The Northern California Region of Nar-Anon Family Groups includes groups hundreds of miles apart. While it is preferrable to have face-to-face business meetings for committees and assemblies, that is not always practical. There are several services that could be used over the internet or by phone to hold meetings by teleconferencing. Any of them can be used at the discretion of the group.

The NCR Tech & Web Subcommittee has chosen an inexpensive service that can be connected by both phone and internet and does not require participants to provide their information to the host before the meeting.

(Click on the topics below to see more information.)

The region has created an account for a conferencing service that is easy to use, can be accessed either by phone or internet, and doesn't cost anything for most people. (However phone access could incur long distance charges if your phone does not provide nation-wide calling.) It features voice, video, screen-sharing, group and private text-chat, optional recording, and up to 24 hours per meeting. This account is with "Zoom".

This service is provided for the use by any of the NCR business meetings. Areas could also use it for business meetings upon requiest, provided it does not conflict with a scheduled NCR meeting.

It is not recommended that this account be used where anonymity is a priority, such as groups where our experience is being shared, because the connection information on this page is public and allows anyone to join the meeting. If the need arises, we may create another account that is not listed on this website, for meetings that must preserve anonymity. The general instructions would still apply, except for the phone number, access code, and meeting id, which would be provided privately.

When teleconference services are used with Nar-Anon, we need to recognize that we need to maintain anonymity with respect to the public and newcomers. Many teleconferencing services are known to expose personal information if hosts and participants do not take care with the settings and usage. For service meetings, such as committee meetings and assemblies, we generally do not expect there to be any newcomers, so we do not have as much concern with disclosing our names to each other as we would when newcomers or other members of the public join the meeting. However, because this service is posted on this website, it is possible for the public to join the meeting even when there is no reason for them to do so. If this service is also used for group meetings, even more care needs to be exercised so that everyone remains anonymous.

When joining a meeting by telephone, this service allows the caller-id to be blocked. (This is usually done by pressing "*67" before the phone number given here.)

When joining a meeting by app as a participant, you can log out of the app first before joining the meeting. Then, when joining the meeting, only your first name needs be entered. This will prevent the personal details connected to the Zoom account from being revealed.

When hosting a meeting by app, you must be logged in. If this account is used, it does not contain any personal details, and it starts out with the name "Norcal Nar-Anon". This can be changed after the meeting has started by opening the participants window, clicking on "Norcal Nar-Anon", and setting it to your first name. If you are using your personal account to host a meeting, you will probably want to first adjust the profile so that the last name and other details are not included.

Intruders is another concern — people who do not belong in the meeting, and might seek to do harm, either by broadcasing offensive content, or by obtaining personal details. This account has settings to minimize this risk, however it is still significant since the meeting id is posted on this website. Here are the settings used to minimize the risk:

• Participants may not make recordings of the meeting through the Zoom app. (However, recordings could still be made by simply using a second device to record the image and audio presented by the first device.)
• Participants may not share their screen unless permitted by the host. (However, offensive content could still be sent to the meeting through the webcam.)
• Participants may not control the screen shared by the host, nor the host's webcam.
• If an intruder is removed from the meeting, they may not re-enter the meeting. (However, this probably does not prevent re-entry from a different device. The host can also lock the meeting to prevent any additional persons from joining the meeting.)

In addition, hosts could use these controls during the meeting:

• If an intruder causes a problem during the meeting, the host may remove them from the meeting using the participants window.
• After the meeting has begun, and all expected participants have joined, the host can lock meeting so that no additional people can join. This can be used along with the first action to prevent intruders from rejoining.
• The host can activate the "waiting room" feature. This puts all persons joining the meeting into a "waiting room", from which the host can allow them to come into the meeting, either individually, or all at once. This is less drastic than locking the meeting, but just about as effective.

There are other concerns with privacy using Zoom. There has been a lot of discussion on the internet concerning this. Some of this information is credible, some overstated, and some dubious. There is too much to cover that here, and for most of it, there is little that can be done except to use a different service, which may have both similar and different concerns.

Phone number: 6699009128

Meeting id:

• It's good to mute yourself when others are speaking. This avoids transmitting background noise and feedback. You can press star, 6 (*6), to mute and unmute yourself.
• The host's pin number will be provided to committee chairpersons, and others upon request.
• The video, screen sharing, and text chat features cannot be used with a phone line connection.

