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The 5 critical elements to weigh in choosing your teleconferencing company

By: Rob Butterworth

Choosing a conference call service is not easy. Just type the phrase "conference call" into Yahoo and you'll see lots of services. Fortunately, most of them differentiate themselves on a small-group of factors. Understanding these elements, and thinking through their relative importance to the needs of your organization, is the best way to make an informed decision. Research in the industry indicates that there are five elements which usually enable a user to make a prudent decision. To help you make that choice, this article reviews these five areas.

1. Price

All conference calling services cost at least 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 users to dial a bridge number. In the situation of services that provide toll-free bridge numbers, a per minute fee is assessed. The lowest fee you can typically get is several cents per minute typically you'll be paying five to ten cents per minute. This charge is assessed cumulatively. In other words, if there are 5 people on a 60 minute call, a 300 minute charge will be incurred. Some services still charge legacy rates and of 20 or 25 cents a minute and these plans are to be avoided! As mentioned earlier, some services are free with respect to the fact that there is no charge imposed by the provider. However, these offerings do not provide a toll-free number with their free services and therefore users will incur normal long-distance charges to participate.

2. Scheduling capability

Services usually fall into one of two general buckets. Paid and high end corporate services typically provide a scheduling interface which helps the organizer to arrange the call. For those services that have an Outlook integration or similar sort of functionality, a pin code and dial-in number can be allocated to the user for situations where the user wishes to do her own call scheduling. The free services usually provide only a pin code and dial-in number; the initiator of the teleconference call is responsible for sending individual e-mails and keeping track of individual follow-ups. As of now, the sole free conference calling solution on the market which offers both capabilities (scheduling and on-the-fly conferencing) as well as web based response management is Rondee.

3. Archiving or Recording

For many users, the ability to retain information connected to the call or even the call itself can be very valuable. Some services allow recording of the teleconference call in WAV format, GSM or both formats. Some companies offer this capability for free but typically it is found as included feature of paid teleconferencing services. The audio file is usually retrieved after the conference call is over via a link from the conferencing web site or a link e-mailed to the participants. It is generally not feasible to email the audio file itself because of capacity issues. Some services provide the agenda for the call to be archived. This capability is obviously not feasible with services that only offer a pin code and dial-in bridge but can be offered by services that offer scheduling capability insofar as the scheduling template records the call specific information.

4. Sharing Your Desktop

Sometimes a teleconference is not limited to audio. If your business requires sharing of information (e.g. PowerPoint presentations), desktop sharing is a critical aspect of a successful conference call. Some users choose a best-of-breed approach and use different services for their desktop sharing and conferencing. Increasingly, however, conference calling providers are moving quickly to bundle desktop sharing capabilities into their core product. In the case of well-known brands such as GoToMeeting, this is part of a strategy to capture both segments of the market. In the case of conferencing, desktop sharing is being offered as a paid feature to generate incremental revenue.

5. Personalization

A typical complaint from users of conferencing systems is the need to remember random dial--in bridge numbers and pin-codes. In the last year, confluence of telecom and internet technologies is enabling this problem to be solved. A couple conference call providers allow for users to personalize their PIN codes to something more easily remembered. Some systems also offer access without a pin when users call from a known phone number. These systems, however, do require user registration in order to enable a matching of the user's phone number.

For most users, the ultimate choice of teleconferencing service will require weighting these (and perhaps other) factors according to your organization's needs. The good news is that the increase of competition in this market is expanding the services that are available to you.

Choosing a conference call service is not easy. Just type the phrase "conference call" into Yahoo and you'll see lots of services. Fortunately, most of them differentiate themselves on a small-group of factors. Understanding these elements, and thinking through their relative importance to the needs of your organization, is the best way to make an informed decision. Research in the industry indicates that there are five elements which usually enable a user to make a prudent decision. To help you make that choice, this article reviews these five areas.

1. Price

All conference calling services cost at least 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 users to dial a bridge number. In the situation of services that provide toll-free bridge numbers, a per minute fee is assessed. The lowest fee you can typically get is several cents per minute typically you'll be paying five to ten cents per minute. This charge is assessed cumulatively. In other words, if there are 5 people on a 60 minute call, a 300 minute charge will be incurred. Some services still charge legacy rates and of 20 or 25 cents a minute and these plans are to be avoided! As mentioned earlier, some services are free with respect to the fact that there is no charge imposed by the provider. However, these offerings do not provide a toll-free number with their free services and therefore users will incur normal long-distance charges to participate.

2. Scheduling capability

Services usually fall into one of two general buckets. Paid and high end corporate services typically provide a scheduling interface which helps the organizer to arrange the call. For those services that have an Outlook integration or similar sort of functionality, a pin code and dial-in number can be allocated to the user for situations where the user wishes to do her own call scheduling. The free services usually provide only a pin code and dial-in number; the initiator of the teleconference call is responsible for sending individual e-mails and keeping track of individual follow-ups. As of now, the sole free conference calling solution on the market which offers both capabilities (scheduling and on-the-fly conferencing) as well as web based response management is Rondee.

3. Archiving or Recording

For many users, the ability to retain information connected to the call or even the call itself can be very valuable. Some services allow recording of the teleconference call in WAV format, GSM or both formats. Some companies offer this capability for free but typically it is found as included feature of paid teleconferencing services. The audio file is usually retrieved after the conference call is over via a link from the conferencing web site or a link e-mailed to the participants. It is generally not feasible to email the audio file itself because of capacity issues. Some services provide the agenda for the call to be archived. This capability is obviously not feasible with services that only offer a pin code and dial-in bridge but can be offered by services that offer scheduling capability insofar as the scheduling template records the call specific information.

4. Sharing Your Desktop

Sometimes a teleconference is not limited to audio. If your business requires sharing of information (e.g. PowerPoint presentations), desktop sharing is a critical aspect of a successful conference call. Some users choose a best-of-breed approach and use different services for their desktop sharing and conferencing. Increasingly, however, conference calling providers are moving quickly to bundle desktop sharing capabilities into their core product. In the case of well-known brands such as GoToMeeting, this is part of a strategy to capture both segments of the market. In the case of conferencing, desktop sharing is being offered as a paid feature to generate incremental revenue.

5. Personalization

A typical complaint from users of conferencing systems is the need to remember random dial--in bridge numbers and pin-codes. In the last year, confluence of telecom and internet technologies is enabling this problem to be solved. A couple conference call providers allow for users to personalize their PIN codes to something more easily remembered. Some systems also offer access without a pin when users call from a known phone number. These systems, however, do require user registration in order to enable a matching of the user's phone number.

For most users, the ultimate choice of teleconferencing service will require weighting these (and perhaps other) factors according to your organization's needs. The good news is that the increase of competition in this market is expanding the services that are available to you.

Article Source: http://www.marketmyarticle.com

A frequent commentator on discussions involving free conference calling, Rob Butterworth assists Rondee.com on its strategy to transform the current telecom market.

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