In today’s distressed economy and competitive global market, it is increasingly important that businesses save money wherever they can. Since travel expenses can add up, try using a conference call for that important meting that involves employees or customers that do not live and work in the same city.

Conference calls are becoming more and more common in today’s global economy. Coupled with videoconferencing, and you still get that same “in-person experience without the added travel costs. Below are some tips on saving money for your business by using a phone conference strategy.

Search for Free Services

Do some research online for companies that offer free, reservation-less conference calling. Sometimes, those services come with a short advertisement before each call, but ti may be worth it if the service is free. There are also companies that will charge a small fee for each call per attendee, and those usually allow you more flexibility in your conference calling options, such as allowing you to record calls or have more attendees than you can on the free sites.

Add The Video or Screen Capture, too!

Why stop at just sharing the voices on your phone? Using a service that also lets you share what is going on on your computer screen could be helpful if your meeting involves a presentation or if you need to share charts, data, or graphs. Think about adding the visual element to your conference calls for a more effective meeting.

Manage your meeting effectively

One way to reduce costs with phone conferencing is to ensure that you have a clear agenda and can effectively manage your meetings. Preparing and distributing an agenda to all of the attendees via email before the conference call can help you ensure that everyone knows the purpose and objectives of the meeting, and may make the call go more smoothly.

As you can see, phone conferencing can save you time and money in today’s busy business industry. Do some research and determine the needs of your company with respect to conference calling, and you’re on your way to saving time and money by hosting calls from your desk rather than having to incur expensive travel expenses. Happy calling!