There isn’t much today’s smartphones cannot accomplish. From serving as a mobile point of sale to being capable of creating, reviewing and sending important documents to colleagues, these devices are attached to our hips because of how essential they have become to accomplishing tasks for many businesses.

Conference calls are also among those tasks. With how easy it is to use mobile apps and other free conferencing services from a smartphone’s web browser, it’s no wonder that many working professionals choose to use their smartphones for dialing into their team’s virtual meeting.

However, like any other form of technology, mobile phones are prone to issues. One of the common problems conference call participants can encounter when calling in via phone is signal strength.

Why mobile phone signal strength wavers

There are many reasons why a mobile phone’s cellular reception may be suffering. Some of these reasons can be addressed, while others are a bit harder to overcome.

The more challenging barriers standing between a phone and a strong cell signal include:

• Topography: Areas with hills, mountains and deep valleys can often have varying levels of cell strength, specifically at low points. Some locations are simply dead zones and your best bet at finding a better signal is to relocate.
• Mother nature: Weather elements like rain, wind, snow and ice can affect the cell towers that deliver signals to your device. The solution? Wait for the weather event to pass.
• Busy network periods: The more people using a cellular network, the more difficult it is for that network to serve everyone. Established carriers often have larger networks capable of serving more users, while some budget carriers that use those same networks are able to offer lower prices because their users may suffer from slower speeds during busy periods.

Steps to take to improve your phone signal strength

Although those are examples of issues that may take time or a little more effort to address, there are others that are far simpler to solve. In many cases, these are ideas that you can put to use right away.

If you are looking to dial into a conference call and require a stronger signal, then these are the steps to try. These pointers may even prove beneficial at times when other issues out of your control, such as inclement weather, may be affecting signal quality.

Let’s start with some basics for any situation where your phone signal strength is too low for a quality conference call.

Charge your phone to avoid low battery

One of the quickest ways to lose signal strength and overall device performance is a low battery. When a phone’s battery is low, it may struggle and have to operate harder to find a cellular signal in the first place.

For optimal performance, keep your phone charged. Be sure to plan ahead of any upcoming conference calls or other important tasks you may have on the calendar so that you can be sure your device has a full charge. Not only can this improve your reception, but it will keep your phone running smoothly during other tasks, as well.

Turn airplane mode on and then off

The next step, and one that should probably be taken any time your phone is struggling to receive any sort of signal, is to go to the phone’s settings and turn airplane mode on and then off.

By doing this, you are forcing the device’s modems (WiFi, Bluetooth and cell network) to reset. Once these modems come back online, they will search and connect to the strongest available signals they have access to.

Restart the phone

Along similar lines as switching airplane mode on and off, restarting the phone can also serve as a way to reset the device and get it functioning optimally again. Resetting may help restore cell signal.

Why is this the case? Well, we do ask a lot of these devices and sometimes figurative wires get crossed from all the multitasking – or just plain taxing tasks – we accomplish with these phones.

While resetting is a good go-to, there are other ways to make sure you have strong cell reception that could work in certain situations.

Use your phone’s WiFi calling feature

Did none of those basic pointers work? Let’s move on to some other troubleshooting tips.

Depending on your mobile service provider, your phone may have a WiFi calling feature that can serve as a workaround to a poor signal.

WiFi calling has been popular among many other conferencing apps, but now some carriers are adding this as a feature for iPhone and Android phones that you can use to connect to any phone number, including a conference call number.

Try taking the phone out of its case

Is your phone protected by a case? If yes, then try removing the device from its case before making a call. Large, bulky cases can negatively impact your phone antenna’s ability to receive a signal.

That’s right. Believe it or not, today’s smartphones still have antennas that they use to receive cellular network signals. They’re just internal and much smaller than what most people picture when they imagine a phone antenna.

By removing the phone from its case, you may increase reception just enough for suitable performance and call strength.

Update device software

As with computers, it’s critical that smartphone software be kept up to date in order for them to function at a high level. In certain cases, outdated software – whether that’s your specific device’s operating system or carrier software – can cause performance issues that affect cellular reception.

To avoid these issues, be sure to follow any prompts to update your software. You can also go into your device’s settings and check to make sure that it is running on the latest software version available.

Use Conference Town for a free and easy conferencing solution

Hopefully the suggestions above helped in your situation. Before we conclude, though, we must emphasize the importance of relying on a quality conference call provider in order to have the best experience.

Even the strongest network reception, won’t create the perfect conference call experience.

Let Conference Town handle that for you and your teams. Signing up is simple, fast and always free.