Thought we'd republish this post originally written in 2015 about FreeConferenceCall.com because it is a conference calling a provider that is getting greater scrutiny by the federal government. It is a service that we continue to use and rely on. You can find more details about what they are facing here.
A few weeks ago, I needed to set up a conference call with a couple of other folks. I was aware of GoToMeeting and other conference calling services – but wanted something that was free and easy to use. Also, since people would be calling in via their telephones (and not through video / or their computers), I just needed a centralized number/code we all could enter to connect.
I did an initial search online and came across a website called FreeConferenceCall.com. Now, I am generally pretty skeptical about services that have “free” in their title – but I asked around a little bit and heard that a few others were using it as well, with good success.
I checked into the site further – and was able to easily create an account and set up a “dial-in number” and a “meeting ID” without any problem (the dial-in number and meeting ID are what you hand out to your attendees). The site also provided me with a “host PIN” that I would enter as a facilitator.
The beauty of FreeConferenceCall.com is that you can also host online meetings as well as send folks to a “personalized conference wall” that can hold meeting resources (documents, etc).
How the meeting went
Since I hadn't done a dry run with the service yet – I was getting a little nervous about how the conference call would go down. I usually like to really prepare before doing something like this – as it could reflect rather poorly on me if there are a lot of technical glitches.
I had provided the attendees with the dial-in number and meeting ID – as well as a link to the “conference wall”. So when the first attendee called in with success – and then the second a few minutes later – I was greatly relieved.
There were no static issues or problems with the connection. Everything ran flawless AND I was able to direct the attendees to the meeting resources that I had uploaded to the wall, which helped make the meeting run even more efficiently.
Other features of FreeConferenceCall.com
You may be wondering, “Is Aaron getting paid for this testimonial?” And, the answer is, no. This is just something that has helped save me money and allowed me to run a successful conference call. I'm sure there are others out there who may be small business owners OR you work for a company and run a lot of meetings (and your company doesn't have a good conference calling solution). So, here's just another that you can throw in the mix.
I know there are other ways to do a free “conference call”. You can do a Google Hangout, Skype and even our friends at Ooma have a three-way calling option with the Telo device. So, there are definitely other ways to go about this.
The other great options that FreeConferenceCall.com provide are:
- Record your call
- Playback number
- As mentioned, online meetings
- Ability to give others the control of the meeting / etc
- Conference wall web page (with ability to host meeting resources)
- Up to 1,000 attendees with the audio conferencing (25 for online meetings)
- 6 hours per conference call
These are just some of the features of the service. There are others – some of which FreeConferenceCall.com does charge for (custom waiting for music, custom greeting, etc).
Since they offer such a great service for free, I asked a customer service rep, how are you making your money? They replied:
We make most of our money from our paid services, but we also have partnerships with local exchange carriers based on the minutes we generate from our services.
So there you have it!
Let me know if you've used this service and your success (or trouble) with it OR if you have another solution you've used to host free conference calls.
FAQs
is freeconferencecall.com really free?
Yes – but It makes money because it has agreements with various phone networks to receive a portion of those fees when its users call.
Who owns freeconferencall.com?
David Erickson founded the company in 2001 and is the largest privately-owned conference calling service. It is located in Long Beach, CA and handles over 42 million calls a year.
Is it easy to use?
Yes, grab an account and you'll be directed to a user page with calling IDs and info to start your first call.
3 Comments
Hi!!
Love your post. It’s really amazing & helpful too. I like the way you explained everything. By sharing this amazing content, you have solved my problem. Keep sharing :)
Thank You & Regards
Ankita
I’ve been using http://www.uberconference.com for my free conference call number for my law practice for 3 years now without a htich. I highly recommend them.
Thanks for the referral Andy