Communication can be expensive, especially for small businesses that need to make a big effort to get in touch with clients in order to secure potentially lucrative contracts. Also, it can be complicated, as there’s no knowing whether a phone call, a flying visit or an e-mail is the best method to contact customers, investors or remote workers. However, a number of free and low-cost teleconferencing programs can make life a great deal easier.
In the U.S., Skype offers free video conferencing for anyone with a webcam or a compatible smartphone. This service is free as long as the parties you’re calling also subscribe to Skype, but calls to landlines or phones outside the Skype network incur a charge. OoVoo provides a free video chat service. Like Skype, its free version will blitz you with ads, hardly desirable in a business setting; to avoid ads with these services, you’ll have to purchase a “premium” plan.
In the UK, a telecommunications company called Powwownow provides video conferencing at a very low cost. It has the potential to trump all those forms of communication in terms of saving time, money and making it easier to get in touch with those important clients. Interestingly, Powwownow offers not two but three levels of service: one that’s free but allows relatively small groups to conference; a pay-as-you-go plan that provides UK and worldwide telephone numbers, and a premium version that allows up to 1,000 participants per call.
The benefits for small businesses are significant, and of course they’re multiplied many times over for larger companies that do business across state lines or overseas.
Save money: conference calling represents great value for money, as it’s very cheap to do. Going to meetings outside the office can be very expensive, especially if you’re paying for fuel or tickets to get to your destination. However, by arranging a conference call instead, you can have a meeting using the necessary software instead of spending hundreds on a business trip which might bear no fruit whatsoever. It can also save you from making expensive phone calls and enable some of your employees to work from home and contact you by conference calling.
Save time: as well as being expensive, travelling miles from your office to that of one of your clients can take up a lot of time which could be better spent doing work in the office. Arranging a conference call only takes a few minutes to do, and it can be ended in a flash too. It can also save time if you want to arrange a staff meeting, as every one of your employees who as conference calling capabilities can be invited.
Easy to use: conference calling is surprisingly easy to use. All you need to do is download some conference calling software and invite those you wish to speak to into your call and you’re away. It can make collaboration easy too, plus it allows you to make face-to-face contact with whoever you’re speaking to if you want to get a point across.