Are Free Conference Calls Really Free?

As any business, you are likely always looking for ways to cut down on costs and make your business operations as inexpensive as possible in search of maximum profits. As a small business, self-employed person, or even an individual with personal needs for conference calls, you are even less likely to have the budget for expensive software.

This is why many people search for “free conference calls” when they’re in the market for a conferencing service. And some companies do offer free services…but they may not truly be “free” after all.

Let’s take a look at the popular question “Are free conference calls really free?” by delving into what phone conferencing services typically offer and how they charge.

 

How free conferencing works

The first free phone conference services functioned and made money by driving their calls through lesser-used phone exchanges in rural areas of the United States. This is why users of these platforms would often see an unusual area code when dialing into a conference, because of the exchange location in a small U.S. town. Attendees of these phone conferences would still face long-distance charges from their individual phone carriers if applicable, so they were not actually free.

Today, most people have national phone plans so they don’t often incur long distance charges for these calls, but this practice of routing calls through local exchanges is sometimes negatively referred to as “traffic pumping” and the FCC has put regulations in place to reduce it. So instead, many modern free conference services have taken all their calls online, using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to transmit audio digitally rather than over phone lines.

Typically, users sign up for a free conference call service that promises a basic small number of attendees. Then, they must move up to different paid packages to get more features and the ability to host larger conferences. Every free conferencing service is slightly different in this regard.
 

Problem #1: Reliability

The main issue that users of these free conference services report is a lack of reliability. Free services that still offer use of traditional phone lines don’t necessarily have dedicated lines or the infrastructure in place to offer quality conference bridges. This can lead to frustrating unpredictability or dropped calls for many people.

If a free service offers VoIP audio only, attendees often face issues with the lower quality that comes with digital audio instead of analog. Crackling, popping, or static is common. VoIP is also subject to internet connectivity, so when callers are in spotty or crowded WiFi zones or have slow internet speeds, the audio (as well as video, if that service is offered) quickly bogs down.

These outcomes are naturally frustrating, but they’re also frequently damaging. When callers can’t hear one another in an important business meeting or other phone event with key clients or stakeholders, that reflects very poorly on the host company’s reputation. Attendees might simply leave a conference that’s cutting out, or have a bad first impression and not continue business with a company they’re just getting to know.
 

Problem #2: No opportunity for growth

Free service from a conference call company simply isn’t feasible for most larger businesses and corporations, because the limitations on size and features can’t accommodate their needs. Free packages typically offer the most basic services, which means a small number of attendees allowed on a call and very little control over personalization or other features.

Even small businesses using conferencing find that their attendee base or their need for conferencing inevitably expands, as more and more employees travel or work remotely and business reaches to a national or international market. As a small business grows, they find they need a greater capacity, more support, and more features to accommodate that growth. This could include a larger number of attendees, the ability to offer toll-free numbers, or call recording—none of which are typically offered for free.

To get these things, they have to jump up to a different tier of service that is not free and may be at a very high rate, or switch to a new service altogether. This doesn’t allow for flexibility, as many feel “locked in” to a service or features they don’t really want just to get what they do need. If jumping ship to a new service, the need to change phone numbers and the process of joining a call presents a nuisance for employees, clients, and partners that are used to communicating in a certain way.
 

Problem #3: Little reputation for support

A problem that is less often considered by those shopping around for conferencing services is the potential lack of customer service and support. Many people don’t take this into account until they face technical issues or need to ask basic questions about their service—and naturally want them answered in a timely manner.

Most free conference call services simply don’t have the personnel or structure in place to offer quality, on-demand help and customer service from live professionals within the company—unless you start paying. Just like when small businesses find they need to start paying for more features from a “free” service, they may also need to pay simply to get faster and better help on issues they shouldn’t have in the first place.

For all of these reasons, we at Conference Calls Unlimited recommend shopping around for conferencing services that offer more of what you deserve for your business. Fair prices on dedicated lines and quality features, with room for flexibility and customization, as well as built-in support—all offered from an established company that can grow with you. This is what we offer, but don’t just take our word for it. Take a look around at all the paid services out there, and simply think twice about the free ones that may not truly be free.

10 Things to Do Before a Web Conference Meeting

Web conferencing is a great way to make meetings easy for anyone in the world to join. Whether you use them to avoid travel and other material costs, or you simply want to take meetings online and make them simple, web conferences can be easy, efficient, and highly productive for your business.