Meeting id:

Web Page

• Before the meeting starts, check to see if the app needs to be updated.
• It's good to mute yourself when others are speaking. This avoids transmitting background noise and feedback. You can mute/unmute yourself by clicking on the microphone icon.
• The host's password will be given to committee chairpersons and other persons upon request.
• If you are the host and want to leave the meeting while the others continue, you can do so, but be careful you don't end the meeting. The meeting can continue up to 45 minutes after the last host has left.

The Northern California Region of Nar-Anon Family Groups includes groups hundreds of miles apart. While it is preferrable to have face-to-face business meetings for committees and assemblies, that is not always practical. There are several services that could be used over the internet or by phone to hold meetings by teleconferencing. Any of them can be used at the discretion of the group.

The NCR Tech & Web Subcommittee has subscribed to a free service that can be connected by both phone and internet and does not require participants to provide their information to the host before the meeting. While this service provides both audio and video, there have been some service problems, especially when using video, due to the high volume of use. That is why another service is preferred at this time.

(Click on the topics below to see more information.)

The region has created an account for a conferencing service that is easy to use, can be accessed either by phone or internet, and doesn't cost anything for most people. (However phone access could incur long distance charges if your phone does not provide nation-wide calling.) It features voice, video, screen-sharing, group and private text-chat, optional recording, and up to 6 hours per meeting. This account is with "Free Conference Call".

This service is provided for the use by any of the NCR business meetings. Areas could also use it for business meetings upon requiest, provided it does not conflict with a scheduled NCR meeting.

It is not recommended that this account be used where anonymity is a priority, such as groups where our experience is being shared, because the connection information on this page is public and allows anyone to join the meeting. If the need arises, we may create another account that is not listed on this website, for meetings that must preserve anonymity. The general instructions would still apply, except for the phone number, access code, and meeting id, which would be provided privately.

When teleconference services are used with Nar-Anon, we need to recognize that we need to maintain anonymity with respect to the public and newcomers. Many teleconferencing services are known to expose personal information if hosts and participants do not take care with the settings and usage. For service meetings, such as committee meetings and assemblies, we generally do not expect there to be any newcomers, so we do not have as much concern with disclosing our names to each other as we would when newcomers or other members of the public join the meeting. However, because this service is posted on this website, it is possible for the public to join the meeting even when there is no reason for them to do so. If this service is also used for group meetings, even more care needs to be exercised so that everyone remains anonymous.

When joining a meeting by telephone, this service allows the caller-id to be blocked. (This is usually done by pressing "*67" before the phone number given here.)

When joining a meeting by app as a participant, you can log out of the app first before joining the meeting. Then, when joining the meeting, only your first name needs be entered. This will prevent the personal details connected to the Free Conference Call account from being revealed.

When hosting a meeting by app, you must be logged in. If this account is used, it does not contain any personal details, and it starts out with the name "Norcal Nar-Anon". This can be changed before or after the meeting has started by opening the preferences (not profile), and setting the name to your first name.

Intruders is another concern — people who do not belong in the meeting, and might seek to do harm, either by broadcasing offensive content, or by obtaining personal details. Hosts could use these controls during the meeting:

• If an intruder causes a problem during the meeting, the host may remove them from the meeting using the participants window.
• After the meeting has begun, and all expected participants have joined, the host can lock meeting so that no additional people can join. This can be used along with the first action to prevent intruders from rejoining.

There may be other concerns with privacy using FreeConferenceCall. There is little that can be done except to use a different service, which may have both similar and different concerns.

Phone number: (605) 313-5490 (This could change infrequently, check this page again to be sure.)

Access code: 471-353#

• If you hear a lot of static when you first connect, it usually helps to hang up and reconnect.
• It's good to mute yourself when others are speaking. This avoids transmitting background noise and feedback. You can press star, 6 (*6), to mute and unmute yourself.
• The host's pin number will be provided to committee chairpersons, and others upon request.
• The video, screen sharing, and text chat features cannot be used with a phone line connection.

Meeting id: naranonnorcal.org

Web Page freeconferencecall.com/wall/naranonnorcal.org

• To install the app, you can find an app for most operating systems and devices at: freeconferencecall.com/downloads
• Before the meeting starts, check to see if the app needs to be updated.
• It's good to mute yourself when others are speaking. This avoids transmitting background noise and feedback. You can mute/unmute yourself by clicking on the microphone icon.
• The host's password will be given to committee chairpersons and other persons upon request.
• If you are the host and want to leave the meeting while the others continue, you can do so, but be careful you don't end the meeting. The meeting can continue up to 45 minutes after the last host has left.

You can find complete instructions on the Free Conference Call website:

• For Participants
• For Hosts