Some conferencing services are branded as free, which sounds appealing to businesses on a budget. The truth is that any phone or communication service will come at a cost. Even if the vendor says its audio conferencing services are free, there will be expenses related to them, and you’ll pay in terms of quality issues and scalability as well. Meetings must be productive; otherwise, the five million labor hours a year spent by companies during conference calls would be a complete waste of time.
Why Audio Conferencing Is Never Free
Conference calling services will always come at a cost. Here is why:
- The service is based on toll numbers; taxes, fees, and long-distance charges apply.
- Charges are paid by your business, clients, and customers on the call.
- International participants on the call will pay very high long-distance charges.
- Carriers often route call traffic through rural infrastructure, which is more expensive, so they will charge for a long-distance call and pass on higher rates to all customers.
Productive Calls Are Hard to Come By
Aside from free audio conferencing not actually being free, a call labeled as such is not guaranteed to be of sufficient quality. There’s also no guarantee of a connection during audio conference calls. Service outages and availability can severely impede productivity. Dropped calls are possible, but there is also the issue of clarity; the audio quality can be so bad it is impossible to hear the person on the other end of the line.
Security may be a factor as well. A provider offering a service for free is not likely to use any authentication or security measures. That increases the risk of a call being hacked, which could be problematic if sensitive information is discussed during the meeting.
Features are limited unless you are willing to pay for a quality service. You don’t want to miss out on functions such as outbound calling, which enables you to connect individuals not invited or who forgot about the audio conference call. In addition, clients in other countries can reach you using a local number tied to a U.S. companies number, avoiding international toll charges.
Paid Conferencing Services Are the Way to Go
Paid audio conference call services typically integrate with SaaS and CRM platforms and offer a range of other features and extras. Plus, you get customer service via phone, email, or chat. As appealing as a free service may sound, you want something that can scale with your business and leave a positive impression on customers.
That is why BroadData is the right choice for all your audio-conferencing needs. We offer customized audio and web conferencing systems that can support up to 125 participants. All our reliable audio-conferencing services offer advanced security features, self-service recording and playback capabilities, 24/7 technical support and 100% satisfaction guarantee. Whether you need reservation less, domestic, international or operator assisted audio-conferencing, BroadData’s selection ensures every conference is run smoothly anytime, every time.
For information on audio conferencing services scaled and priced to your needs, contact BroadData Conferencing today online or at 877-321-2255.
