19 Ways To Phone, Fax & Web Conference For Free

by Andy on May 13, 2008

The economy is on the decline and even those businesses which are doing well are starting to look for ways to cut back on costs. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, a busy corporate professional or the owner of a small business, you could certainly benefit from keeping more money in your own pockets and sending less out the door to pay for the services your career requires. One of the easiest areas of life in which you can start cutting costs today is in communications. There are free VoIP (including mobile VoIP) services, free online fax options and free conference calling tools out there which can help to slash your communication bills and get you started on you way to putting more money in the bank.

VoIP technology is an increasingly popular method being used by people who are interested in cutting down the costs of their phone calls. It has traditionally been used to lower the costs of international calling but can now be used to save money on all different types of calls. As mobile VoIP has grown in popularity, it has also become a popular option for people who are interested in streamlining their productivity by easily moving their calls from the office to their home to their mobile phones. In the end, it is not only the immediate cost savings that lets VoIP save you money but also the fact that this productivity equals time saved which in turn equals money saved.

The savvy consumer will want to look at free VoIP, free mobile VoIP and free VoIP platforms in order to find the right service or set of services to keep calls free. Here is a closer look at some of those options.


Free VoIP Services

Voice over IP has revolutionised the cost of making phone calls. There are many different flavours available including softphones such as Skype that run on your computer and let you make free calls to other users and very cheap calls to landlines and mobiles.

  1. Google Talk: This is rapidly become one of the most popular free VoIP services out there. If you’re already someone that uses Google and you’re someone that is on the computer a lot then this is a great way to start using your computer to make calls that don’t cost you anything at all.
  2. iCall: This is a really basic service that lets you make free local and long distance calls through a program installed on your computer. It allows you to also have a voice mail box through the service without paying a thing. Their money comes from a business directory through which they charge for listings in order to offer you free phone service.
  3. Jajah: This is one of the VoIP services that is free for peer-to-peer calling. In other words, if you call someone else that uses Jajah then you don’t have to pay anything for the call. Since it’s one of the most popular VoIP services out there, there’s a good chance that others you know will have the service.

Free Mobile VoIP Services

It’s not just with computers and landlines where you can place calls via the internet, you can even make VoIP calls on your mobile phone. Mobile VoIP is widely regarded as the fastest growing sector in telecoms and the most disruptive. It’s also a great way to save money!

  1. Jaxtr: This is one of the most popular VoIP systems for mobile phone users because it easily connects international calls at a low cost. The service itself is free so you’re paying a little bit to make calls around the world but not nearly as much as you would if you were just using your mobile phone to call international numbers without this service.
  2. TruPhone: This is a hot-spot based service which lets you make free calls on your mobile phone any time that you’re in a Wi-Fi hot spot area. As more and more cities see success in creating citywide wireless networks, this could become a popular method of making free phone calls.
  3. MobiVox: This VoIP service lets you make free calls from any phone at all so it doesn’t matter if you’re on your mobile or on a landline.
  4. Blyk: This is a service that is offered only in the UK but it’s one to watch out for because it’s got an interesting marketing model that many may adopt in the future. Basically, it’s a mobile phone that doesn’t require any sort of contract. It’s ad-based and comes with a certain set of free minutes and free text messages. Anyone who sticks within this number of minutes and messages has a phone that doesn’t cost them a monthly fee. As mobile advertising becomes increasingly popular, we could see more companies taking approaches like this to mobile calling.

Free VoIP Platforms & Features

You have several options available to you should you wish to convert all the calls from your office to VoIP. You could install a softphone on each computer and give employees headsets or compatible WiFi phones, or setup your own VoIP PBX.

  1. Skype: The most popular of all peer-to-peer calling platforms is Skype. Since so many different people (and businesses) have it, it’s possible to make a lot of your calls for free if you’re willing to use this computer-based system.
  2. Asterisk: This is a VoIP platform that is designed for those people who have some knowledge about computer programming. It’s a basic system that lets you create your own VoIP features to make the kind of free calls that work for you.
  3. Click-to-Call Widgets: One of the most important features that you can make sure to look for with any VoIP service or platform is the availability of click-to-call widgets. These are widgets that you place on your blog, social networking profile or website which say something like ‘click to call me’. The individual on the other end of the computer clicks the button, your phone is dialed and they reach you immediately. This is a terrific free feature (included in VoIP service) which can ramp up profits for anyone selling items (or services) online. It’s particularly common to see these on platforms like Facebook as well as on online dating sites.

Free Online Fax Options

If phone calls were the only communication tool that we used on a regular basis then it wouldn’t be so expensive to stay in touch with people. Unfortunately, we use many methods of communicating with others so we have to cut back in all areas if we really want to save money. Here are a few online spots that will let you save money on any faxes that you send.

  1. FaxDigits: This is a great service that allows you to have all of the benefits of a fax machine without paying for the machine or the faxing. You get a dedicated fax line and can receive an unlimited number of incoming faxes (as pdfs) for free. You’ll have to pay a little bit for excessive outgoing faxes but the cost is low.
  2. FaxZero: The drawback to this company is that they’re going to place ads on the cover sheet of your fax (since that’s how they make their money). The benefit is that you don’t ever have to pay anything to send a fax. Don’t worry; nobody looks at those cover sheets anyway!
  3. FreeFax: This is another ad-based online fax system that doesn’t require you to pay anything to send faxes through your computer. It’s been around for eight years so it’s fairly well-established and the kinks of the system have all been worked out.
  4. The Phone Company: For a free fax service that’s really been established for a long time, take a look at this one which launched way back in 1993. You can use it to send a fax from your web browser or email and it can be received through email or through remote printing technology.

Free Conference Calling Tools

Traditionally, one of the more expensive areas of communication has been conference calling. The cost has hindered many entrepreneurs and small businesses from moving into the bigger business arena. However, that’s not the case anymore. There are now numerous free voice conferencing and web conferencing tools which let you easily collaborate with people anywhere in the world at no cost to you.

  1. Free Conference: This is one of the most popular free conference calling tools for people who are interested in voice conferencing. Offering toll-free conferences which can be scheduled or ‘on-demand’, this service has the air of professionalism without the cost. Basically anything that you want to do in terms of voice conferencing can be done through this site.
  2. Foonz: This is a fun conference calling service which can work for professionals but is particularly ideal for people who seek conference calling for more personal calls (such as planning get-togethers with big groups of friends). It’s voice conferencing with multiple messaging features that can be used on any phone.
  3. EasyConference: As the name suggests, this is easy conference calling. People looking for the basic features of a voice conferencing tool are going to find that this one is simple to start using.
  4. Yugma: This is free web-based conferencing that is designed for professionals that are trying to work remotely with multiple parties. You can schedule, start or join an existing conference. It works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems and it’s easy to understand.
  5. Vyew: The motto of this company is ‘review the past, work together in the present and prepare for the future’. That sums up the purpose of this web collaboration platform where you can conference in real-time with people while looking at a multi-party online work space.

Cutting Communication Corners to Make Profits

The thing that successful people realize is that you have to be sensible about where you spend your money. Yes, you sometimes do have to spend it to make it. However, there are many places where you can make use of free or reduced-cost services without compromising the quality of your interaction. Communications is increasingly one of those areas. Instead of racking up huge mobile phone bills and paying for voice conferencing software, check out the free options that are available to you. You’ll soon find that you have more money to spend on the technology and gadgets that you really want!

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