Can you make a conference call?

Growing up in Canada, there was really only one phone company. Bell. Even when long distance de-regulated, there was always a bastion of buyers (affectionately called BellHeads) who just wouldn't go elsewhere, no matter how much you could save them on a phone call. It seems the same can still be said about conference calling. To this day, many a telco counts conferencing among its dwindling stable of high-margin services, not withstanding the less costly (free) service options that abound.

Well, if free is not enough, maybe ease of use and productivity features will be. A whole slew of like services have recently come to market. SmallBizResources reviewed Foonz this week, a free 'Group' calling service that makes it easy to send messages to multiple phones at once. More importantly, it includes a package that targets today's complicated process that is making conference calls from your mobile phone. My only beef - it's easiest only when the group includes other cell phone numbers. Just the same, it's an excellent step towards merging Web 2.0 with Telecom 1.0 (which is probably a generous term for the days when monopolies prevailed).

Conference calling is the all time killer collaboration app, and finally multiple start-ups are giving it an upgrade. Also check out Gaboogie (the conference call that calls you - and is Canadian) and Radio-Handi (that promises the advent of flat-rate monthly packages). Both of these were built by industry veterans with track records.

So when overpriced or under-featured conferencing is no longer good enough, I suggest giving your money to those that are innovating. Give these a shot and tell me what you think.