Not everyone is lucky enough to work for an organization that pays big bucks for permanent conference call in lines… and we all know that when a crisis strikes, there’s nothing like getting everyone on the same line and putting a game plan together. Imagine if you had a major [insert your crisis here] and you know the media are on their way. Even worse, it’s on a Sunday night at 10:30 pm. Wouldn’t it be nice to know you’ve already setup a special call in number and published it in your crisis plan? Can’t afford it in this economy? No worries – there are a couple of free solutions out there:
- FreeConferenceCall.com – All this service requires is a name and an e-mail address to receive an instant account. Once you enter your name and e-mail address, you will be instantaneously provided with a dial-in number and access code for immediate phone conferencing. Your teleconferencing line is available to you 24/7 and there is no need to schedule or make reservations. Each conference call account accommodates 96 callers on an unlimited number of 6 hour free conference calls.
- PowWowNow.com – There is no charge for using the Powwownow service. Everyone calling into a conference call simply pays for their own phone call, which typically, 5cents/min. You can have up to 50 participants on your conference call at any one time. Every participant entering the conference is announced, ensuring you will know exactly who is on your conference call. You have the ability to lock the conference room and even do a head count or roll call of the participants.
The trick to these free services are that they are not toll-free lines – meaning that they issue you a telephone number with a specific area code – so anyone calling in has to pay their standard long distance for the call. For example, it’s really no different than someone in Los Angeles calling someone in Sacramento.
5 Reasons to Setup A Free Conference Line
- It’s your number and you don’t have to share it with anyone else – which is critical in a crisis and everyone wants to use the conference line
- You don’t have to deal with difficult IT or telecom people to get it set up
- No budget required – it only costs participants the standard long distance charges
- You can set it up ahead of time and publish it in your plans before a crisis strikes
- Even if you already have an “official” conference line, this can be a backup in the event your main line goes down
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