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Our customers sometimes ask if we use one conference call provider to get the best quality conference call recording. The answer is both yes and no. Clearly, the quality varies between providers. PGi (Premiere Global Services) has the best quality we’ve heard, so we became an agent and have access to all their audio and web conferencing products. However, we’ve also used several free conference call companies because many times our customers already have accounts with a vendor—FreeConference.com and FreeConferenceCall.com seem to be the most popular.
However, there are several disadvantages to using a free service, and some can effect the quality of your recording.
- Many providers move the dial-in number from city to city—most likely because they are chasing the cheapest rates on their end. I’ve also heard that they make money by routing callers to specific local exchange carriers. This means that your “permanent” dial-in number is not so “permanent” after all.
- Free services use toll numbers, so you and your participants will pay long distance charges for the duration of the call.
- Many times the call quality is poor. There are good quality audio conference bridges, and there are not-so-good quality bridges. Which do you think the free services are using?
- Just about all of them charge excessively for anything other than a simple conference call. That means they are expecting you to upgrade when you figure out that the service is not really free (see #2 above and consider how #3 can effect the definition of your brand).
- A big limitation is the feature set. Compare free conference call services to PGi’s ReadyConference Plus and you will see a huge difference. For example, did you know that ReadyConference has a web interface/control feature that gives you the ability to see a noisy phone line and mute it with a click of a button? This feature alone can be a huge differentiator.
For those who must have the best quality—businesses that are going to re-purpose the call into a podcast, for example—we offer the complete line of PGi audio and web conferencing services, including ReadyConference Plus. For those who would like to sample our recording quality, we offer a free conference call recording snippet, with no obligation. That is, we will record your call and send you a sample of it so you can verify the quality before making a commitment. Did I mention there is no obligation?
So there you have it, the 5 biggest shortcomings of free conference call services. Why did I not mention the advantages? Well, because there is only one, and you already know what that is…. It’s free!
Have you had an experience with a free conference call company—good, bad or indifferent? Tell us about it.
View Andy R's profile
My Mary Kay director presently uses “Free Conference Call.com” and I need to find a service to use as well.
RIGHT NOW, all I need is to be able to record a 15-20 min call that is accessible 24/7 for customers to dial in and listen to. And the “Free Conference Call.com” does offer that service, without a TOLL FREE (800 or 888) number. But I don’t remember WHEN I made the call, so I am not able to check my phone records to see IF and HOW MUCH I was charged for that call.
So I am concerned if my customers will be charged an unreasonable amount for dialing in and listening to the call.
Evette, we can certainly help you with a conference call account where you can record a 15 minute message. Your customers are charged nothing while you are charged a low per minute rate. Your customers will also get a toll-free (800) number so they don’t have to worry about paying any toll charges. Here’s the link to sign up: http://collab.premiereglobal.com/accs/signup.asp?ccid=202120 . Shoot us an email and we will show you how to do it….info [at] audi(o)fil(e)solution(S) dot com.