It's just common sense that having a conference over the phone with decision makers is the best way to get the players together to expedite discussions, organize plans of attack, assign tasks and reach goals. But interestingly enough, there are millions of professionals who still are playing phone tag and saying, "I'll get back to you after I talk to so and so." Everyone ends up waiting days or weeks when a simple phone conference call could get everyone on the same page in minutes. It's the easiest and fastest way to collaborate and move your organization forward. No reason to wait. Why not call us at 877-254-2424 and get your free trial week started so you can experience for yourself just how easy it is to start saving time and money.
When we say unlimited, that's exactly what it is -- unlimited. That means when you get our flat rate phone conference call service, you can talk as long as you want, anytime you want and no one is keeping track of the minutes. Want to have a phone conference call that lasts 5 hours? No problem here, but just make sure you pack a lunch (you might want to press the mute button on the phone before you start chewing!) So it doesn't matter how long your conference call agenda is, and it doesn't matter how many people are on the call or how long they talk -- our service is built to last longer than your ears and shall we say, your rear end, can endure! An excellent conferencing solution for those long conference agendas. Sign up today and start talking!
Some folks think they know why the name of our business is 24Conference.com. The first thing that comes to mind is that we provide our customers with 24 hour, 7 day a week, access to our conference bridges. There are no reservations and you can pick up and start a telephone conference call anytime you like. Not a bad system or service! But there is another reason we call ourselves 24 Conference. And it has to do with the FOX television show, 24. We're big Jack Bauer fans (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and enjoy watching him save the world. If you are a 24 fan as well, you share our frustration in the endless delays getting the next season on the air. But rest assured, we hear that there will be a 24 "prequel" in November 2008 to whet our appetites for the regular start of the new season in January 2009. We don't know what time or day the new show will play, but around these parts, everything stopped at 9pm on Monday nights when we would enjoy watching that clock ticking off the seconds... Go Jack!
Doing a conference call is easy. First, you get your account set up (just give us a call). Second, everyone on your conference dials into the same conference bridge number. Then, if you are the host (moderator or leader) you punch in your special passcode we give you. The rest of the participants punch in their passcode number. After a second or two, you are all talking in the same conference "room" and you're good to go and you can discuss your conference call agenda. It's that simple. When you set up your account, we'll ask you if you want some free features included with your service -- things like music on hold, beeps when folks come into or leave the conference, and automatic hang up which disconnects everyone when the host hangs up. Not to worry, those are preferences you can always change anytime you want at a later date.
Most people have 3 way calling installed with their local phone or cell service, and it's pretty easy to figure out. But what about a 4 way, or 5 way or 6 way call? Well, a group of people can all use their 3 way calling and create a "daisy chain" to get several people on the call at once. However, the quality of the call deteriorates rapidly and the first person will hardly be able to hear the fifth person in the chain. So, our suggestion... using 3 way calling is fine for 3 people, but when you want to have a 4, 5, or 6 way conversation, you'll be much better off just using a professional phone conference call service. If it's something you do often, get yourself our flat rate service that gives you unlimited minutes and 24/7 access to the conference bridge. If you are an occasional user, then just get our per minute plan with pay as you go phone conferencing. If you don't use it, you don't pay. You can't lose, and your colleagues and contacts will be much happier and thankful they can actually hear each other. It's the best "way" to go!
We're a conference call company in New York, and our operational center is in Houston, Texas. But for all practical purposes, it doesn't matter if we're in NY, or if we're conference call company in PA, or CA, or TX or FL. In fact, in this day and age of connectivity, we could be providing phone conference call services from anywhere. That's the beauty of a flat world -- telecommunications and the Internet have changed the speed and effectiveness of keeping in touch. Remember the old commercial (back in the 70s I think) of that family receiving a long distance call? The father says, "She called over 3000 miles just to say hi?" Back in the day, you wouldn't call anyone cross country unless it was an emergency and you were ready to pay per minute and per mile charges. Dialing long distance was a big deal, and chances are, you needed an operator to help you. But these days, it doesn't matter if you are conferencing folks in your neighborhood or around the world. And with everyone carrying a cell phone now, the ease of communication has changed the way we look at -- as they say -- reaching out and touching someone.
