Tuesday 4 pm - Technical Information
For the Secretary/Chair to read before leading a phone bridge meeting
As the Secretary/Chair for this meeting you will be given a “leader code” that will give you more features on the key pad than other members.
Here is some information that will help before dialing into the meeting once you have been given the leader code.
1. Dial the phone number and then use the regular pin number followed by the # sign that everyone else uses.
2. There will be a voice prompt after entering the regular pin # that says “IF YOU ARE THE MODERATOR PLEASE PRESS 1.”
3. Follow the prompt and Press 1. The word “moderator” and “leader” mean the same thing.
4. The voice prompt will again say “PLEASE ENTER THE MODERATOR PIN (Leader Code) number FOLLOWED BY THE # SIGN”.
5. You will join the phone meeting muted after entering the leader code and # sign. Press *1 to unmute yourself and then introduce yourself as the Secretary/Chair of the meeting. Press *0 for a menu of all features.
Probably one of the most important services you can give as the Secretary/Chair is to have the highest sound quality on the phone bridge system. This means without background noise and weak sound quality. “Sound” is all we have for the phone meeting to work.
Background noise can be taken as disrespectful or interruptive while members are speaking. As a trusted servant you can guide the meeting without background noise or interruptions to the best of your ability.
Along with your own skills; here are a few tips and a few pieces of information to help you:
1. Technically the phone bridge system is built for “only” one person to be unmuted at a time. This of course would include, You (the Secretary/Chair) as well as the Timekeeper to stay muted by using the *1 keys. The timekeeper only unmutes to say “time”. The Secretary/Chair unmutes a few seconds before the member is done sharing to welcome the next share. You can remind the timekeeper to please stay muted except to say “time”. (Only one line unmuted at a time).
2. As the Secretary/Chair (with the leader code) you are encouraged to use the *5 to clear the line to address the noise. This ensures that members will be able to speak so their share can be heard. Then the member can press the *1 keys to continue sharing without the previous background noise. We call this “Cycling Through”. (Most of the time people forget to mute and don’t know they are not muted). This can be done by saying “Excuse the interruption, I’m going to clear the line” and then press *5 keys. You then could say, “Whoever was sharing please press *1 and begin again,” or “Whoever would now like to share please press *1 to unmute yourself.”
3. Some meetings have multiple readers. The extra unmuted lines will cause the reading to be heard by some but not by other members.
Here are some suggestions.
1. Organize the readers so they know the order they will be reading.
2. Then tell the rest of the readers to mute until a few seconds before it is their turn to read.
3. After each member reads remind them to mute again.
4. (AS A Rule of Thumb), just because you can hear does not mean that other members can. These phones meetings have global coverage. Not all phones have equal sound. Only one line unmuted at a time will keep a clear worldwide phone line for everyone during the meeting.
These 4 technical points can promote safety, warmth and recovery similar to face to face meetings. This was written to assist you to know and understand the phone bridge technical features.
Thank you for taking the time to read these suggestions. If you need help, just ask. Congratulations on doing service and beginning the flow that opens our heart to what it already knows---that we all need each other.
Sincerely,
Your Web Coordinator
The Meeting Format Starts Now
(This is the part you read out loud)
FORMAT:
TUESDAY 4 PM STEP TEN MEETING
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to the Tuesday 4 PM Step Ten Meeting
1. My name is ____________, a grateful Al-Anon member and your
chair/secretary for this meeting.
2. Let’s open with a moment of silence for those family members still
suffering inside and outside of these rooms, followed by the Serenity Prayer.
PHONE
ETIQUETTE:
a. Prior to joining the meeting, we ask members to temporarily disable their call waiting by dialing *70 before calling the number to the phone bridge (example *70-1-712-432-8733). If a member does not disable their call waiting, we may hear your conversation or beeping.
b. When you dial in, you will start the conference being muted.
c. Stay muted at all times unless you are sharing. You can un-mute by pressing your *1 keys. You will hear a voice saying “you are now un-muted”. Some phones do not have a long enough beep for the muting and un-muting to happen. You may have to press *1 several times for this function to work. When the voice comes on, you will know that the *1 keys have worked.
d. We ask members to use the *1keys to mute even if they have a mute function on their individual phones. The *1 keys ensures the greatest sound strength for the entire phone line and provides the greatest service to all members of the phone bridge during the meeting.
e. Please do not use a speaker phone for sharing or we will all hear an echo. Some speaker phones will not mute even when pressing your *1 keys.
f. To hear a menu of all the features--such as volume control or member count--simply press * by itself.
g. By group conscience, a person who has been warned 3 times in one meeting of intentionally disrupting the meeting by interrupting a share, cross talk or background noise will be taken off the meeting for one month. After the month is up, they will be allowed to rejoin the phone meeting again.
