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 Thursday, February 28, 2008
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Free Conferencing Utilities

confCallPhone
Photo By: just_skizo

 

Being a consultant has its challenges and conference calls can be one of them. If your company does not offer a conference line for you, or perhaps you're a consultant or freelancer yourself, hosting conference calls can be a challenge and costly if you're not aware of how long the call is going to be.

Thankfully there are other options. Below is a small list of some of the free conferencing utilities available on the net. Each offer their own set of unique options.

Update 2008-02-29: Rondee's founder contacted me and wanted everyone to know:

I'll be happy to provide a demo of Rondee to any of your readers.  They can reach me at andre [at] rondeeinc [dot] com.

Andre D. Vanier
Founder, Rondee

Thanks Andre!

 

Free Services

  • Rondee.com
    • Free Services Offered:
      • Scheduled Call: Conferences are scheduled ahead of time.
        • Web Based Caller Management (viewable to all)
        • Automated Email Invitations
        • Organizer can opt to record the call and all attendee's can download later - oh man, this would be so helpful in those situations where this happens: Client: "I never said that." You: "Um.. yes you did, I have it recorded." OH SNAP! I WIN!
  • FreeConference.com
    • Free Services Offered:
      • Web-Scheduled - Conferences are scheduled ahead of time.
        • Maximum Callers: 150
        • Max Length of call: 4 hours
        • Automated Email Invitations
        • Outlook/Lotus calendaring
      • Reservationless Standard - You get a phone number to call with an access code. As many people as you want can call in and conference.
        • Maximum callers: 150
        • Max Length of call: 3 hours
  • FreeConferenceCall.com
    • Free Services Offered
      • No need to schedule ahead of time.
      • Available 24/7
      • Up to 96 callers
      • Up to 6 hours for a conference call
      • Free recording
        • Distribute Via RSS/Podcast
  • FreeAudioConferencing.com
    • Free Services Offered
      • 100 Callers per conference
      • Available 24/7
      • No need to schedule ahead of time
  • Freenet.com
    • Free Services offered
      • Available 24/7
      • 100 callers per conference
      • 3 Hour conference length
      • Toll Free Dial in number
  • InstantConference.com
    • Free Services Offered
      • Dedicated dial-in number and
        access codes; never expires
      • Additional access codes available
      • Free recording
      • No reservations needed
      • Up to 150 callers on each call
      • Post call and monthly reports
  • Foonz.com (Group calling - See site for more info)
    • Free Services Offered
      • Instant or scheduled calls
      • Leave group messages
  • The Basement Ventures
    • Free Services Offered
      • 250 callers per conference
      • Reservation-less, on demand calling
      • MP3 Call recording

Then there's Mobivox. Its not really conferencing but it does allow you to call anyone in the world, FOR FREE. The only thing is, both users (caller and and receiver) must be a member of Mobivox. Not a bad deal if you ask me. You can call members via Land Lines and mobile phones. There are restrictions to locations, so check out the free section of the site here.

Hopefully this helps some of you out there who are in a bind for conference lines. :)

#    Comments [4] |
Friday, February 29, 2008 1:46:41 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Thanks for the mention Donn,

I'll be happy to provide a demo of Rondee to any of your readers. They can reach me at andre [at] rondeeinc [dot] com

Andre D. Vanier
Founder, Rondee
Andre Vanier
Friday, February 29, 2008 9:07:09 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Donn,

Check out www.talkshoe.com; it's Community Calling. That is conference calling with integrated chat, recording, broadcasting (streaming) and podcasting. TalkShoe enables anyone to easily create, join or listen to group (voice) conversations, discussions, audio talk shows, live interactive podcasts, or audio blogs; we call these Community Calls. We’re voice on any telephones: regular phones, mobile phones, and/or computer phones (VoIP phones, and Skype). TalkShoe has a massively scalable tier-one hardware telecommunications platform housed in a telco at the core, and we are integrated over the Internet and down to each person’s desktop or telephone - providing a free consumer teleconferencing service. It is 10, 25, 250 (or more!) people on a single call.

Brian (the TalkShoe team)
Brian Schuliger
Friday, February 29, 2008 9:41:57 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
I represent Great America Networks Conferencing, so as a disclosure, this reply will have a sales spin to it favoring my company, but it also will only hold true information.

I never bash another competitor and wouldn't do so here, but there are downsides to using a free service. The first and most obvious reason is that is a long distance toll call and for higher attendance to your event, toll-free is always going to be appreciated by your participants. Another limit (as mentioned right on their website) is that there is a chance some of your callers might get a busy signal, or locked out. A risk you have to take. For recording, it seems to work well, but it is only 1 recording at a time. If these are factors that don't impact your business, then this might be the best way for you to go.

As for pay services, the things to look for (outside of price) is quality and service. We have a full Compunetrix audio bridge with redundant ports and fully scalable. Crystal clear and without drops. If someone gets dropped, or your audio isn't clear, we will pay for the call. Full guarantee of service. This is a solid state service and not VOIP which is shaky at best.

As for customer service, we utilize a dedicated account manager. If there is anything needed, you can always, within reason ( I am human), get a hold of me or whoever your manager would be. the same person you deal with instead of 1 of 1000 people. New services or access codes, technical problems, scheduling operator assisted calls, help with recording or any training, all run through your account manager. Few other companies can offer that level of personalized service.

We offer as many recordings as needed. Accessible from any phone or as a free downloadable wav file. Only charge is 7 cents per minute you are recording, or listening on a phone.

Pricewise, I offer our lowest price of 6 cents per minute/connection for toll-free service to anyone that contacts me through any comment I make on our service on the web. We also offer WebConferencing and VideoConferencing capabilities as you might need them. No long contracts. No credit card required, (we will invoice you). No minimums (if you bill $1.50 in conferencing usage, that would be the invoice you receive). No hidden fees. No tricks. Just great service as a good rate.

Anyone can contact me for any further information.

Anthony Russo
Great America Networks Conferencing
arusso@ganconference.com
www.ganconference.com
312-432-5377
Anthony Russo
Saturday, March 01, 2008 2:58:29 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Hi Donn,

I am the Director of Marketing at MOBIVOX, and appreciate you mentioning our service in this blog post. Over the next few weeks we will be launching some really cool new features and services. If you or any of your readers would like to be beta testers of these new features before they launch to the public, please let me know, and I would be happy to set everyone up.

Take care,
Darren
Darren Yaphe
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