Jaduka, a communications company that effectively creates an API for telephone-based services, has a launched a new conference call service called dukaUS that’s easy to use and totally free.
To initiate a call, you need to create an account (name, Email address, and phone number, but no billing information). After entering up to six phone numbers, the site will automatically dial each number and connect them over the service’s land-based phone system. After the call starts you can add more callers (up to the limit of six total participants) through the site’s web page.
Unsurprisingly, there are a few restrictions to the free service: all numbers involved must be in the United States or Canada, and you’re allotted a total of 30 minutes per day for group calls. The system also has a few quirks. In our test call with three people, there was a noticeable lag – nothing that would make a conversation unintelligible, but definitely enough to get annoying. The system also doesn’t seem to recognize if one of the members of the call gets disconnected, and there’s no ‘re-connect’ button – you’ll need to re-add dropped participants as another member of the call.
Still, for a free service that takes relatively little effort to set up, dukaUS delivers. And while it may not be suitable for lengthy business calls that are typically done over call bridges, it’s more than adequate for more casual group meetings.
Offering free conference calls isn’t a new idea, but it’s also one that never seemed like a viable business. We’ve seen similar services from startups like Gaboogie (which eventually shifted focus) and Foonz, which is still around but will likely have a hard time generating revenue. But dukaUS isn’t out to make money – it’s a product developed by Jaduka Labs to showcase the site’s technology and raise brand awareness, so it won’t be struggling to find a way to turn its complimentary service into a business.
free conference calls sounds awesome…
http://www.free...erencecall.com/
no such restrictions here..
Just use Conferencetown.com. It’s all free, and it lets you record, see all the people (names & numbers) in your conference, etc.
Our company just switched to conferencetown. We tried others but nothing was as simple and straight forward as them.
TW
Is twitter monetized? is blogspot monetized? May be dakaus is also planning to get the grip with the users first and then charge them once they get addicted to the service.
But the case with blogspot or twitter is – once i join, i continue to use for a long time. While i can easily move from one voice conference service provider to another for lower cost.
Makes sense, it is difficult to make users stick and hence make money..
Blogspot itself is not monotized…but Google gets a cut from its adsense users ..which is implemented on many blogs…so in a way…yes.
Jason – Did you personally try it out before writing? What did you think?
Yeah I did, I talked about it in the third paragraph. It worked pretty well, though I had a few gripes about the delay (that may be affected by network conditions though).
if you are looking for a free conferece call service for a small business, I would suggest freeconferencepro.com. There is no limit on the amount of time you can use, up to 200 members on the call, no “lag”, and you can customize a greeting for your business. We are using this with my current company and so far its been great….and its free.
Conferencetown.com is better. I’ve tried both…and it’s not even close as to who has better connectivity, options, etc.
Seems to be wonderful app. Will try out for sure..
Have they provided security assurance on conversations? If businesses are going to use their free conference call, they should at the very least provide or market themselves as free & private and secured service.
Milo, Great point and to answer your questions, the calls are secure. There is no recording of the calls. If you are on a call with 3 other people, your conversation is between the group and no one else.
Can you initiate the conference using an API of sorts?
Al, all of the applications within the labs are driven by APIs provided by Jaduka.
Low cost conference provides a full fledged conference calling service at a very affordable price: 4.5 cents per minute.
Works great for me, and its free. I can use this app. Thanks Jaduka.
Works great – maxxed out my conference time, application ended my call – lol. Very cool, still sucks I have to wait until tomorrow to continue using. What gets me is that this conferencing service is free. I’ll likely keep using dukaUS for free conferencing.
http://www.freeconference.com Best of the bunch! No restrictions and land line quality. No VIOP issues.
Party Line is one that I like most among all.. Cool Features and you can connect people from more than 30 countries…
You can get Party Line here..
On Facebook: http://www.face...?id=24334230464
On Orkut: http://www.orku...Id=322311169770
and if you are not Facebook or Orkut user, you can get it here..
http://pl.equals.com
PartyLine from Equals provides an excellent instant conferencing service. Available on http://pl.equals.com, Facebook (http://apps.fac...artylines/login), Orkut (http://www.orku...Id=322311169770) and comping up on Friendster very soon.
I have been using freeconferencecalling.com for a while now. No such restrictions there.
You can have a conference call for up to 500 people and the web control is great.
It lets you record and keep the conferences for ever and stream it as podcast.
Here is a video tutorial for those who are interested
http://www.free...anager-tour.htm
The free conferencing options are nice for smaller groups, but they are not, as others have said, long-lived. The biggest misconception is for users with larger needs and want 800 number access. Some of these “free” services are not quite that inexpensive.
Good luck!
Eric
Whoever posted about conferencetown.com, thanks. We tried it and loved it. We actually use it because it lets us block anonymous callers and also block “certain” numbers from our conferences.