Conference Call Costs

Conference call ratings, while fairly standard as either per minute per user, or on a flat per seat fee, must be thoroughly studied when a firm starts comparison shopping among the various Web conferencing vendors. The billing process should be thoroughly understood before you even start comparing and researching your various conference call ratings options.

Looking around the Internet for conference call vendors, for example, would yield a number of firms that purport to have free conference calling. When you first look at the information it does seem to be a free service. The fine print tells a different tale of these vendor’s conference call ratings, however. Generally, free conferencing call ratings means free to the attendees but with a hefty fee to the firm organizing and presenting the Web conference.

One conference call services vendor advertising free ratings offers free standard telephone conferencing either scheduled or reservationless. Let’s take a look at each.

The Web-scheduled telephone conferencing requires a signup for a user account, managed and scheduled from any Web browser, without operator assistance needed.

Where the ratings come in for these conference call services is not from the vendor, but rather from the participants’ telephone carrier. The phone number used for entry into the conference call is not toll free and so some participants may incur long distance charges for their attendance. This vendor’s free service can be used for up to 100 participants for up to three hours in length. Private and secure, the conference call is real time, with automatic e-mail invitation services and RSVP with replying comments.

Ratings for a conference call service that includes access by a toll free number and recording of the call are 10 cents per user per minute from this vendor.

With the selection of conference call recording services for this low rating, the conference is recorded automatically as an audio digital file in MP3 format. This allows its playback on digital audio players and multimedia capable computers. The recording download allows the conference call to be shared as you see fit to as many as you wish.

In addition to the 10 cent conference call service rating the presenting firm will also pay a $10 recording fee that included computer downloads of an unlimited number as well as playback by phone, both for up to ten days after the call. Additional ten day extensions are $10 each.