This is a question we get all the time. On the face of it, why would you pay a subscription for a conference call service when there are companies out there offering free conference calls?
Head over to Google and search for ‘Free conference call providers’ and you’ll be presented with a whole host of companies all offering their services free of charge. However, if you’re a natural sceptic like me you’ll think that when something sounds too good to be true, it’s usually because it is.
After all, any business in the world needs to make money for them to be able to operate. So how do these free conference call providers make any money if they’re not charging you to use their service?
Well, the most common answer to this is that they use premium rate phone numbers. So, whilst you don’t pay the conference call provider to use their service, both you and your attendees will have to dial an expensive phone number in order to join the conference call. The conference call provider then receives a cut from the company that provides the premium rate telephone numbers.
Essentially, they still get their hands on your money. They just get someone else to collect it for them.
Not only will this give you a nasty shock when your phone bill arrives at the end of the month, but your attendee’s will also end up with an unexpected charge on their phone bill – something that you may want to avoid especially if they’re important clients or potential customers.
What’s the alternative?
If you need to make conference calls – even if it’s just one call a month – and you want to avoid any nasty surprises on your phone bill, then you should consider subscribing to a dedicated conference call service like Meetupcall.
Whilst this will mean a small monthly subscription fee, it will give you access to hundreds of local dial-in numbers around the globe. This means that both you and your attendees’ phone bills will not be affected, as the time spent on your call will come out of the bundled minutes from your telephone provider.
What’s more, you’ll have access to a host of other useful features that help you to get more out of your conference calls. Arrange calls with hundreds of delegates in a matter of seconds directly from your calendar app, with invites automatically tailored to suit each attendee’s particular location and timezone.
Other features include ‘Call me when it starts’, multi-user screenshare, secure call recording and much more – adding value to your conference calls every step of the way, and helping you to get more out of every meeting.
