Over the past week, I’ve had trouble connecting to any bridge number that starts with the area codes 712 or 218. When I call conference bridge line services in these 2 area codes, one of the following happens:
- It tells me that the access code is no good (even though it was triple checked with the virtual event host)
- Or, I get one ring and then the line goes dead
- Or, if I do connect, the line is crackling so much that I have to hang up to try and get a “clear line”
- Or, I get “all circuits are presently busy”
And I got these 4 different problems within a 7-minute span as I was dialing the numbers over and over. I then switched to Skype as I have unlimited long distance, but I ran into the very same problems as well. How frustrating.
Up until this point, I had alot of confidence in free conference bridge line services. I started using them again because many have become so reliable and it was getting hard to distinguish between them and conference bridge line services that I’ve paid for.
Until recently.
And sadly, it doesn’t have much to do with the conference bridge line service, but with the companies that provide our phone service. Many have started to block calls to phone numbers with a 712 or 218 area code. And it looks like my phone company has caught up.
I’ve tried to find an explanation as to why my phone company would do this and I’ve haven’t found anything official. However, through the various blog posts and forums that I’ve combed through, it appears that telcos have to pay to connect their customers to phone numbers in the 712 and 218 area code. Why that is, I still have to research this and once I find the answer, I’ll post it here.
But here’s the real question (or questions):
- How many sales are you losing by using a bridge line that some people can’t call into?
- How many prospects just give up after trying to call the conference bridge number for the 3rd, 4th or 5th time?
- And, how many emails, tweets and tickets are you dealing with from angry people who are now slamming your reputation just because they couldn’t dial into your virtual event?
Just because you, as the virtual event host, isn’t having problems dialing into the number provided by the free conference calling service doesn’t mean your customers aren’t.
Naw, I wouldn’t risk it.
I’ll gladly pay for a conference bridge line service knowing that my callers won’t be blocked from accessing the number. I’ll pay for one knowing that I won’t lose a ton of sales or my reputation just because people can’t connect to me. Please rethink your virtual event strategy and choose a conference bridge line service where access is not a problem.
In my post tomorrow, I’ll share with you the one problem that exists with paid conference bridge line services. Just because you pay a monthly fee doesn’t mean that paid bridge line services aren’t without its problems.
