Keeping computers, networks, software applications and e-mail safe from viruses and worms is a major concern of every business. Most of them take great pains to protect their hardware and software from being broken into. Regrettably, many organizations let their guard down when it comes to conference calls. They take conference calls for granted and do very little home work on the subject of how to ensure conference call security.

They fail to realize how easy it is for a dishonest competitor to obtain the access code and call-in number of their conference calls. Many may not even be aware of the fact that conference call is like an open sieve. It can be tapped into easily.

In fact, there are no limits to the extent people can go whenever a lot of money or power is at stake. Watergate is an example of the espionage that people resort to for political gains.

It is not that conference call services providers do not provide basic security features. Most of them try to make conference calls as secure as possible. But then this may not always be enough. It is for the companies to initiate their own procedures to make conference calls secure. There is no point in letting valuable data stray into the hands of competitors.

Some of the audio conference call security measures that companies need to take are:

1.  Enable entry and exit tones, so that they know when someone joins or leaves the call.

2. Use a pass code assigned to the conference to prevent unauthorized callers from participating.

3. Limit the number of people who have access to password and other account information, and shred documents that bear this information.

4. Change the call-in numbers and pass codes regularly.

5. Ask participants to identify themselves before they commence the call.

6. Disconnect all lines once the call ends so that no side discussions continue in an unsafe environment.

7. Lock the conference call after it has commenced to prevent others from joining.

Besides this, you can also consider the following:

1. Ensure control over desktop sharing, especially when you are sharing your mouse and keyboard, during collaboration.

2. Use end-to-end encryption of the data link. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and 128-bit encryption are used by many people to protect their data stream.

You must remember that it is your data, and you must keep it safe. So, don’t hesitate to introduce tough security measures.

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