Free conference calling has been around for years, but attorneys have mostly not used it. Me included.
But now, after discovering uberconference, that’s about to change.
First impressions make a difference, and uberconference creates a strong one. Although it’s free (for the basic level), it looks sophisticated. And that sophistication is more than veneer.
Uberconference has re-imagined a lot of what a phone conference is about. For example:
- Start a conference without having to enter a PIN
- Schedule conference in advance
- Automatically call participants at scheduled time (Pro only)
- Schedule recurring meetings (Pro only)
- Get a local phone number (Pro only)
- Optional web display shows who is currently talking
- Easily and quickly mute participants one at time, or by group
- Participants allowed conference before the organizer shows up
- Record call easily with one button
- iPhone and Android apps (free) let you easily start a conference from your phone
After the conference call is completed you get an immediate summary report (if you’re using the web display). The report is also emailed to you. Here’s what it looks like.
As you can see, the report shows who was on the call, the exact times that they were dialed in, who arrived first, and who arrived last (school teachers would love this feature!). The call report is permanently stored, and can always be accessed later.
uberconference is free for up to 10 participants, but you can bump up the number of participants on your free account by connecting the service to your social media profiles (e.g. Google+, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn). Doing so will get you up to 15 participants. Uploading your contacts will add 2 more, and doing so makes it easier to set up impromptu conferences (even from your phone).
The service only works with United States phone numbers, but the Pro version allows International callers to dial in.
Bottom line: if you don’t have a dedicated service for setting up conference calls then uberconference is probably a good bet. Especially since most of what you’d want (and more) is included in the free version.
If you’re the least bit interested, you should visit the site and watch the two-minute overview video; it provides a great explanation of all the visual features available to the conference organizer and participants who choose to use the web view while on the conference.