Lots of people are curious about how much a conference call costs from a mobile. Here, we’ll look into conference call charges in general, as well as thinking about the cost of a conference call with Vodafone, EE, o2, Virgin Mobile and Three. In short, with the right provider conference calls shouldn’t cost money. They should be included in callers’ bundled minutes, essentially erasing conference call charges.

It’s no wonder so many people want to learn about conference call charges. It’s totally logical, for two key reasons. Firstly, there’s how useful conference calls are. Being so simple and so versatile, conference calls form a big part of many people’s lives. As such, knowing conference call costs from a mobile is important. After all, part of what makes teleconferencing so great is the fact that it is mobile. You should be able to do it from anywhere! And another wonderful aspect is how accessible conference calls are – at least the way WHYPAY? offers them. Most people don’t have fancy conference call phones. Nowadays, many don’t even have landlines. Being able to conference call from a mobile is a brilliant thing. But knowing just how much it will cost you matters too.

To eliminate conference call costs from a mobile, make the most of your bundled minutes

If you have a mobile contract, whether it be with Vodafone, EE, Virgin Mobile or any other provider, you probably have bundled minutes. Those are the minutes of telephone-call-time which you pay for within the price of your contract.hat’s one of the key distinctions between having a phone contract and being on pay-as-you-go, and one of the deciding factors in conference call charges.

Calls to some telephone numbers are excluded from these bundled minutes included in people’s phone contracts. That means rather than the call duration being subtracted from your inclusive minutes, an additional charge is incurred. One type of number which would create an additional charge is 084 numbers. Unfortunately, most well-known teleconference providers offer 084 dial-in numbers. As a result, callers get hit with extra costs for conference calls.

For most callers on their mobiles, though, calls to standard UK landlines are included in their bundled minutes. These calls are essentially free – they’re simply deducted from your inclusive minutes.

03 dial-in numbers remove extra conference call costs from a mobile

If you’re at all familiar with WHYPAY?, you might be wondering where our 03 dial-in numbers come into all this. Although Ofcom introduced them back in 2007, some people still aren’t clear on what 03 numbers are.

What are 03 numbers?

Essentially, 03 numbers combine the best of geographic numbers with the best of those pesky service numbers. They’re charged in the same way as standard UK landlines. These are phone numbers you’re probably really familiar with. They begin with 01 or 02, and they’re probably what you use to ring your grandparents, your hairdresser, your dentist… And, as we just established, they’re almost always included in your bundled minutes. Because 03 numbers must be charged in the same way as standard UK landlines, that means calls to 03 numbers are also included in your bundled minutes. Find an 03 dial-in number and say goodbye to conference call charges!

Unlike geographic numbers, though, 03 numbers aren’t tied to one location. Instead of the 01 or 02 area code, they simply have the general prefix 03. That means they retain the sheen of anonymity and professionalism which makes some companies opt for the more expensive 084 service numbers.

Basically, 03 numbers are just standard telephone numbers dressed up as something fancy! You can call them without any concerns about hidden charges or extra fees, whether you’re making a Vodafone conference call, a Virgin Mobile conference call or using any other UK mobile network with inclusive minutes.

So what are the true conference call charges from a mobile with Vodafone, EE, Virgin Mobile and o2?

Of course, when you’re asking about conference call costs from a mobile, you probably just want to see a straightforward numerical answer.

Most of the time, if you’re using a service like WHYPAY? which provides 03 dial-in numbers, that answer is 0p. The call duration will simply be deducted from your bundled minutes. So there’s no reason not to create your very own free conference call room today!

But what if (we hear you ask) you don’t have inclusive minutes? That might be because you don’t have a mobile contract, and instead pay as you go. Or maybe you’ve just been chatting a lot this month, and you’ve used up your bundled minutes.

In that case, the Ofcom ruling that calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to standard UK landlines still applies. The call will just cost the standard landline rate.

While that sounds very straightforward, unfortunately that rate can vary according to your network.

To find out conference call costs from a mobile outside your bundled minutes, simply scroll to your provider.

EE Monthly

65p per minute if you’re on EE’s monthly plan, but have no minutes remaining.

