Flat Rate vs Pay As You Go Conference Calling

You’ve already discovered that telephone conference calls and Web conferencing can save your company hundreds or even thousands of dollars per meeting. So why quibble about the small costs involved? For one thing, a penny saved is worth more than a penny earned. For another, the better the deal on conference calling, the more you can use the service to improve productivity.

Let’s take a look at how much you can get for what you pay from AccuConference, a leader in the teleconferencing services field. AccuConference offers both flat rate and pay as you go conference calls.

The Flat-Rate option is perfect for anyone who wants to have regular meetings, even on a daily basis. The beauty of flat-rate is that you don’t have to sit looking at the clock, worrying about what this is costing when somebody takes too long to get to the point. Flat rate is what it says. You pay a single monthly fee that determines how many participants you can include in your conference call. Participants call a 404 Atlanta dial-in number and pay the cost of their long distance calls. You can keep the call going as long as necessary, although people will tend to fade after an hour or two. After 10 hours, the system will mercifully cut you off and you’ll have to start another conference.

How much is this flat rate? It starts at $14.95 per month for up to 5 lines on the conference. Of course, people may be using speakerphones at the other end of those line to include an entire conference room group in the conversation. Five lines is plenty for most working groups and project teams. But what if your company wants to host training calls for employees or affiliates? You’ll need more lines. You can get up to 50 lines for $199 a month and have a conference every day if you have that much material to share.

AccuConference pay as you go conference calls are also toll-free conference calls. There are no set up fees, no monthly requirements or contracts of any type. You simply pay for what you use. What you pay is a small per minute charge, typically 7.9 cents per minute for each participant. Participants call a toll free number and you pay for the cost of the calls.

How about international participants? They can call-in toll free like domestic US callers. The cost for each participant depends on where they are calling from. For instance, callers in Canada cost 9.9 cents a minute instead of 7.9 cents a minute for US participants. Calls from Australia are 12.9 cents a minute, UK participants are also 12.9 cents a minute, while calls from Mexico are 32.9 cents a minute. Most of Europe is under 20 cents per minute.

Now, think about how much it costs to travel to wherever you would have a meeting and then decide how often that cost is worth it. In between visits, you’ll be surprised on how well connected you can be with low cost flat rate or pay as you go conference calls.