NIU

Trying a free conference call service

Posted by Stacy on Saturday, September 27, 2008 10:28 PM

Remember those days when little kids would call each other on three-way every night, gossiping about anything from sports to fashion to Susie Q's ugly haircut? There was always that one poor unfortunate soul who was banned from the three-way festivities because of the extra charge for every call made. That clueless person would miss not only the juiciest gossip but also party plans and generally fun times.

Luckily for that deprived conference caller-turned-student, there is a service that understands the need for a free conference call and makes the whole process fast and easy. A service is here to help you with all of your free conferencing needs. That service is Rondee.

The great thing about Rondee is that it allows you to do so much as far as scheduling conference calls, sending out email invitations, and so much more. Have a huge group project but can't find a suitable meeting place in time? Schedule a conference call. Big party coming up and you need help planning it fast? Schedule a conference call.

I am a Judicial Advocate at my school and I try to keep in touch with the other Advocates once every two weeks to discuss procedure changes, strategies, and other good things. We now email back and forth but email can be terribly time consuming and not always efficient. It can take days to get a few simple points across. I heard about this service from a friend who had seen it mentioned on someone's Myspace page. I decided to research it and give it a try. What I found was impressive, to say the least.

Not only does Rondee offer an email invite (almost like RSVP) system, it also offers free call recording which can come in handy depending on the conversation. And as if this weren't enough, Rondee offers the option of scheduling recurring call appointments, making conference calls consistent.

Like any skeptic, I had my reservations. I wanted to know how everyone would connect to the conference at the meeting time and if I (or my invitees) would need some newfangled equipment or pricey software.

My reservations turned into opportunities for Rondee to shine. Unlike other services, Rondee doesn't throw a bunch of free conference call numbers at you and expect that if you call a different number you'll have to pay. There is one easy number to remember to call. The lucky selected few that receive the honor of your invitation call the same number and enter the invitation code and voila! They are now in your conference. It doesn't get much easier than that. And for the technologically challenged, have no fear: you just need an ordinary telephone to use the service (cell phones work too). No software to download or new handsets to buy!

I registered and found the entire process took less than 3 minutes to complete, which is much faster than many social networks. Rondee doesn't ask for much personal information and you won't have to waste time creating a profile before you get started doing anything. But probably the most convincing thing about Rondee is that it's free! Yes, absolutely free!

I have yet to actually complete my first conference call, since it is scheduled for tomorrow. But I look forward to using Rondee again and again in the future. Don't just take my word for it, though; try it out for yourself!