With the rise of technology, we have seen the amount of tools available to businesses soar over recent years. Simultaneously, pressure has grown to make these tools easy and efficient to use, and as cost-effective for businesses as possible. Three of our main priorities in the business world are communication, efficiency, and financial wisdom. These meet their harmonious combination in the oft-advertised ‘free conference call’. But a concerning proportion of the times that you see this claim, it turns out to be false, costing you and your business money. You have to take care, and read carefully, to ascertain whether your conference calls really are free.
Many conference call bridges technically offer free conference calls, as they do not charge you for the conference calls you hold. What they do charge you for, however, is a monthly membership to their service. Often to gain access to the truly useful, necessary services, you have to sign up to one of the most expensive packages they offer, as they make the cheap or free ones of little use to businesses, or omit certain key features from the deal. There are even some conference calling services which charge you for both membership and each call you make!
Other conference call service providers, perhaps even more sneakily, make their services ostensibly free, but use premium rate access numbers for their conference calls. If your conference calls are made to this type of phone number – usually 0844, 0845 or 0871 numbers – the call is costing you much more than it should, for every single minute you spend conferencing. You might think this is a trick few would get away with, but look a little closer and you will find that some of the most popular providers in the UK use this technique, while claiming to be ‘completely free’ or ‘100% free’.
Thanks to these types of providers, there are hundreds of people and businesses spending much more than they should be to use a vital business communication tool. But this needn’t be the case. There are providers who offer the same level of functionality, at much, much cheaper rates.
WHYPAY? is a genuinely free conference call bridge. You are charged absolutely nothing for their service, and get access to conference calls of unlimited duration, and up to 100 participants, as well as tools of immense utility. From the 21st January, users have even been able to record their conference calls for no extra charge.
By choosing to use 03 numbers for its conference calls, WHYPAY? avoids its users being charged unfair rates for their conference calls. Ofcom introduced 03 numbers as a way to minimise service providers taking advantage of, and ultimately ripping off, their customers. Calls to 03 numbers have to be charged at the same rate as calls to landlines (which are 01 or 02 numbers) regardless of whether the call is made from a mobile, fixed line or even a payphone. Calls to these 03 numbers are also included in the free minutes provided by the landline or mobile network provider. Therefore, if you have bundled minutes available, WHYPAY? is literally completely free to use. If not, you will only be charged at the standard rate for calls to landline numbers.
So, next time you are planning a conference call, make sure you look a little deeper, don’t let yourself be fooled by companies which claim to be free. If you want security, honesty, and a great service which is genuinely free, look to WHYPAY?.
