Free Conference Calling

First, let’s talk about conference calling. Remember when we were kids and playing telephone with a tin can and a string? If there were more than two of us playing, we had to figure out how to rig the cans to more than two locations. Once we figured that out, we had to determine how to signal each other that the ‘call’ had started and whose turn it was to talk. We had fun, but conferencing in more than three of us was a challenge with tin cans and a string. Today, we can conference call with our mobile phones, our home phones and our office phones. So long as you have a phone nowadays, it seems anything is possible.

Are free conference calls really free?

If you subscribe to a phone service, conference calls are free, usually. The exception is an international call. That’s where you may run into charges on your telephone usage statement. Many businesses offer toll-free calling, so even if your telephone service doesn’t give you free conferencing service, the toll-free number associated with a conference service is free to use. But, what if you want to host a conference call and you don’t have a conferencing service associated with your telephone service? That’s when you need to subscribe to a platform that provides conferencing capabilities. There are free services available, but with limited features. Several telecommunications services offer free audio/video conferencing, a dedicated number and possibly even recording/usage reports. Some may even offer screen sharing, where the presenter is able to show you their screen along with a visual of everyone on the video conference. That’s all well and good, but what if you need whiteboarding, or chatting, or switch presenter, or any number of other features?

How do free conference call companies make their money?

When you sign up for a free conference service, you most likely have to upload your credit card information. This is because most conference services only allow you to use their service free for a limited number of days or conference calls. Once you’ve reached that limit, your credit card is charged for the monthly fee to continue using the service and you get to add on additional features for an even higher fee, your choice. If you’re not asked for a credit card to sign up for a free conference call, you will most likely enjoy a feature-less conference calling experience and receive emails on a periodic/frequent basis until you finally sign up for the paid service that telecommunications companies also offer.

How can I get a free conference call number?

Free conference call services usually ask for information from you so they can market to you at a later date and so that they are able to turn on/off the service as appropriate to your level of service. 

• Contact Name
• Company Name (if using for a business purpose)
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Number of employees (if a business)
• Create a password
• Receive an email to confirm your email address
• Activation code sent to you once you’ve confirmed your address

Making Conference Calls Using an Online Solution

Making conference calls online is pretty easy, if you’re technologically savvy. If you’re not, it can be a little daunting. The conference service may include a link to invite others, or they may provide an access code for others to enter from their website. As the conference organizer, you may even be asked to download a desktop version of the conference app to start the conference call, and those you invite may have to do that as well. Joiners to the conference are usually provided a dial-in number so they can access the conference from a separate device. A free conference calling service may limit the number of participants in the conference and they may even limit the time spent on the conference whereby the conference automatically stops after a certain time.

How does international conference calling work?

International conference calling works exactly the same as domestic conferences work so long as everyone knows what number to dial-in for the conference from their location. But, there may be additional charges if the conference number for an audio-only conference being used is not toll-free or country-specific. Video conferences are usually pretty much free and accessed the same regardless of where the host and participants log in from.

PanTerra Specific Features/Services

PanTerra offers audio/video conferencing services through its Streams platform. Download a free version of Streams today. With the free version of Streams, use Connect with loads of features:

• Persistent, Multi-Media Sharing - Create unlimited teams and persistently share anything, including text, links, fax, emoji’s, pictures, video, audio, documents, folders and even live streaming. Send text, chats, links, files, images, video, and documents with ease.
• Persistent Team Collaboration - Team collaboration and sharing to enable group instant messages, audio/video conference calls, screenshare, fax, and file transfers. 
• Connect HD Video Call/Conferencing (On Net) - Instant one-to-one HD video-chat and/or HD video conferencing among multiple Streams users.
• Control Participant Capabilities - Mute participant’s audio/video/chat/recording, remove all participant video windows except moderator or disable chat/screenshare/recording for all participants.
• Flexible Video Conference Layouts and Options - Arrange video conference into grid, horizontal, vertical and full-screen layouts. Additionally, pin, block, hide and auto-sort video conference.
• Group and Private Messaging - Allows users to send a group message to everyone or a private message to another user in the Connect session.
• Seamless Integration with Google and Outlook Calendar App - Utilize Streams built-in calendar function to schedule Connect sessions or seamlessly launch Google or Outlook calendar app.
• Session Resilience - Connect maintains session continuity even if the moderator loses connection with the service.
• Raise Hand - Ability for participants to "Raise Their Hand" to the moderator for Q & A sessions.
• Support for up to 1K participants - Connect can support up to 1K participants for large meetings or webinars at no extra charge with features such as video pagination, raise hand, and customizable participant roles (speaker, audience and custom).
• And, many more features are included with the free version of Streams like:

             - Single Cloud offering for Unified Communication, Team Collaboration, File Sharing and Analytics -                 Hosted PBX, Persistent Multi-Media Sharing, Instant Messaging, Conferencing, Team Collaboration,                 Video, File Sync & Sharing and Analytics unified in a single ultra-secure cloud service.

             -Fully On-Demand Cloud Services - All Streams services are pay-as-you-go per seat maximizing ROI.

            - Full HIPAA/HITECH Compliance - All Streams services including SmartBox, Streams, Contact Center                 and Analytics are fully HIPAA compliant

            -Powerful Unified Communications Browser Interface - Single interface with one-click for all                communications.

            -Connect - Collaborate with web meeting, deskshare, video call/conf. and live streaming. See line items for             1:1, conf and on-off net seat inclusion.

            - Mobile Streams - Take all your office communications on the road with powerful mobile UC application             for Android and iOS.

            - Attach and Send Any File through SmartBox - Securely transfer any file (text, images, video, etc) within             Streams thru SmartBox.

            - See the Presence of Streams Users - See presence of Streams users on the phone, in meetings, away from             their desk or idle. Set times to automatically change status.

            - Feature Rich Softphone - Make calls, transfer, conference, record, listen to voicemail, quick forwarding             rules from anywhere your computer is connected.

            - Free On-Net Dialing - Free and unlimited on-net calling anywhere around the world over any network.

            - Voicemail Access Via Phone, Email, Web - Listen to your voicemail messages over the phone, web             browser or an email attachment.

Learn About a Phone System for Your Business

If you’re ready to explore more of what VoIP can do for your organization, don’t miss our powerful Cloud PBX offering and PanTerra Streams. What’s even better is that you can try it for FREE today!