Recording your conference call is easy and free. It is very helpful if you know ahead of time how you wan to handle your recordings so we can put you on the most appropriate conference bridge for your needs. For example, if we assign you account to our Octave bridge, you can have one recording at a time (if you record a second conference, the first one is erased.) Those recordings are kept on our system for 21 days and, with your passcode, anyone can access those to listen to them. If your account is assigned to our Multi-Link bridge, you can keep multiple recordings. But those expire in 21 days.
If you want to keep those recordings permanently and download them for use on your own website, we supply those in .wav or mp3 files via FTP (Internet) or send you a CD in the mail for a nominal fee. You just call us up, give us your conference recording number and we'll do the rest.
There are two more things you'll want to think about. If you record your conference calls with our Start Visuals program (our web conference product that allows you to present PowerPoint presentations or "share" your desktop so everyone can see the spreadsheet or documents you're working on) the downloads are completely free.
Also, if you need to download more than 5 recordings a month for your own use, there is a service called Digital Podium that we offer that enables you to have an unlimited number of conference call recording downloads and you can manage everything online. It's a very convenient system and comes in quite handy at times.
There is something sinister afoot in the highly competitive world of phone conferencing. Some conference companies are selling a new toll free conference product for 2¢ per minute. Sounds great, doesn't it? But as they say, "things are not as they seem."
The catch is simply this: When you dial the toll free number to get into your conference, your call is routed over a VOIP (Voice over Internet protocol) network. So your call is immediately taken off the fiber optic network and placed on the Internet where an entirely different technology divides and reassembles your voice into packets. This is an emerging technology that still leaves a lot of be desired when it comes to quality. That's why you want to think twice about switching to a low cost toll free option. You might save a couple of cents per minute, but the question you have to ask yourself is, "Are the smalls savings worth it?" If conference calls are important to your business you want to make sure you have the highest quality service available, and as of now, that quality rests solely with the land lines you use with your regular phones. There are a lot of issues involved with VOIP, not the least of which involves power failures. If your electricity goes out at your office, you're knocked off the line. However, if you are using a regular phone line, you'll stay on your call.
We love this business! There are a lot of things you can do in this world to make a living. My parents were photographers and naturally, everyone they were in contact with were usually smiling for the camera. Can you imaging getting paid to have people smile at you? Fact is, we never see our customers since our conference business is conducted over the phone or Internet. But we DO hear them! And when we talk to our customers there is an very common thread that distinguishes them from the pack -- they are all optimistic and enthusiastic. And that's the nature of conferencing. Chances are, if you are calling us to find out about our services, you are enthusiastic about starting a new project, or an entrepreneurial endeavor. You're excited about sharing your ideas with your associates. When you talk to us and explain why you want to improve your conferencing tools, we'll be able to hear the optimism in your voice and how you're looking forward to being able to get together quickly with your partners and colleagues to discuss the latest news and progress. Let's face it, if you are looking for a conferencing service, you have something to say. And that "something" has a lot to do with your success. We're proud to help you successfully achieve your goals. Your enthusiasm is contagious!
If you have a webcam, you can use a free service like Yahoo Instant Messenger or other chat programs to actually see who you're talking to on the phone. You can see them and they can see you. (Back in the day, a popular program was CUSeeMe -- the CU stood for Cornell University which invented it.) You can pick up webcams very inexpensively for less than $30 usually. There's another webcam sharing service, that's free, that you might want to try out. It's call MeBeam.com. Just go there, make up a name for a room (like "videoforyouandme123" and away you go. Everyone you invite just puts that URL address in their browser and they can meet you there instantly and you can see each other. Granted, this is NOT the kind of service you want to use for a professional application -- we offer the that service for a price -- but for casual everyday use, MeBeam.com is pretty good and you can have a lot of fun with it. Families would like using it to allow grandma to see the grandkids, or those in the military to see loved ones at home. All in all, pretty good for free!