READINGS:
Would someone please read:
a. Al-Anon’s 12 Steps (Please read the Twelve Steps with the
introductory paragraph)
b. Tradition (Please read the Tradition of the month with the
introductory paragraph)
c. Concept of the month (Please read the concept of the month with the
introductory paragraph)
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
4. 7th Tradition: Al-Anon is fully self-supporting,
declining outside
contributions. Although
we have no expenses related to this phone bridge, we ask that you send your
contributions directly to Al-Anon’s World Service office stating it is from the
Tuesday 4pm Step 10 Meeting WSO ID 30536820 or donate to your regional
offices, area offices or give at your local meeting.
a. Al-Anon
literature is available:
World Service Number 757-563-1600 or Al-Anon’s website: www.al-anon.alateen.org
Meeting time schedule will be read at the end of the meeting after numbers are given out
6. Let’s go around the globe and introduce ourselves. Hi, I am
______(Name) from (_______State___)
7. Are there any Al-Anon related announcements?
8. Are there any available Al-Anon sponsors on the line?
9. Do we have any Al-Anon newcomers today…either new to Al-Anon
or to this bridge? Please give us your first name so we may greet you.
10. Do we have a volunteer on the line today that can stay after the
phone meeting and greet the newcomers and provide information of the phone
etiquette or on Al-Anon?
[Group Conscious Meeting for this group is on the 1st Tuesday of the Month]
MEETING TOPIC: The reading and study of StepTen.
Reading from The Twelve &Twelve pg 61
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted
it: Each of the preceding Steps especially Steps Four through Nine Helped
prepare us for Step Ten. Through those Steps we acknowledged the
importance of recognizing our shortcomings and admitting them. We also
realized that for the Twelve Steps to become a way of life for us, we would
continue to observe and evaluate ourselves.
Secretary asks for readers to each read a page from:
1st week of month
Paths to Recovery (Up to Members share)
2nd week of month How Al-Anon Works
3rd week of month 3 Meditation Books
4th week of month Twelve & Twelve (To end of Step Ten)
5th week of month Speaker on Step Ten (15-20 minutes)
11. SPEAKER (Ask someone who has been in the program for
at least one year and has done all the Steps using Al-Anon approved Literature
and has turned them over to their Sponsor) if they would like to qualify for 5
minutes on Step Ten.
(On the fifth week of the month a Speaker shares for 15-20 minutes on Step Ten)
12. ANONYMITY STATEMENT: In Al-Anon, this is a gentle
reminder that we speak from our own experience and ours is derived from living
with the effects of alcoholism. We ask those who are members of other anonymous
programs not to break their anonymity and to try and identify with the Al-Anon
approach for the family illness. Ours is a different experience and calls for a
different interpretation.
13. TIME KEEPER AND SHARING: There is a three minute time limit for shares. When the spiritual timekeeper says time it means please wrap-up your share. Also when the spiritual time keeper says time, please acknowledge that you heard them, by saying maybe “thank you, I’ll just wrap up”. This way the time keeper doesn’t have to repeat themselves. Do we have a volunteer to be our spiritual timer? Would our spiritual timer like to share first?
CLOSING: Suggested Al-Anon Closing
In closing I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were
strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you liked and leave the
rest.
The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as
confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room and the confines of your
mind.
A few special words to those of you who haven’t been with us long:
Whatever your problems, there are those among us who have had them too. If you
try to keep an open mind you will find help. You will come to realize that
there is no situation too difficult to be bettered and no unhappiness too great
to be lessened.
We aren’t perfect. The welcome we give you may not show the
warmth we have in our hearts for you. After a while, you’ll discover that
though you may not like all of us, you’ll love us in a very special way – the
same way we already love you.
Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, but let there be
no gossip or criticism of one another. Instead, let the understanding, love and
peace of the program grow in you one day at a time. (Al-Anon/Alateen Service
Manual pg.24)
14. Welcome newcomers, thank the readers, spiritual timekeeper and all
who read and shared.
MEETING SCHEDULE- Meeting schedule and phone bridge information can be accessed on the web at www.alanonphonemeetings.org. Format changes, determined by the group conscience of each autonomous meeting, can be emailed to alanonphonemeetings@yahoo.com. As per group conscience, proposals for new meetings and format drafts ideas can be brought to the Group Conscience Meeting on the 4th Saturday of every month at 1:30 EST.
All Eastern Time Zones on the phone number and pin you dialed in for this meeting.
8am
Saturday and Sunday
9am
Weekdays (Monday thru
Friday)
11am
Sunday
Noon
Monday ----- Saturday
2pm Sunday
4pm
7 days a week
8pm
7 days a week
10pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
and Saturday
12 midnight Thursday
15. Al-Anon’s Declaration found in Paths to Recovery Roman Numeral page IX (9)
Let It
Begin With Me
When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,
let the hand of Al-Anon and Alateen
always be there, and---Let It Begin With Me.
(Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual pg.24)
Serenity Prayer
God
grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
(Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual pg. 12)
16. Meeting is now closed!
Names & Telephone Numbers:
Ask for names of members they want phone for and ask those members to stay on
the line and give out their phone numbers. The Phone Bridge closes @ 25 minutes
after the meeting.
17. Secretary turns the meeting over to the newcomer greeter for approximately 25 minutes after the meetings closes.