Conference calls (or teleconferencing, to be more modern) are a part of the lives of most business people and most lawyers. It is often easier to work something out with three or four people on one call than to use e-mails or individual calls. I think conference calls will be with us for some time.

This month my Lawyers USA column is Super-charge your Conference Calls. We've all seen breaches of conference calling etiquette, but where were the rules for calls ever written down? Many lawyers apparently do not know the distinction between the two types of muting and when to use each or even both. This column has a special bonus use. If you know a person who regularly is on conference calls with you and does some of these annoying things, you can send him a link to this article and innocently suggest he might be interested in the conference call scheduling services, while you are hoping he figures out something else. Or just send the link to your entire firm to provide cover.