A guide to staying connected

Use landlines and mobiles for conference calls

If you aren’t able to meet in person, it’s still possible to hold small or large group meetings by phone. The options below are suitable for landlines and mobiles, or a combination:

• 3-way calls: the price and set up will depend on your phone supplier. The organiser’s handset needs to have an ‘R’ Recall button. Typically, up to 3 people can join for the price of a standard phone call.
  User guide for BT customers
  User guide for Virgin customers
  Other suppliers provide their own guides online.
• Conference calls for more people – perhaps even the full partnership, with all joining on landlines or mobiles, or a combination. The organiser needs an internet connection to set up the account and arrange the call, but all other participants can join without internet. Meet Up Call offers a free account for the first 5 calls, and you can arrange for people to be called by the system, so all they have to do is answer their phone at the agreed time.

Use ‘virtual meeting’ tools

The benefit of a virtual meeting is that you can often have a lot of people together, and if you can see each other it can be sociable and fun. We recommend:

• Local Trust Workplace messenger: If you are signed up to Workplace (see below), the messaging option allows you to hold a call with up to 50 people at once. It also supports video calls on some devices. You will need an internet connection and data to join in.
• Facebook messenger: Facebook messenger also allows you to have a call with up to 50 people at once. You will need an internet connection and data to join in.
• Zoom: This is a free call/video conferencing tool. The person setting up the call will need to have internet, but others can call in on a freephone number. You can find out more about Zoom for Big Local areas here.

There is a lot Big Local partnerships can do to coordinate and keep working together, even when you can’t be in the same room. Our Digital Toolkit is a good introduction to simple ways to increase your use of tools. It includes information on:

• How to keep team communication up
• How to share documents and take meeting notes
• How to make decisions

Digital Toolkit: https://localtrust.org.uk/big-local/programme-guidance/digital-toolkit/

Our website includes lots of useful information and stories about what other Big Local areas are doing and is always kept up to date with the latest, essential news:

News from Local Trust: https://localtrust.org.uk/news-and-stories/news/

News from Big Local: https://localtrust.org.uk/news-and-stories/news/?_sft_programme=big-local

Events: https://localtrust.org.uk/big-local/events/

Programme guidance in 2 categories (essential and helpful): https://localtrust.org.uk/big-local/programme-guidance/

Our website also has links to Local Trust on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube

Local Trust Workplace

Workplace was designed to help Big Local areas and groups be more connected and work together, when people can’t be in the same room. Reps, partners and Local Trust staff are also part of Workplace

The really useful things about Workplace are:

1. Workplace is made by Facebook, so it is very easy to use (if you know how to use Facebook). But unlike Facebook it is just for working on Big Local, so it keeps your Big Local and personal lives separate.
2. Big Local Partnerships can create their own groups, where you can:

• Share documents
• Host online meetings
• Write notes, share videos and keep in touch.
• Hold polls to find out what people in the partnership think

It’s also a really useful place to connect to other Big Local areas and find out what they are doing and share and learn. There are lots of groups on everything from isolation and loneliness, to regional groups.

To sign up for Local Trust Workplace, email us at info@localtrust.org.uk

Once you’ve registered, you login here: https://localtrust.workplace.com/

Once you’ve logged in there’s a guide to getting started on Workplace.

If you would like advice on using remote working tools, like Workplace, or Zoom, please contact Georgie.burr@localtrust.org.uk

What can I do to stay safe online?

• Use a good virus scanner and run it regularly on your computer. Bitdefender.com offers services (paid and free) for Windows, Apple and Android
• Don’t open attachments unless you are sure of where they were sent from
• Keep your software up to date
• Use reliable sources to access information about concerns of using online tools
• Set difficult to guess passwords (20 characters with a mix of upper and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols) and a different password for every site, use a password manager. Apple products have this built in. There are many apps for Android and Windows users, Dashlane is a good, free password management tool.