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Free audio conferencing - does it exist?

Many companies offer free audio conferencing but is it really free?

Common wisdom dictates that "there is no such thing as a free lunch" but with so many companies purporting to offer free audio conferencing is the famous idiom outdated?

The answer depends on how you define the term 'free'. In the sections below we look at some of the so-called free models so that you can draw your own conclusions.

Free conference calls using Skype

Many of you reading this will have heard of Skype which allows you to make free voice calls over the internet and hold free audio conferences. If have a PC with a good quality headset connected to a broadband internet service with sufficient bandwidth then you can hold a conference call with a limited number of participants without paying Skype a penny.

The incremental cost of the audio conference call is zero but the setup costs are considerable unless you already have the equipment described above. As the cost of computer equipment falls and bandwidths get better, more people than ever now have the required platform and hence Skype is an excellent solution for some people.

Our experience with Skype has been mixed. During quiet times when our internet connection is not busy we get excellent results however it can be somewhat unreliable so we don't consider it robust enough for important business calls or ones where there are a large number of people.

In summary: The actual conference calls are free but you need to have invested in the computer equipment and internet connection first. Limited number of participants and lack of reliability make it unsuitable for important business conference calls.

Free telephone conferencing using non-geographic numbers

This method of offering free telephone conferencing works by audio conference participants dialing into a non-geographic telephone number to hold their conference. Before how these services operate in more detail it's important that you understand what a non-geographic number is and how telephone operators - or 'telcos' - charge for calls to them.

As the name suggests, a non-geographic telephone number (NGN) is a telephone number which does not terminate at any fixed location. Rather, when you call an NGN the telco redirects the call to a 'real' telephone number. In the USA the most famous type of NGN is a free phone 1-800 number. When you call a 1-800 number you have no idea where the operator who takes your call is located. He could be anywhere in the world.

Of course, telcos are not in the business of giving away free calls so someone somewhere has to pay. In the case of the 1-800 number, the company you are calling pays the telco for the call.

Another type of NGN is a premium rate number. In the UK we have an array of different number ranges some of which cost callers as much as £1.50 (nearly $3.00!) per minute to call. These are often used for 'adult' services. Companies wishing to promote a premium rate service hire a premium rate number from the telco and advertise their services with the intention of generating calls to that number.

When customers call the premium NGN, the telco bills the customer for the call and gives a percentage of the call revenue to the company who rents the NGN from them. In effect the telco and the company renting the NGN are sharing the revenue from the call.

The important point to note here is that customers pay the telco not the company who is renting the premium NGN.

Teleconferencing companies who offer free telephone conferencing services use this mode. The commission which the telco pays the audio conference service provider is used to pay for running the conference bridge, advertise the service and (sometimes) make a profit.

The diagram below aims to make the process clearer.

Step 1. Callers call an NGN owned by a telco. When the telco receives the calls, it diverts them to the Audio Conference Service Provider which uses its equipment to conference all the lines together to create the conference call.

Step 2. The telco bills the callers for the call to the NGN which just appears on their phone bills in the same way as calls to any other phone number. The cost per minute will depend on the class of NGN which the Audio Conference Service Provider has rented. In the UK charges range from £1.50 per minute down to just £0.05 per minute.

Step 3. The telco pays the Audio Conference Provider a percentage of the money which it has received from the callers.

As the Audio Conference Service provider is paid by the telco not the caller, there is no need for the audio conferencing company to charge the caller. In this sense the telephone conference is free - the only charges are for the phone call.

Some telephone conferencing companies advertise this type of audio conference as being a totally free service. We think this is stretching the truth a bit so we describe our revenue based teleconferencing service, OzoneLITE as being "Free Telephone Conference Hosting". In our opinion, this describes the service better as we don't charge you for providing access to our telephone conference bridging kit even though you pay a small charge to your telco for the phone call.

To ensure we offer you the closest thing we can to truly free telephone conferencing, we use the cheapest type of revenue generating NGN available in the UK. Namely, one which begins with the dialling code 0844. Some other companies use 0870 or 0871 numbers which are more expensive.

In summary: NGN based free teleconferencing services can be useful for small companies and individuals with moderate audio conferencing requirements, however these type of services are usually very basic and not suitable for larger companies.

Free teleconferences using internal company networks

Large companies often have their own private data networks which span cities, countries or even the whole world.

Where there is sufficient bandwidth available on these networks, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems can be used to provide teleconferencing services at no incremental cost to the company.

It must be stressed however that the investment required to set up and support internal audio conferencing bridges is certainly non-trial and outsourcing to a specialist teleconferencing provider is often much more cost effective.

In summary: Usually only cost effective for larger companies.

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