That advent of web-based conferencing services has moved conference calling to the masses. Numerous free services are available on the internet. Of course you have to go through the process of signing up but once that’s complete your ready to go and enjoy free conferencing calling. However, do beware that there is a particular issue on why sometimes it may be better to invest in phone conferencing.
Connection is, unfortunately, still currently an issue with web-based conferencing. The sound quality continues to be poorer than a land-line. One day this may be improved greatly but at the moment there really is no comparison. This could of course be a problem when you are holding a conference with people with different accents (maybe the chosen conference language is not their first language). Furthermore internet connections fail. It can be really embarrassing and you may seem quite unprofessional if this does happen. This is really not the best impression to make with a potential business partner.
Improving your bandwith speed will help a lot. If you have a fast connection you should have a much smoother service. However at the moment it will not reach the quality of a telephony service. That is not to say that web-based services are not perfectly adequate for most needs. But the cost of a landline-based service through a dedicated telephone conferencing service provider can be very affordable.
So really it is a toss-up between something that is free and something that costs a little but is more reliable with a better sound-quality. Web-based conferencing will continue its rapid improvement and will one day take over phone conferencing in all aspects, but until that day comes the decision still exists: go for free, or a pay a little for a better connection.
James King has been working in the business services industry for over 15 years. He enjoys writing about business, technology and especially conference call facilities.
