Finding a Bridgeline
Updated January 9, 2007
Just wanted to share a few resources for bridgelines…
You get your own dedicated bridgeline for up to 100 people, free. This is a PIN bridgeline, and has some nice features like being able to mute everyone but the speaker (line could get pretty noisy with 100 people!) and recording.
Being ever the skeptic, I did email them saying “how can this be free?”…
and they assured me that there is no catch. These guys get paid by the phone companies for the long distance that people who call into the lines are paying, so we don’t need to pay a dime. Cool!
* These guys now also offer a Toll-Free Bridgline service.
Other free bridgeline services:
Totally Free Conference Calls - free line for up to 99 people
FreeConferenceCall.com - free line for up to 96 people, free MP3 recording and download
BasementVentures.com - free line for up to 250 people
* A client has had some problems with Basement Ventures recently, people not being able to dial-in… so I would hesitate to use this option.
2. Paid Bridgelines
BridgeRentals.com If you want a non-PIN bridge you can rent one for a reasonable price here. They offer bridges for 35 or 150 people, prices range from $15 - $20/hour. There are no special features on these bridgelines (muting, etc), but they are nice in that they don’t require people to enter a PIN to join the call.
Eagle Teleconferencing is another paid bridgeline option, they offer a variety of options including operator assisted calls (which could be great for those really important events.)
3. Long Term Bridge Rentals
If you are looking for a dedicated “long term” bridgeline here are a couple of options
You can rent a non-PIN bridgline from CoachU. These are leasing on a yearly basis only, last I checked the price was $1150 for the year. Email them at bridge@coachu.com for information.
CoachingBridgelines.com is another option. You can rent bridgelines monthy for 35 to 150 people, pricing varies depending on the size of the line.
4. Need a GIANT bridgline for 150+ people?
I’ve heard that the folks at Coaching Success Teleforums can help, although I haven’t personally used them.
We’ve also used A+ Conferencing with one of our clients and they are great. You can rent a month-to-month bridgeline and then get a larger line as needed.
Do you have another bridgeline service that you use and like? Please share the info below.
TheBasementVentures.com has been going downhill for a couple of months. Their recording feature was not always reliable, and then their Web Manger was unavailable for weeks. We sent multiple requests for help to customer service (via online form and regular email) but there was never any response. Today, their website disappeared. Maybe they forgot to register their domain. The biweekly conference call that we depend on still worked, thankfully, but we miss the use of the web controls. We will be looking around.