Small business owners are finding the financial advantages of the flat rate conference call over per minute calling plans. In the flat rate calling plan, the participants will be billed for their long distance charges, and the host will only pay for the use of the bridge, which is the device used to connect and balance the volume of multiple phone lines electronically. The host pays for the bridge at a fixed rate per month that is arrived at by the number of participants on the conference call. However, in a per minute calling plan, the host must assume all conference call costs which includes the cost of the bridge, and the cost of the participants' 800 dial-in calls.

There is a difference between a conference call and an in-house call where a home telephone is used to call three to four other people, and the difference really is one of quality, not quantity. When using a home telephone to call a small number of people, the caller will generally tend to experience some audio disturbances when the number of participants rises to 4 or more and so the call becomes inaudible. With professional service providers, each call is routed through a "bridge" which is sophisticated equipment that receives and improves the quality of the signal through separate electronic lines by evening out the volume level so that the listener receives the electronic voice signal clearly. The strength of the signal is such that it can be likened to a one on one voice conversation even when there are hundreds of people connected to a single call.

The trick to finding the best conference call rate is to do your homework. Don't just go with the first company you call. When finding the best conference call rate, it is important to ask as many telecommunications companies as you can. There are many such companies out there and they are all competing for you business. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to find the best conference call rate for you and your business.

The twenty-first century has seen a boom in virtual space as the home office has become a reality, the international community becoming a virtual space and hence conference calling has become a necessity. This has led to readily available flat rate conference calling schemes and these rates have steadily declined due to the economies of scale because an increasing number of people have begun to avail conference calling services. There are usually four types of conference calling services provided and these are audio (on demand and attended), web, data and video.