Toll Free Conference Calling Facts You Should Know

by Takuya Hikichi

Do You Need A Toll Free Number or Free Conference Provider?

If you're looking for a toll free conference service, do you mean a 1-800 (for US, 0-808 in Britain, 0120 in Japan etc) conference number or do you mean a "free" conference service provider?

If you're only looking for a free service provider, Google online and you should not have any problems finding free service providers from the search results. The majority of calls are free until they either 1) reach certain number of callers dialing in or 2) start adding advance features. The advance setting includes audio recording, web conferencing, and finally the "toll free number", which may or may not be provided freely.

If you need an 1-800 number line (as in the case of 1-800 numbers), then here are some options.

Setting up A Separate Toll Free Number to Connect

One alternative to creating a toll free conference number is by setting up a separate forwarding service. You can set up a 1-800, 1-888, 1-866 numbers at very reasonable price today and all you need to do is to forward the incoming calls to the conferencing line. This way, you're not narrowing your service provider options to companies that offer a 1-800 dialing number provider.

Setting up An International Toll Free Line

It may be obvious to most people that not all 1-800 numbers can be accessed from outside the US, but less obvious that some numbers can only be accessed from the state assigned. In other words, if you have a "California only" 1-800 number, you may not be able to dial in from New York. Be sure to double check that your assigned number places no geographical limitation.

If your toll free number restricts international calls, you'd need to set up a forwarding service from a regular number to 1-800 number. This may sound strange, but in some cases, that's the only way to accept international callers. You would tell the international callers to call non-800 numbers then forward incoming calls to your destination number, which is your 800 conferencing number.

Last But Not Least

Don't forget to provide the callers with conferencing ID number to join the meeting if your calls require it.