Dealing with conference calls is a daily fact of working life for many people. Indeed, they are also increasingly being used so that groups of friends can chat together on the same phone call.

Your Nokia Lumia smartphone is the ideal device for setting up conference calls – with just a few taps on your screen you’ll be chatting away to two or more of your friends.

There are also several useful apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace that can help you manage your work conference calls, for example automatic dialling of PIN codes and syncing with your calendar.

Before we look at some of these apps, here’s a quick recap of how to make conference calls on your Lumia. Also, check with your operator if they allow conference calls on your line. 

Making conference calls

To start you need to need to make a call to one person as normal. Either dial in their number or select them from your People hub.

Once you have them on the line, you then need to press ‘Add Call’ to then start dialling up another person – again you can either manually dial their number or find them via your People hub.

At this stage you are only making two separate phone calls – to create the conference call so that all parties can hear and talk to one another you need to press ‘Merge calls.’ The word ‘Conference’ will then appear at the top of your screen.

You can add more than once person to the conference call although be advised that the maximum number varies by mobile operator.

A further nice feature of making conference calls on your Nokia Lumia is that you can still have a private conversation with someone on the call if necessary.

To do this, select ‘Private’ and a ‘choose call’ screen will appear with the names and numbers of everyone on the conference call. Select the person that you wish to speak to privately – no one else on the call will be able to hear your conversation.

To return back to the full conference call just select ‘Merge calls’ again. Once you’re finished then just press ‘End’ as normal.

Conference call apps

So actually making conference calls on your Nokia Lumia is pretty simple and straightforward. However, when making conference calls for work it can often involve entering conference IDs, PIN codes and the like.

Here are several apps in the Windows Marketplace that can help you with your work conference calls.

Conference Caller (free) 

This clever app is able to identify conference calls that you have scheduled in your calendar and then with a single click call the conference line and also enter any associated IDs or PIN numbers.

You can also manually add conference details if they haven’t already been put in your calendar. If you have recurring conference calls, then they can also be pinned to your start screen for quick access. Nice.

Other free variations of this app and that are worth considering include Meetingo and InstantMeeting. 

FreeConference (free) 

If you use or have an account at FreeConference.com then this app is essential for you.

As well as letting you take part in conference calls, you can also use the app to quickly set calls up and then share the dialling in details to your friends or colleagues via email, text or using social networks.

 You can also listen to conference recordings and record a personalised greeting!

Panaton (free) 

If you don’t have a freeconference.com account then you may want to consider using Panaton instead, which offers many of the same features as a comprehensive conference call organiser and client.

In addition, Panaton has support for Skype, shares address books with Plaxo and LinkedIn and can even record your conferences as a downloadable MP3 file.

Have you used any of these apps to make or set up conference calls? Let us know in the comments below.