A conference call is a phone call where there are many called parties listening to one call. It has many other names, such as phone conferencing or an audio conference. The called party may or may not join the conversation. Sometimes, it is known as Audio Tele-conference. Usually a conference call is used during meetings or discussions. It makes it easier to communicate with people who are not in the same building, same location or even the same country. So, if you are based in US, you can talk to your staff who are based in the UK and Australia at the same time during staff meetings. If you want to talk to your family members who are in different countries this is also possible with a conference call.
There are many different rates on conference calls, depending on which plan you subscribe to. There is flat rate conferencing, prepaid conferencing and even free conferencing. Flat rate conferencing is to allow the customer to pay a fixed rate and have unlimited conferencing. Prepaid conferencing is a pay-as-you-go service where customers buy their conferencing services online. As for free conferencing, a few companies are attempting to have a free conferencing service. The only problem is customer is required to dial a long distance number to be connected to the conference.