In the past 15 years I have watched the average cost of a conference call service go from over 20 cents per minute to less than 10 cents per minute. In that time one of the fundamental costs of the conference call service business, the cost of telecommunications, has dropped a lot so conference call service companies have been able to get more aggressive in their pursuit of new business by dropping rates as well. As prices continue to fall and conference call service companies continue to think up new ways to package pricing to make the rates more attractive I thought it would be good to examine if a conference call service is a commodity.
In the eyes of the consumer on the surface it is difficult to see any difference certainly in a conference call service, especially if you are not too familiar with conference call features and so forth. But, behind the curtain there are many things that distinguish differences in conference call services. Some are plain to see, like the type of access the conference call service company offers. A local access number is less cost to the conference call service company so they can charge less, but you will incur hidden cost by having to call a long distance number to connect to the conference call. Another obvious difference can be the number of participants allowed on a conference call. The more participants you can get on a call raises the cost of available equipment to the conference call service company. And support is another cost that cannot be hidden. If the conference call service company offers 24/7 support, which you would want, they will need to pass that cost on as well.
Some of the costs that you may not see, but you should look for in a conference call service company are the quality of its network, a redundant network to avoid catastrophic failure and the personal support you need to help you when you need it. Zip Conferencing has taken all of the possible precautions to make sure that your conference calls are available when you need them and the support you need to make sure you get the most out of the service. And all of the things that make for a high quality experience with a conference call service company have a cost to them. So, even though they may all look the same on the outside, conference call service companies are not all the same. And because of all the differences you can and cannot see, a conference call service is not a commodity.