Online Conferencing Software Doesn't Have to Be Expensive

Online Conferencing Software Doesn't Have to Be Expensive

Business owners are often intrigued by online conferencing, but they may assume that it is too expensive for them. In reality, it is not nearly as expensive as you might think. There are numerous online conferencing software options available, and many of them are affordable for small businesses.

When considering web conferencing software, it is important to find the program that most closely meets your needs. You can save money while still getting what you need by comparison shopping. Here are some pointers to help you find the best online conferencing deal for your business.

* Consider how often you plan to have online conferences. Do you see yourself having one, a few, or several each month? Hosted solutions in which you pay per use may be best if you are only going to have an occasional conference. If you plan to have conferences often, you may choose to get a monthly subscription or purchase software to install on your own server or hosting account.

* Think about which features you really need in conferencing software. If you do not plan to utilize video in your conferences, there is no need to seek out software that supports it. If you're not planning on posting audio from your call on your site for download, you won't need the capability to record. You might be able to save money with an option that only offers the specific features that you need.

* Have more calls with fewer participants accepted on each one. There are programs that offer unlimited usage but have limits on the number of participants on each call. Taking advantage of the unlimited usage may be cheaper than having fewer calls with more participants.

* Use free trials to find the best online conferencing software for your business. Many services offer time-limited free trials. You can give them a try with small or personal conferences to see how you like them. If you try one that doesn't meet your needs or expectations, you can move on without having paid a dime.

* Consider software that offers voice chat. This will allow for audio without having to pay for a phone line. Your attendees won't incur long-distance charges, and you won't have to pay for a toll-free number. Software with voice chat may cost a little more than software without it, but it could save you money in the long run.

Online conferencing is much more affordable than getting people together in person. The required software is probably going to be your biggest cost, but it doesn't necessarily have to break the bank. Shopping around can help you find a program that has everything you need for a price that fits your budget.

Product Name: Yahoo Voice

Rating: 7

Where to Buy: http://www.yahoo.com

Description: Yahoo Voice is a PC-to-PC calling system that is used through Yahoo Messenger.

Review: Making phone calls in a business situation can be very important. Being able to do that from your computer while having the information needed right in front of you can be even more important. With Yahoo Voice you can do just that.

It's easy to use. You must have Yahoo Messenger to be able to use this feature. Downloading messenger is easy and best of all it's free. Then once you have messenger you can make your calls through Yahoo Voice. You just find your contact in your messenger list, click a button and your calling them. It's so easy to use and best of all it's free if used with messenger.

Yahoo Voice will also give you a phone number for your computer. With this phone number friends, family and coworkers can call you from their landlines or cell phones. With a local area code it's easy for them to call and it doesn't raise their phone bill because they use their local rates no matter where you're located.

You can also make calls to landlines or cell phones from your PC. The charge is as little as 1 cent per minute and you can talk for as long as you like with no increase in the fee. Calling other countries may be a little higher but you can be connected to almost any place in the world and there are no connection fee charges that apply.

Yahoo Voice is simple and easy to use and can be of very little cost to you and the people who call you. Even someone as simple minded as myself had no problem figuring this out. I may run my business from a computer but that doesn't mean I understand all this stuff. Yahoo made this very easy to understand and use. I'm happy I found it. It's made my life and my business much easier to deal with.

Criticism: The only thing I don't like is that Yahoo Voice cannot replace your cell phone or a landline. It doesn't have the capabilities of calling emergency numbers such as 911 and sometimes the connection can have a bit of static.