. If you hold, you will be routed to an operator who can confirm whether or not the PIN you have is correct or if there is a security block on the line.

 

You hear a recording that says: “The system is not recognizing your commands…”

Symptom:	You try to enter your PIN and you hear a recording that says: “Please check your scheduled start time and try your conference code again, as the system is not recognizing your commands.”
Causes:	You entered the PIN incorrectly. You were given the wrong PIN. You are calling in using VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). Some VoIP systems have non-standard touchtones that can’t be deciphered or that work sporadically because of delays. You are calling in using a calling card. The pound sign you are asked to enter after your PIN may also be a calling card command to hang up the call. You forgot to enter the pound sign after the PIN. You entered the PIN before the recording asking you to enter the number was completed. You entered the PIN before the tone that occurs on some Telebridges, after the recording asking you to enter the PIN.
Solutions:	Wait for the end of the recording asking you to enter the PIN.  Wait to see if there is a beep after the recording. Then enter your PIN. Check the PIN with your confirmation. Enter it slowly. Use a land line telephone rather than VoIP (Internet phone service such as Skype or Vonage). If you are using a calling card, try entering the PIN without the pound sign. Wait 10-15 seconds after entering the PIN. If you enter the PIN incorrectly three times in a row, you will be blocked from entering the call. If you hold, you will be routed to an operator who can confirm whether or not the PIN you have is correct or if there is a security block on the line (for full-time Telebridge accounts). If you have a full-time account, consider converting to a VoIP compatible Telebridge.

Keypad commands are not working

Symptom:	You enter a keypad command and nothing happens.
Cause:	You may be trying to access a Host-only feature, such as recording.
Solution:	Dial in using the Host PIN or ask the host to initiate the feature.

 

Music plays and guests cannot hear one another

Symptom:	Guests dial into the Telebridge, enter their PINs and hear music, but cannot speak to other participants.
Cause:	Your Telebridge has “Music on Hold” enabled, which plays music until the Host arrives, and no one has dialed in using the Host PIN. The Guest(s) experiening trouble entered the wrong PIN, connecting to another Telebridge.
Solution:	Have at least one participant dial in using the Host PIN. A Guest experiencing this situation should contact the Host by email or phone. Contact Telebridge to disable “Music on Hold” for future calls.