Whether the participants will call in or the operator is to call them. A list of names and telephone numbers. If users call the bridge they will incur the long distance charges. For public bridges with 1-800 numbers, international participants must be called by the bridge operator. Number of ports - one per person or one per site.
Public bridges can accommodate hundreds of calls at once.
If the entire group will meet and then split into smaller discussion groups, the operator will need a list of who is assigned to which group. The name of the meeting chair. Individuals will need only a regular telephone. The remedy is an audio conferencing product, such as those available from Shure, NEC and Darome, which connect with the phone line and are put in the center of a conference table with the participants around it. These units house microphones and speakers and have no audible echo, distortion, or objectionable clipping or dropout.