The Conference Coach™

Carolyn Bradfield

Even though intellectually I know better, sometimes I get sucked in to a TV commercial that advertises that their product is absolutely free.  If you add up the commercials, emails, advertisements, etc that tout free stuff, we could live quite well and not have to pay a dime for anything.

However, the reality is that free products advertised on TV have a catch.  It’s something call shipping and handling fees.   We’re so sure that you will love our product; we’re willing to give it to you absolutely free!  Just pay the shipping and handling fee.  You take what is a $10 product and pay another $30 in shipping and handling then you get the idea of how that company makes its money.

And what about those companies that let you try a product or service free for 30 days?  Or the companies that give you free interest on things like furniture for a year?  They are counting on the fact that you will not read the fine print.  If you don’t proactively cancel that magazine subscription or service, then you will be locked into spending the next year locked into a commitment.  If you don’t pay off the furniture before the “free interest” expires, then the rate becomes 25% and they make up their margins in outrageous finance charges.

Now that you get the picture, let’s talk about the world of free conferencing.
Knowing that nothing in life is really “free” as you’ve just seen, let me share with you that conferencing is never free either.  We are all in the business to make a profit; otherwise, we wouldn’t exist.  If someone offers you a “free service,” then pay close attention to the fine print.

Likely, you will not be given a toll-free number to connect to the call.  That means that each and every participant will pay long distance charges to come into the call. Then pay attention to the invoice.  Expect to see fees, minimums and surcharges that add to the cost of the call.

Also think about the service that you are getting.  Free conferencing companies stick their bridges (the computers that process the call) in rural phone companies with one way to transport calls in and one way out.  If that transport fails, then there is no way to get the conference call back online.  If you want to hit *0 and get an operator, forget about doing that as well.  Free conferencing services don’t staff operations centers.

The cost of conferencing has dropped dramatically over the time I have been in the industry.  There is no need to scrimp on this vital way to communicate. If your call is disrupted; if you can’t get an operator; if you have to pay long distance, fees and minimums, you might as well go out and sign up for one of those free products on TV.  You also might as well try something free for 30 days and hope you remember to cancel before the commitment kicks in.  And also while you’re at it, send some money to a Nigerian bank to help the poor person who emailed you send money to his mother in America.

Nothing is free.  Not TV products, not subscriptions, not conferencing.  Your common sense should tell you that.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a provider of easy-to-use audio conferencing and web conferencing communication tools. Copper also provides wrap-around services including online account, invoice and recording management. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — no obligation. Just sign up now.