Cingular Good
2011
Conference Call Meetings - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
It sounds too good to be true: free conference call meetings. As the old saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In fact, when it comes to holding a free conference call, there's a good side, bad side, and darned right ugly side. Let's start with the good.
Free Conference Calling – The Good
Holding conference call meetings with your colleagues allows you to communicate with a geographically diverse group of people over the telephone. With a free conference call, not only does the meeting over the phone save you money, it doesn't cost you anything! Theoretically, all participants call a toll free phone number and can communicate without incurring any additional fees.
Free Conference Calling – The Bad
However, one has to wonder how a service can be completely free. After all, businesses are in business to make a profit and you can't make a profit if you don't sell anything. This leads us to the bad: your free conference call may not be as free as you think.
For example, some free conference calling plans do not provide callers with toll free numbers to call. While the call may be free for those in local calling area, anyone outside of the area will have to pay their own long distance carriers' standard long distance calling rates. When callers are responsible for paying their own way, they may be less likely to join the meeting; for those that do call in may limit their time and they may exit the call prematurely due to concerns about cost.
Another way that businesses make money by offering free conference calls is by selling advertising. When you host your conference call meetings with free services that use advertising to generate revenue, all of the participants must listen to an annoying advertisement.
Free Conference Calling – The Ugly
And yet, another concern involves a practice where free conference calling services make deals with local carriers to split the connection fees paid by the long distance carrier to connect to the local number. These fees are a standard part of the heavily regulated telecommunications industry. When you make a long distance call, including a free conference call to a long distance phone number, your long distance carrier must pay a fee to the local carrier to connect to that phone number. Because local connection fees vary, it's plausible that a free conference calling service could contract with a high fee carrier and then split the difference.
What do these backroom deals mean to you? In the past, callers have been blocked from attending conference call meetings by their long distance carriers who dispute the practice. In addition, the higher costs incurred by long distance carriers could be passed on to consumers across the board, resulting in higher long distance costs for everyone. In 2007, AT&T/Cingular is reported to have blocked callers to a free conference call provider's long distance numbers. That same year, AT&T was reportedly stuck with a phone bill for connection fees in Iowa that went from about $2000 one month to $2 million the next apparently due to a free calling service having exploited a loophole in the interconnection process.
Free conference call meetings have their good, bad, and ugly points. Fortunately, paid calling plans eliminate the pitfalls of "free" and they are more affordable than you may realize.
About the Author
AIT provides a variety of conference call meeting services including toll free conference calls, international conference calls, flat rate unlimited conference calling plans, and toll free buckets of minutes. Pay as you go plans allow you to call with confidence without incurring monthly fees.
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