free conference call
Toll Free Conference Call Providers
Toll free conference call providers offer conferencing services that allow the participants of the conference to call in on a cost free phone number, instead of a regular cell phone number or landline telephone number, which costs the user minutes, money, or both. While this may cost the company, or private person, putting on the conference a bit more money, it can save the people calling in a ton on their long distance or cell phone bill. Having a cost free call-in number also increases the number of participants willing to come to your call, so having a toll free conference call number is especially important if you’re going to be holding your conference for sales and marketing, or meeting with potential clients.
Over the last few years, many companies have moved from face to face meetings, to regular phone-in conferencing, then to call in webinars with slide show capabilities, to fully video capable conference calling. And with full video, those meetings can once again be face to face, but at a fraction of the cost and hassles of traveling around the country or overseas. Many conference call providers, who offer toll free call-in numbers, also offer the technology to hold webinars and secure video conferencing over a company’s own VPN’s. And, with some of the cool tools available now, like the ability to record your presentations, the webinars, conference calls and video conferences can now be posted on a company’s website, or YouTube, and used for marketing or training purposes, with no additional costs.
Some conferencing provider companies are now offering international toll free numbers for companies that have branches overseas, or who need to meet with suppliers or buyers, or who need to collaborate with international work teams. International toll free numbers usually cost more per minute than an American toll free number, but are usually cheaper than the individual cost of the conferencees all making extended international long distance calls.
A few of the many providers now offering conference calling with free dial-in numbers are The Conference Group, who also offer international toll free call-in numbers, AccuConference and MegaMeeting, whose rates start at 6.9 cents per minute. All of these companies offer Lecture Mode, Mute Mode, Moderator Dial Out, Digital Recording & Playback and more. And, all of these companies let you set up a reservationless conference calling account for free, with no monthly minimum minutes, or fees, to worry about.
Are Free Conference Call Services Really Free?
We have all heard the expression “there is no such thing as a free lunch” but with so many companies purporting to offer free conference call services is the famous idiom outdated?
The answer depends on how you define the term “free”. After much research into this subject I have managed to come to some interesting conclusions. I have looked at the following available options to assess their effectiveness for business conference calls.
1. Free conference calls using Skype
2. Free telephone conferencing using non-geographic numbers (NGN’s)
Free conference calls using Skype
Many of you reading this will have heard of Skype which allows you to make free voice calls over the internet (Voice over Internet Protocol or VOIP for short). If have a PC or laptop and a good quality headset connected to a broadband internet service with sufficient bandwidth then you can hold a conference call with a limited number of participants without paying a thing.
The incremental cost of the conference call is zero, but the setup costs are considerable unless you already have the equipment described above. As the cost of computer equipment falls and bandwidths get better, more people than ever now have the required platform and hence Skype is an ideal solution for some people.
Our experiences with in call quality with Skype vary considerably. During quiet times when our internet connection is not busy we get excellent results in call quality, however it can be somewhat unreliable so we don’t consider it robust enough for important business calls or ones where there are a large number of people.
Skype summary: The actual conference calls are free, but you need to have invested in the computer equipment and internet connection first. Limited number of participants and lack of reliability make it unsuitable for key business conference calls, where reliability is a must. There are other VOIP services that may be more reliable and economical then Skype, here are some other VOIP services compared
Free telephone conferencing using non-geographic numbers (NGN’s)
This type of free telephone conferencing allows audio conferencing participants to dial into a non-geographic telephone number to hold their conference call. It’s important that you understand what a non-geographic number is and how telephone operators – or “telcos” – charge for calls to them.
As the name suggests, a non-geographic telephone number (NGN) is a telephone number that does not terminate at any fixed location. Instead, when you call an NGN, the telco redirects the call to a “real” telephone number. In the USA the most famous type of NGN is the 1-800 free phone number. When you call a 1-800 number you have no idea where the operator who takes your call is located, they could be anywhere in the world.
Of course, telcos are not in the business of giving away free calls, so someone somewhere has to pay. In the case of the 1-800 number, the company you are calling pays the telco for the cost of the call.
Another type of NGN is a premium rate number. In the UK there are an array of different number ranges some of which cost callers as much as 1.50GBP (nearly 3.00USD!) per minute per call, such as this service. These are often used for “adult” services and chat lines. Companies wishing to promote a premium rate service hire a premium rate number from the telco and advertise their services with the intention of generating large numbers of calls to that number.
When customers call the premium NGN, the telco bills the customer for the call and gives a percentage of the call revenue back to the company who rents the NGN from them. In effect the telco and the company renting the NGN are sharing the revenue from the call. The important point to note here is that customers pay the telco not the company who is renting the premium NGN.
Teleconferencing companies who offer free telephone conference call services use this mode. The commission which the telco pays the audio conference service provider is used to pay for running the conference bridge, advertise the service and (sometimes) to make a profit.
Some telephone conferencing companies advertise this type of audio conference as being a totally free service. But there is almost certainly a charge for the call taking place. Therefore, to benefit from this type of conference call service you need to find an operator who can host a call at an affordable rate with a reliable connection.
This is the closest thing you can get to a truly free telephone conferencing, as they use the cheapest type of revenue generating NGN available in the UK. Namely, one that begins with the dialling code 0844. Some other companies use 0870 or 0871 numbers which are more expensive.
NGN summary: NGN based free teleconferencing services can be useful for small companies and individuals with moderate audio conferencing requirements, however these type of services are usually very basic and not suitable for larger organisations. For larger businesses, supporting greater numbers of participants, teleconferencing services tend to be a better option. As they are more likely to offer the support needed to make the call run uninterrupted on a clear line.
Free Conference Call Reviews and FAQs
Free conference call services on the web may sound tempting for your business, but let us look at the pros and cons of these services. The fundamentals of these services create certain limitations that can make your business suffer.
The Basics of Free Conference Calls
Free conference call services are funded primarily through advertising. In some cases, conference calls are free only for a trial period and then must be paid for. Truly free conference call providers cannot pay for proper customer service through advertising revenue alone. This is why free conferencing is usually just a hook to get customers to sign up for a paid service.
Free Conference Call Customer Service
Consider yourself in a conferencing situation with an international client. You may experience problems with static or line noise making communication awkward. If you cannot resolve the problem quickly through customer service, only the most understanding potential clients would consider giving you a second chance later. Rescheduling because of technical issues is simply unprofessional, unacceptable and likely to cost you a client.
Unfortunately, such line noise problems are common to free conference call services. They often run on public VoIP lines that are affected by innumerable factors, in the same way that Internet transfers and cell phone calls are easily disrupted. Paid services can offer dedicated and stable lines that you can depend on to provide clear call quality at every meeting.
The Problem with Most VoIP Conference Calling Services
In traditional telephone networks, connections have a dedicated line, preventing interruptions in the line of communication. Public IP networks work differently. Information travels wherever links are available. A large file transfer can take up the bandwidth resulting in choppy signals or broken communications.
IP networks are designed with software in mind, not voice. This is why streaming content is buffered before it begins playing on your computer. The buffering allows the program to compensate for disruptions, giving a steady clear stream. This is not possible in real-time, live communications. While buffering could prevent disruption, there will always be a delay as the signal is buffered. This hampers and inhibits rapport building with the client, making it more like using a push to talk system than a two-way interface.
The Solution
Paid services can offer private, dedicated IP networks that eliminate the possibility of file transfer disruptions and other problems. The advertising revenue that free services earn is simply not enough to pay for such an infrastructure.