March 3, 2008

The 5 most useful things to weigh your teleconference solution

Choosing a conference call service is not easy. Just type the phrase "conference call" into Google and you'll see lots of services. Fortunately, most of them position their services on a small-group of factors. Understanding these elements, and weighing their relative significance to the needs of your organization, is the best way to make a good decision. Research in the industry indicates that there are five elements which typically enable a user to make a good decision. To help you make that choice, this article reviews these five areas.
1. Cost
All-conference calling services cost something to use. This is true even of the ones that brand themselves as "free." Why is that? With the exception of an entirely VOIP based system (e.g. Skype), all-conference calling services require participants to dial a bridge number. In the situation of services that provide toll-free access numbers, a per minute fee is assessed. The lowest rate you can typically arrange is several cents on a per minute basis and more likely you'll be paying 5 to 10 per minute. This charge is levied cumulatively. In other words, if there are 5 participants on a 60 minute call, a 300 minute charge will be incurred. Some […]