Are you paying a service for conference calls and feel like you’re being ripped off? You probably are but you don’t know your options. I’m going to explain how you can save money while gaining valuable features. So read on.
Tired of reading all the Ad’s when Google Searching for claims of savings over 80%? What a bunch of garbage. Do these companies really think that showing savings that high is really going to make you click their Ad? Heck no! There is no way they know how much they can save you unless they know how much you spend.
How Much Am I Spending now?
This is the first question to ask yourself. Be sure to gather all the information. It shouldn’t be difficult. Are you using your own phone equipment or using an outside service provider? If using your own equipment, be absolutely certain to review your phone bills. The reason is you are using a phone line for each person on the conference call or conference bridge. That can add up to be a lot of money. On average, each phone line cost $40/month. Plus, the phone equipment that the phone line connects to is expensive and costly to maintain. This means if you have ten users on a conference, your minimum cost is $400/month. This doesn’t take into account the cost of toll free numbers nor the maintenance cost of the phone equipment. Even if you are using a VoIP phone system for your business now, you could be paying a lot for the SIP trunk lines and license fees.
What is a Conference Call Bridge Line and Conference Call Bridge Number?
A Conference Call Bridge Line and Conference Call Bridge Number are different. If you were using an old digital phone system from Samsung, Toshiba or Nortel, they each have phone “Line’s” going into them, or, Dial Tone. The number of lines equates to how many simultaneous calls one could have. For example, if your phone system has 10 lines, only 10 simultaneous calls can exist. The eleventh caller would hear a busy tone. In this scenario, the ten lines would be populated quickly when using the conference bridge feature.
A Conference Call Bridge Number is the actual phone number one would call to enter the Bridge. From there, the callers may have to enter a PIN code to enter the actual bridge. Using a PIN helps prevent unwelcome callers not being able to join in on confidential calls.
What about these Free Conference Bridge Services?
The Free Conference Bridge services is a tricky one. We’ve all heard the saying, “Ain’t nothin’ free“. Well that’s very true. Someone has to pay for the infrastructure of the system along with the cost of dial tone right? Much like your cellular phone records that China Hacked, the same holds true for your Free Conference Bridge’s. So nothing is free, in fact, you’re really going to pay in some way in the end and it certainly not going to be pleasant.
What's the Best Conference Bridge System?
The Best Conference Bridge System has a subjective answer. What’s good for one may not be good for all. It depends on your needs, size of an organization, current telephone system in place and being used. No matter if you are using a digital phone system or a VoIP phone system, you can still take advantage of SIP trunks (Dial tone).
If you have 100 employees plus and you have at least 10 participants in a Conference Bridge, then it may be best to utilize a premise based Conference Bridge system with your own lines or numbers. Internal participants can use common areas such as a conference room and/or be sitting at their desks and use their phone to dial an extension. This could be beneficial as they may need to access information on their multi screen computer. When these premise based participants dial an extension number for the conference bridge call, they are not using a Conference Line, but rather an extension or channel which is less expensive.
Outside participants to the conference call bridge would dial a phone number either directly into the Conference Bridge or make a selection from an Automated Attendant. Each outside caller would be utilizing a Conference Bridge Line. Some Conference call Bridges offer unlimited lines which is perfect and economical. The cost structure is configured to purchase a bucket of minutes up front or pay as you go.
We see a lot of companies benefiting from the Premise based solution as it is secure and there is no ongoing cost of equipment nor an upfront capital expense. The providers of such equipment maintain the servers required as well as update the software when required. Be certain to call the guys at Executive Telephony if you are in the Dallas Fort Worth market. They’ll set you up right. 972-293-3867.