EE PAYG

35p per minute if you’re on EE’s pay-as-you-go option.

O2 MONTHLY

Conference call costs with an 03 dial-in number are 55p per minute for o2 Monthly users who have run out of bundled minutes.

O2 PAYG

35p per minute if you pay-as-you-go with o2.

Vodafone Monthly

Conference calls cost from a mobile outside inclusive minutes will be 55p per minute.

Vodafone PAYG

If you pay-as-you-go with Vodafone, you have two options: the Simply plan, and the One plan. On the Simply option, calls to standard landlines – including to 03 numbers – currently cost 30p per minute. As of April 2020, this will rise to 35p per minute.

If you’re using the One plan, your conference call costs will be 20p per minute if you’re using an 03 dial-in number.

Three Monthly

55p per minute on calls to standard UK landlines.

Three PAYG

Conference call costs from a mobile to an 03 dial-in number are just 3p per minute for Three users who pay-as-you-go.

Virgin Monthly

If you’re conference calling from a mobile with a Virgin Monthly plan and have no inclusive minutes left, the call will cost you 58p per minute.

Virgin PAYG

Conference call costs from a mobile are 40p per minute if you’re using Virgin’s pay-as-you-go option.

What plans are available with different providers?

Of course, in an ideal world, callers with mobile contracts won’t ever incur these charges for conference calls. Instead, the call would simply be taken from their bundled minutes.

For that to be feasible, you need to have a suitable number of minutes available. To find out about what different plans look like with different providers, read on.

EE

With EE, whether you opt for the Essential Plan or the Smart Plan, you get unlimited minutes. So you should never have any conference call costs from a mobile with EE mobile network, as long as you choose a teleconference provider with an 03 dial-in number.

Crucially, EE also makes no mention of capping the call duration to which the unlimited minutes apply. Some providers begin to charge calls as being beyond the bundled minutes after a certain call duration (usually 60 minutes). It looks like EE doesn’t, though, which means you can conference call as much as you want, for as long as you want, without paying a penny!

O2

O2 lets users choose whether they sign up for 12 months or 18 months. You can then choose from a wide array of plans. But while data allowances vary, the minutes are unlimited on all of them.

While o2 doesn’t specify any hard limits on call duration, it does allow for the possibility. If you look at the tariff terms for its monthly contract users, it states that it “may impose a maximum call duration limit on the calls that you make”. As such, it might be worth getting in touch to see if any such limit exists on your account. If not, you might find that after a certain time, the conference call is charged separate to your bundled minutes.

Vodafone

All of Vodafone’s plans also offer unlimited minutes. As a result, Vodafone conference calls from a mobile with a mobile contract shouldn’t cost anything at all.

Three

Three offers a wide range of plans, but all of them have unlimited minutes to standard UK landlines and mobiles. So you can join a WHYPAY? conference call without incurring any expenses!

There is also no duration cap. Chat to your heart’s content without worrying about conference call costs from your mobile.

Virgin Mobile

Virgin Mobile plans do have some limits on their minutes if you choose a 12 month plan. These will vary depending on the plan you choose. Some contracts offer 1000 bundled minutes, while others will range all the way up to 5000. After these have been used up, you’ll start paying that 58p per minute we mentioned.

If you commit for 24 months, you’ll receive unlimited minutes, letting you call with confidence that you’ll never run out.

Whether you have unlimited minutes or not, Virgin Mobile doesn’t mention any limit on each call’s duration. So Virgin Mobile conference calls won’t be hemmed in by time concerns, unless you have limited minutes and might be coming to the end of them.

Be sure of your costs before you conference call from your mobile

While we’ve done our best to research diligently, it’s absolutely always worth checking your specific terms and conditions with your provider. If you’ve explicitly asked about any limits to minutes or to call duration, you’ll be able to conference call with confidence that you won’t be hit with unexpected charges when your bill arrives. That will certainly make for much happier conference calling!

Terms and conditions are also subject to change. Information in this blog post is up to date as of 2nd April 2020. Information has been obtained from the relevant network provider websites. Callers are ultimately responsible for knowing the terms and conditions of their phone plan, minutes allowance and the call charges set by their network provider.