Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Ultra Conference Dual Conference Calling Solution

Once you develop a need for teleconferences that go beyond small groups of people huddling around speakerphones at a couple of locations, you get interested in conference calling solutions. While some PBX systems offer conference bridges that can join multiple phones, an outsourced conferencing solution can allow dozens or even hundreds of diversely located participants to be part of the same call.

Ultra Conference is an enterprise grade conferencing solution that is inexpensive enough to use for all sorts of teleconferencing applications. Even more versatile is the choice you get between fixed price and per-minute charges.

One popular use for Ultra Conference is training calls. The company provides a moderator and trainers or guest experts. Participants are given a phone number and PIN code to dial at a pre-scheduled time. No-one has to be located at a "conferencing center." Any phone will do. The moderator controls the session and can choose to let everyone speak at will, or enter a lecture mode that allows only certain parties to talk. Others can raise a virtual hand to speak by pushing a button on their dialpad. The entire call can be recorded for later reference or even to post on a website for downloading by those who missed the call.

Another popular use for teleconferences is shareholder calls which can include question and answer sessions. These can possibly involve a hundred or more participants. Ultra Conference scales easily to handle this many callers. You also have the option to have an UltraConference operator moderate the call or even call your participants when it's time for the telecon.

I know what you're thinking. A service like this must be pretty pricey. Would you be surprised to know that there are no sign-up fees, no monthly service fees and no contracts involved? You pay as you go, which makes UltraConference practical for even very small or virtual companies.

There are two plans available. With the per-minute plan, you pay 7.9 cents per minute per participant on domestic calls. Participants dial a toll free access number to join the call. With the flat rate plan, you pay a monthly fee based on the number of lines you want to reserve. It starts at $39/month for 5 lines and gets cheaper per line as the quantity of lines goes up. You can use the lines for as many conference calls in a month as you desire. In the flat rate plan, participants dial an Atlanta phone number and pay for the call themselves. Your cost besides the monthly line rental is 3.9 cents per minute long distance charge per participant.

Ah, which to chose, which to choose? Don't strain your brain over this. Use the handy comparison calculator to see which plan is the most cost effective for your particular needs. Enter the number of participants, average length of conference, and number of conferences per month. Then click the "calculate now" button and you'll have your answer. This will also help you compare the cost of UltraConference with the conferencing solution you are using now. If you've been paying a bundle to host company telecons, you might switch to saving a bundle with UltraConference.



Follow Telexplainer on Twitter