Now more than ever, businesses depend on tollfree conference calls to communicate with customers, partners, and team members. Learn how to have your best conference call every time you make a connection.
1. Conference Calling Plans
The perfect conference calling plan for you is the one that is most suitable for your particular business. There are several cost-effective tiers.
Toll-free unlimited plans
This plan features an all-inclusive price for unlimited toll-free calling. It’s great for long sessions with few participants because the plan usually has a caller limit of 15 callers.
Starter plans
The next level up from the Unlimited plan is the Starter plan. This plan has a capacity limit of 250 callers. One toll-free line is included with a maximum of 500 minutes per month. A per-minute overage fee applies if you go above the included minutes. This is a good choice if your business conducts several short conference calls with many callers participating.
Enterprise plans
If you have between 251 and 350 callers on your conference calls, you’ll be able to use up to 5,000 minutes with an Enterprise plan. The overage fee should be less than the Starter plan’s per-minute overage fee. Another great feature about an Enterprise plan is that, typically, five toll-free lines are included.
Growth Toll-free Plans
Growth plans are for businesses who have between 351 – 1,000 callers participating on conference calls. The Growth plan may include up to 15 lines, 15,000 minutes, and the lowest per-minute overage rate of any available plan tier.
2. What Makes a Good Conference Call?
The best tollfree conference calls are well-prepared; therefore, create an agenda for your call. List the topics you want to go over. Going off-topic wastes precious time, so have the material ready beforehand.
3. What Technology Should You Be Using?
Use the most advanced technology that your business can afford. But first, find out what you currenty have by reviewing your ISP plan. If you’ve ever experienced connection issues, upgrade. Realize though that some bad connections can’t be avoided. For examples, hospitals aren’t the going to produce the clearest connections because they scramble their signals for security reasons.
4. What is the Benefit of a Good Conference Call?
The advantages of conference calls are plentiful. Here are some of the best reasons to hold conference calls regularly:
- Simple ease of use. Anyone with a phone and invitation, proper credentials or pin number, if required, can join the call.
- Easy collaboration. Conference calls are in fact, virtual meetings. If clarification on a project is needed, questions about it can be answered quickly.
- Location independent. Participants can use their mobile phones to connect from almost any location.
5. Elements of a Conference Call
Conference calls have basic features, but advanced options are also available based on the plan you select.
Basic conference call features include:
- One or more dedicated lines
- One or more toll-free numbers
- A professional, customized recorded greeting
- Web-based management to mute and use other call-management features
- Call recording capabilities
The next best thing to conducting a business meeting in person is participating in tollfree conference calls. Now’s a good time to chose a plan because there’s one for every budget.
