Top 46 Conference Calling Software (Jun 2024)

Conference Calling Buyer's Guide

Overview

Conference calling software is a type of technology that enables multiple participants to engage in a phone call simultaneously. This software allows businesses to conduct virtual meetings, collaborate with remote teams, and connect with clients and partners regardless of their physical location.

Why Businesses Need It

Businesses need conference calling software to facilitate communication and collaboration among team members, partners, and clients who are not co-located. This technology helps save time and money by eliminating the need for travel and provides a convenient way to conduct meetings and discussions in real-time.

Main Features

Key features of conference calling software include audio and video conferencing capabilities, screen sharing, recording options, participant management, chat functionality, integration with calendar apps, and mobile accessibility.

Main Business Processes the Software Apps Can Help With

Conference calling software can assist businesses in conducting virtual meetings, training sessions, sales presentations, client consultations, project collaborations, and team huddles. It streamlines communication processes and enhances productivity by enabling seamless interactions among stakeholders.

Steps on How to Buy This Software

When buying conference calling software, businesses should first assess their communication needs, determine the number of participants per call, evaluate the desired features, set a budget, and research different vendors. They should then request demos, compare pricing and contract terms, check for scalability and security features, and read customer reviews before making a final decision.

Things to Consider

When selecting conference calling software, businesses should consider factors such as audio and video quality, ease of use, compatibility with existing systems, customer support options, scalability, pricing plans, security measures, and the reputation of the vendor in the market.

Most Popular Vendors and Market Share

Some of the most popular conference calling software vendors include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, GoToMeeting, and Skype for Business. Zoom holds a significant market share in this category, followed by Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.

Trends and Next Steps in This Category

The conference calling software category is witnessing trends such as the integration of AI-driven features for transcription and translation, virtual background options, enhanced security protocols, and improved mobile experiences. The next steps in this category involve further enhancing user experiences, expanding global reach, and integrating with other collaboration tools.

10 Questions to Ask Software Vendors During a Demo

1. How many participants can join a conference call simultaneously?
2. What audio and video quality settings are available?
3. Is there an option for recording conference calls?
4. How secure is the platform, and what encryption methods are used?
5. Can users easily share their screens during a call?
6. What integrations does the software offer with other tools and apps?
7. What customer support options are available, and what is the response time?
8. Are there different pricing plans based on the number of users or features needed?
9. How often does the vendor release updates and new features?
10. Can the software scale according to the growing needs of the business?

Head to head Conference Calling software leaders comparisons:

List of Conference Calling Software:

Video Conferencing System Price Range

Most video conferencing software in the market are priced on a monthly basis and based on the number of hosts or number of users; others are set per conference room or per conference session. The prices for most video conferencing software can be broken into three tiers, starting from $0 to $15, $15 to $35, and $35 and above. These are the price ranges for the basic offering from most vendors as found on their website; hence, premium or enterprise plans with more robust features will cost more.

In addition, different video conferencing products are designed to serve different business sizes; hence, prices may differ in this regard.

• Small Businesses can expect to pay between $2 and $9 for a video conferencing software per user, per month. For example, InfinCE pricing starts from $5 per user monthly, while Vectera pricing starts from $9 per user monthly. There are also products with perpetual licenses that can be bought with a one-time fee. An example is Hubilo, which costs a one-time fee of $2, although virtual event requirements may determine the total price.
• Medium Businesses can expect to pay within the range of $9 to $20 for a video conferencing software. For instance, Vonage Business Communications pricing starts from $19 per user monthly, Adjusting cost pricing is around $12 per month, and Cisco WebEx pricing from $13 per user, per month. Also, some vendors, based on their pricing terms, may give discounts depending on the number of users from an organization who subscribed to a chosen plan.
• Large Businesses can expect to pay within the range of $500 to $1,500 for video conferencing software bulk plans, based on their number of active conference members or per conference session. For example, Webminar Jam pricing starts from around $500 per year for two presenters and 500 attendees. Another example is EverCast, which starts from $999 per conferencing room and with no limit to the number of participants. However, some products for large business sizes are priced monthly and are more robust feature-wise. For example, GotoWebminar pricing starts from $49 per user, per month.

Some vendors do offer free version for their Video Conferencing Software with access to some features. For example, Glip, LoopUp, and Vidyo Connect all have free offerings for small business sizes.

Video Conferencing apps for Mac OS users have prices that fall between the range of $6 to $19. For example, OneScreen Hype starts from $10 per user monthly, ezTalks pricing from $12 per user monthly, and Free Conference pricing from around $9 per month.