Mobile users are tethered to their phones all day. There’s little separation between using the phone for personal or corporate needs. Since we are available all the time, and frequently traveling, there are times when management needs to discuss immediate issues. Conference calls are typically the best way to get issues hashed out. Have you ever tried joining a conference call while you’re on the go? It is truly a character test. Dialing the toll-free number, searching for the email with the passcode, entering the passcode from another screen, and hoping the you can hear the conversation. CrowdCall promises to make conference calling easier for the mobile user.
CrowdCall by Social Dial is a quick and easy way to start or even schedule a conference call with your mobile phone. This free app is available for both iOS and Android phones. When using CrowdCall, there is no need to have a special conference call number to dial into. Just open the app, add the numbers from your address book to start the conference, and dial. The call is handled over the mobile voice connection and not VOIP.
CrowdCall calls your cell phone to initiate the conference. You’re greeted by a friendly automated voice that asks you to “press one to start the conference.” After pressing one, the other participants are called. The call will look like it is coming from the your phone and not a random number fortunately. Each participant just presses one to get into the call, not a long random string of numbers.
In my opinion, the call quality is above average for a conference call service. Since CrowdCall uses the mobile voice connection and not the Internet, you’re not subject to the pitfalls of Internet connections. In my testing, the calls had a slight delay in transmission. The delay ranged anywhere from one second to three seconds. It seemed similar to the delay one would get when making international calls. After the conference calls are completed, they’re stored in the app’s history.
For international calls, CrowdCall offers free calls to 40 countries. I did not test this feature, but the reviews of international callers were sub-par in the Google Play Store. They jury may still be out on this feature.
CrowdCall is a really simple solution for on-the-go conference calling. It only requires the conference call leader to have the app installed. And the best feature for this app is it’s currently free of charge. While you’re checking out SF AppShow 2012, be sure to take a look at CrowdCall.
Image credits: Ant Pruitt for aNewDomain via DroidX
Great review. I enjoyed the plethora of information. True journalistic writing. . I now have the app. on my iPhone.