Is the Conference Call Really Free?

Free international conference calling services are suddenly taking the world by storm. This seems like a major departure from regular conference calls that are weighed down by high bridging fees and other charges levied on the organizer, either as a fixed monthly cost or pay-as-you-go basis.

And this is where the difference lies. Free conference calls do not have any organizer fees whatsoever. Every caller has to pay only for his own call which will be equivalent to a local call charge or a long distance call charge in the case of international conference calling. In fact, there are no expensive premium rate numbers as the established free conference call providers even use the same local rate numbers as paid conference call providers.

But how is this possible? Well, the secret lies in the fact that the free conference call providers do not use a bridge on the one hand and also have a revenue sharing arrangement with the telecom provider on the other. This means that the phone carrier will pay them a fee for each incoming call made on their network.


And this benefit is directly transferred to the end caller. For instance, at SmarterCalls each caller has to pay just 4.3p per minute for calls made from a UK landline. Additionally, there are low cost local access numbers for US, UK and other countries around the world.

So, make use of free conference calls to the fullest!