Conference Calls

[z42]

Thought some of you might know of a good solution for me. I will be setting up a monthly conference call that will need to have capacity for around 20-30 lines. Cheaper is better, but quality counts too. I know there are some free things available, like skype, but with the amount of incoming lines necesary I'm not sure that will work. Also, it will need to be as simple as possible, i.e. no extra hardware needed.

Thanks,

 

[Drakkon]

We use gotomeeting here at my company and it seems to handle things fairly well but we've never had more than 5-10 people in on a call. There is a software package to do screen stuff, but all you have to do is setup a meeting and you get a pin and dialin number provided.
Also if you call qwest (or your phone company) they can setup a conf call for a fee, they will give you an 800 number to dial into and a pin code usually. WE only idd this for a 5 perosn meeting and it worked real well.
ONly other system I've used is Webex and it has been with 20+ people and i didnt like it all that much, whoever was the most dominant speaker could control the line seemed like because it was like whoever was talking shut off the other lines.

 

[DeviousTrap]

You could use something like Ventrillo or Teamspeak if you're willing to use computers and headsets. Both would be very cheap to run as they are normally used for chats by gamers and hosting for them is readily avaliable. I'm just not sure how many people would actually be willing to do a conference calls over the internet.

 

[Cattlegod]

http://www.btconferencing.com/btci/default.asp

not sure about their price, but we've had conference calls with 100+ people using these guys.

edit - and there is no hardware required other than a phone.

looks like they may have a cheap option for you with a 40 user cap. BT MeetMe

may be just what you are looking for

 

[z42]

Thanks Cattlegod, requested some more info from them.

For clarification, we will have multiple people on each line, so a teamspeak/ventrilo type system won't work. It would have to be through a standard speakerphone.