Conference calls have become an everyday aspect of doing business. Spectrum Business reports that the average user join five calls per week. Although most people think they are experts at conducting and participating in phone meetings, the truth is they are often awkward affairs. These calls are plagued by late arrivals, technical glitches, background noise and side conversations, which undermine the effectiveness of the meeting.

On average, interruptions and distractions waste one-third of the time spent on each conference call. This costs businesses $16 billion a year in unproductive staff time.

Most of the wasted time happens in the first eight minutes of a phone meeting when people are trying to track down late-to-the-table attendees and waiting for them to join. Our CEO Ethan Rasiel told Spectrum business to, “Instruct sales to always get on the line three minutes early, so they’re ready to go before the customer dials in.”

Rasiel also suggests using a team chat services, such as Slack or Google Hangouts, “When a customer asks a question on a call, I message my team, ‘I’ve got this one’ or ‘Tracy, please take that one. This is one way to make sure the right person answers and we don’t step on each other’s words. We are always looking to convey a polished impression of our company—and the people that stand behind it.”

For more conference call efficiency tips, read the full story here.