Calling Plans
There is a lot of competition amongst Telephone Service Providers which results in ever changing prices. The good news is that many packages include at least 60 minutes free calls evenings and weekends, which is invariably when we have our meetings.
When choosing a conference service be aware that these free minutes are usually restricted to geographic codes e.g. numbers beginning 01 or 02. When calling other numbers such as 0844 or 0845 all participants will incur a charge that will vary by service provider.
Here are some packages to look at:
BT
You will need a Residential account to benefit from free calls with BT. They have changed the names of their Residential packages from April 1st, 2008. What was BT Together Option 2 is now Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan and allows for calls up to 60 minutes. This costs £2.70 a month but if you sign up for a 12-month contract you get 60 minute evening and weekend calls for nothing. Compare calling plans at BT's website.
TalkTalk
TalkTalk offer a similar package which allows for calls up to 70 minutes evening and weekends. This is free for 12 months then £2.65 a month. There are other benefits such as free calls to other TalkTalk customers. Check the TalkTalk website and click on Landline at the top.
Planet Talk
Planet Talk is Primustel's residential service and Saver Option 2 is a very good package which seems hidden in the website. It allows 90 minutes free calls evening and weekends with no monthly payment if you have email billing and pay by Direct Debit. To sign up you need to call Residential Sales on 0800 036 0094. We have used this successfully at Carnforth since February 2008.
Mobile Phones
Some calling plans for Mobile phones have a number of inclusive minutes that can be used to call landlines with geographic codes. These calls are not usually limited in length. Be careful and check with your provider. (Mobile phone operators can set their own price for calls such as the 0845 and 0844 numbers used by some conferencing services. In some instances they charge over £1.00 per minute.)
Eclipse
Eclipse is backed by Kingston Communications and offers a telephone calling plan to their broadband customers which has free calls to geographic codes.
IP Phone
An IP phone uses VoIP (Voice over IP) technologies allowing telephone calls to be made over the internet. You really need a broadband internet connection to get the best quality.
You can connect to a KHlink conference room from an open VoIP account for free. This does not include systems such as Skype as they use a closed, proprietary system. (You can connect to the conference room from Skype but you will have to dial it like an ordinary number and pay for the call.)
IP phones can be softphones such as X-Lite which is free to download and install on a computer. Hardware IP phones are very popular in business with domestic and small business versions now available.
If you would like a VoIP one month free trial contact us for more information.
If you have experience with other providers please let us know.