Tuesday 9am - 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:

Al-Anon’s Tuesday 9:00am Step One Beginners Meeting

INTRODUCTION:

1.           Hi I am ---- your secretary for this meeting. We Welcome you to the Tues 9:00 am Step One Beginners Meeting. The intention of this meeting is for newcomers to Al-Anon to feel welcome and to know how important you are to our fellowship. All AL-anon members are always welcome here. The topic for this meeting is the reading of Step One. We hope that the reading and study of the Step will help the newcomer feel that they are part of our Al-Anon Family Group.

2.           Let all who wish to unmute by pressing * 1 and join us to say the SERENITY PRAYER

3.           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 *1 keys 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. 

 

 

4.           Ask for volunteers to read Al-Anon’s 12  Steps

Ask for volunteers to read the tradition of the month

 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1.           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 to WSO or make donations at face to face meetings. Our WSO ID is 30534439. 

 

2.           Let’s go around the globe and introduce ourselves. 

Hi, I am _________(Name)_____  from (_______State___)

 

3.           Are there any Al-Anon related announcements?

[Business Meeting is on the 1st Tuesday of the Month]   

  

MEETING TOPIC: Leader asks for readers to read Step One from: (note only say the appropriate weeks reading)

4.           1st week of month How Al-Anon Works
2nd week of the month 12&12   (to end of Step One)
3rd week of the month Paths To Recovery (up to Members share)
4th week of month  3 Meditation books (One Day at a Time, Hope for Today, Courage to Change)
5th week of month Speaker on Step One 15-20 minutes

5.           (Ask someone who has been in the program for at least 6 months and has done Step One, Two and Three and has turned them over to their Sponsor ) if they would like to qualify for 5 minutes on Step One (If no one steps up the leader may qualify or open the meeting for sharing)
(On the fifth week of the month a Speaker shares for 15-20 minutes)

*Ask if speaker wants to leave their number?

 

6.           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.

 

7.           TIMEKEEPER: ASK FOR TIMEKEEPER: We have 3 minute shares do we have a volunteer to be our spiritual timekeeper? Please be gentle when you call time. When you hear the timekeeper call time please let them know you heard them by saying Thank you, I’ll wrap up, etc. 

 

12. OPEN FOR SHARING: We are now open for 3 minute sharing we invite newcomers and people new to the bridge to share first (Note to secretary after a few newcomers sharing is open to everyone)

13. CLOSING: At this meeting people may ask for numbers or give out their numbers will get names now and numbers after the meeting ends. We will also read the list of all the Al-anon phone meetings on the phone bridge after the meeting closes. The bridge remains open for questions and sharing after the official meeting ends. At this meeting fellowship continues as long as there are 2 people on the line or until the next scheduled meeting.  Are there any available sponsors? Is there someone who can stay after the meeting to greet newcomers and answer questions and continue the sharing?

THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR SERVICE

SERENITY PRAYER:

FORMAL MEETING IS NOW CLOSED:

GET AND NUMBERS FROM PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO GIVE THEM

OPEN FOR MORE FELLOWSHIP AND TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FROM

 

NEWCOMERS OR PEOPLE NEW TO THE BRIDGE