Does anyone else have a problem with conference calls?

[Aeolienne]

My team is split across four sites with team meetings conducted by conference call, so I usually have to rely on disembodied voices to recognize people. I actually find this quite difficult. Even if people introduce themselves when they dial in I find it hard to remember who's who further into the conversation. Is this the auditory equivalent of prosopagnosia [face blindness]?

I have spoken to my manager about the problem I’ve had with not being able to recognize voices. He agreed to speak to his superior (himself on a different site from me) to encourage participants to introduce themselves. However he did make it sound as though this can only be a temporary measure and the onus is on me to announce in due course that I no longer need it.

(Aside: Funny how most, if not, all suggestions for “reasonable adjustments” are really good working practice for all employees. Yet when autistics request them we’re accused of wanting special treatment! Go figure.)

I wonder if the software we use might be an issue. As I recall, in a previous job where we had conference calls I could always tell who was speaking because their avatar would flash up. This doesn't seem to be the case with the version of Skype for Business used in my current job.

 

[Otenba]

Chat software, by not making it clear who is talking as default, is pretty poorly designed I think. I hope your employer help accommodate you if settings can't be adjusted on the software to make who is speaking clearer. Certainly better they help you out than you saying "who is speaking?" each time someone talks. Good on you for speaking up.

 

[Tom]

There doesn't seem to be an App for this, so I think plan B is trying to study and memorize their voices. I have a similar problem with names. If its important I make a cheat sheet and study it at night. People of all types NT and ASD have things to overcome in work situations. Some stutter, some have limited vocabulary and don't understand what is said, etc. I wonder though does it really matter much of the time? Unless it progresses to the tasking point (or similiar) and then you might have to ask or perhaps cover it with a generalized statement like 'Ok, but to make sure I got this right can you review who exactly is doing what'.

If you are on really, really good terms with them, plan 'C' could be having your co-workers all start using a distinctive speaking style. Have one speak in a fake german accent, another like Barney, etc. If nothing else these dull conference calls would be much more amusing.

 

[Gritches]

Yeah, I have the same problem. I actually looked like an amazing racist once when a different guy with an Indian accent who I wasn't even aware was on the call started to speak and I called him by the name of the previous Indian guy who was speaking. But it's the same deal with the "boring, accent-free white guy" voice. Wish I had a hack for this; it's nice when there's some sort of visual indicator as to who is speaking.

 

[tlc]

We only have handset landline voice conference calls, no visual screens. The main part I don't like about them is it usually means too many cooks are in the kitchen on a job, and it's going to be that much more difficult to please everyone, going to be a lot more engineering changes as drawings change hands.

The hardest part of the actual call is because it is speakerphone. Therefore (at least with ours) you can't have incoming and outgoing voices at the same time. You have to wait until everybody else stops talking on the other end before you can say anything, and by the time there's a break, you've forgotten it, or it doesn't even apply to the current topic focus.

I never remember people's names, and this is no exception. But I do remember voices as timbres and frequency ranges, just like I could pick out a musical instrument and the key being played. And if I can link that voice to something that they drew, I'm good.

Some voices do sound the same, and of course if they're related. Two brothers run a company out west that work with us. I can't tell them apart, just have to go by the number I called or who called me. Sometimes I call one by the other's name and he says jokingly "hey you're swearing at me".

 

[Bella Pines]

Most of my developers are offsite and so I have to do a lot of remote management. I don't recognize or remember peoples faces and I certainly don't stand a chance of recognizing voices on the telephone. One of my remote team leaders has worked for me for 3 years and I still can't tell him apart from the other voices on the phone. However, I don't call attention to it. If I were to admit this, then a lot of people would be offended. They'd think "I've worked for her for years, how can she still not recognize my voice, does she not like me?" and it would all get very messy and personal. So I work around it in the following ways.

• Try not to speak on group conferences unless I'm running them.
• Be vague, say things like "as was mentioned previously ..." by whoever said it, I have no clue who was speaking.
• Don't refer to people by name, just refer to facts
• If you need to figure out who was speaking ask things like "oh could you please email that to me directly", hoorah for the "sent from" field!
• If you need to talk to someone, say "that's great, can you please call me after the conference to follow up"
• Then to talk to people, call them directly. It's easy to tell who is on the phone then by the process of elimination, if it's not me, it's them

It once occurred to me to hire drastically different people, accents and such, to try to differentiate but that's not practically possible. There is software available to show who is speaking but it depends on them dialing from the right phones and everyone using it. Also I don't call attention to it, and just compensate.

 

[Bolletje]

My problem is mostly that I never know when it’s my turn to speak.

 

[tducey]

I don't mind it. Part of my job this yr. involved working from home and chatting with my co-workers on an online virtual office software so that was enjoyable.