Audio Conferencing

Learn how you can increase your business' productivity and lower costs by audio conferencing.

An audio conference is also commonly referred to as a conference call or teleconference. It is a meeting between several participants, conducted over the phone. This is made possible by a conference call bridge, which links the different lines into one call. Audio conferencing can be used for business meetings, sales calls, lectures, company-wide announcements, earnings reports, project meetings, and more.

Why Use Audio Conferencing?

Conference calls are no longer just reserved for big companies. It has now become a necessary business communications tool to help companies stay ahead of the competition. Here are some of the main benefits of audio conferencing:

• Save on Travel Costs: The days of long drives and flights to attend a two-hour meeting are over. Now, participants can attend meetings without having to leave the office. This amounts to big savings on gas, flights, hotel costs, and per diem allowances.
• Save Time: Because participants don't have to leave their offices to attend a meeting, you also don't waste time waiting for people. Decisions can be reached faster, information can be transmitted faster, and projects can be finished quicker. If someone doesn't pick up the phone, just try again in a few minutes.
• Reach More: Be global while staying local. Reach customers and colleagues in different states or different countries. Conference call providers can offer toll-free numbers and international numbers for your audio conference. Most conference call providers can also support anywhere from a hundred to a thousand participants at one time.
• Do More: Your conference call need not be limited to audio conferencing. Your audio conference can be enhanced with web and video conferencing, also offered by most conference call providers. Video conferencing allows you to look upon the faces of your colleagues. Web conferencing allows participants to share files or work on documents together in real time.

Getting an Audio Conferencing Provider

Conducting an audio conference requires a conference bridge. This can cost thousands of dollars, plus more for maintenance, if your company chooses to purchase one. That's a big "if."

A more cost-effective way to audio conference (while keeping your arms and legs) is to outsource the conference call to a conference call provider.

Conference call providers charge in two basic ways:

• Pay-As-You-Go: A pay-as-you-go plan lets you pay only for what you use, usually per minute. For just about 3 to 10 cents per minute. This is best for small businesses and those who do audio conferences for only a few hours a month.
• Unlimited Monthly Plan: An unlimited monthly plan charges a fixed rate every month for unlimited reservationless conference calling. This gives businesses that do a lot of conference calls the best value.

Advantages of Subscribing to an Audio Conferencing service

Subscribing to a conference call provider also gives you several advantages:

• Savings: Aside from not having to put in some capital for a conference bridge, outsourcing to a provider also helps companies save more by removing maintenance costs and the need for a specialized staff. The provider maintains the equipment and makes sure your conference call gets set up quickly and easily.
• Technical and Customer Support: Aside from the above, conference call providers also offer technical support to make sure your audio conference goes smoothly. Some even offer operator assistance if you would like somebody to schedule the call, greet the attendees, and facilitate the audio conference for you.
• Features: Audio conference providers offer a multitude of features to make your conference call more productive. You can control and moderate the conference through administrator controls. You can record calls. Or you can integrate your audio conference with web and video conferencing.

Audio Conference Providers

Now that you know the benefits and value of audio conferencing, the next step is to compare prices and services offered by different audio conference providers. To make things easier for you, we have listed several providers below. Start shopping now and get the right audio conferencing provider for your business.