What are the things you need to do before any successful meeting via web conference? Here’s a handy checklist to get you started on all the steps to keep in mind.

#1. Decide what service to use

Do your research into all the available web conferencing services out there. Find something that will truly fit the needs and budget of your company, with all the features you need and none of the ones you don’t. Even if you think now that you will only need the service once or a handful of times, chances are you will end up finding more occasions to use it, so it’s best to pick a reliable provider from the get-go.

Take a look at web conference services that have been established in the industry for several years as a sign of reliability and stability. While free conference software may be appealing, it often doesn’t come with the quality or breadth of features that you might need. You can ask yourself questions of each service you come across, such as, “How many video conference feeds can I have?” “Do they allow for phone conferencing integration?” etc.
 

#2. Choose your audio capabilities

While web conferencing typically features at least one video feed, screen sharing, and other online tools, the basic audio quality is just as important, if not more so. Look for services that feature quality audio, and test it out if you can.

One thing to consider is to integrate traditional phone conferencing into the web conferencing service for the best possible audio. In this way, you can bypass the built-in VoIP audio that comes with many services, which many people encounter problems with due to changes in internet connectivity. Tying in a phone service means that attendees have a dedicated line to hear audio more clearly without anyone cutting out.

You might also think to encourage attendees of your web conference to listen in with a quality headset or other external speakers and microphone for the best audio experience.
 

#3. Create and send invites

Whether you create an invitation manually, or you have a service built in to your web conference platform for filling out a basic invite, make sure you spell out all the details clearly. Decide who you’ll target your invite to, be it a small team collaborating on a project or Web-wide public presentation.

Consider including the following information in your invitation:

• A clear title and purpose
• Exact time and date (including time zone)
• Access information, unique to specific devices or operating systems
• An agenda, at least in outline, that tells attendees what to expect and when

Send this invitation by email to a handful of guests or an entire email list. Make the title, date, and time the subject line of the email so recipients see and find it easily. Depending on your target audience and intent for the conference, you might also advertise a larger event with a landing page on your website, or accompanying content on your social media pages.
 

#4. Be diligent with reminders

Don’t stop at just the invitation. Remember that people have busy lives and full inboxes, and provide them with several reminders leading up to the conference so they can be adequately prepared and on time. No matter when you send out the initial invitation, you should distribute three reminder emails:

• The first a week in advance of the conference
• The second a day in advance of the conference
• The third the morning of the conference

It’s essential to reiterate the exact date and time, time zone, title, purpose, instructions, and agenda, in case attendees need a reminder or missed a previous email with more information. Depending on your web conferencing service or your preferences, you might also send them a calendar invitation through Google Calendar, iCal, or another service (or several) so that one can easily add it to one’s own schedule and get reminders that way.

#5. Join the meeting early

Always log in and begin the conference early so you can be prepared to work out any kinks and test out any features or your own hardware. Make sure you also have a phone conference set up if you are tying in telephone audio.

Also remember to encourage your attendees to “show up” early as well, as they may need to log in or make any initial adjustments when joining and using the software for the first time. They should be prepared to have downloaded an app on mobile devices, if applicable, and test out their hardware and other features.

You can even let attendees know that they will not be able to access the conference if they attempt to join late. Also tell them what to expect when they join early while they wait for the conference to begin, whether it’s a welcome slide of a presentation, hold music on a phone conference, or a live or automated greeting.
 

#6. Prepare your materials

Make sure you have any hardware you’re using in place, turned on, and calibrated in preparation for the call. Test microphones, speakers, and webcams through the web conference software before the call begins to ensure that everything is working properly. Dial into an integrated phone conference, if applicable, to set up your audio.

Also prepare anything else you will use during the conference, including your computer or device screen. Open up every window you’ll be displaying during screen sharing, so that any images, videos, presentations, and applications can fully load and be ready to be shown right when you need to. Exit out of all other items not applicable to the conference.

Prepare notes or a script so that there are minimal pauses or audible shuffling between parts of the conference. Make sure you have applicable files available and easily labeled for sharing or markup. Prep any other live speakers or contributors with key information or instructions.
 

#7. Introduce attendees to the features available

Enter some welcome text into the chat box of your web conference to invite attendees to ask questions or provide comments there, when they don’t want to or can’t interrupt the live presentation or current speaker. Inform them of any other feedback features available, like polling or a “raise hand” button for when they want to indicate basic interest or participation.

Tell collaborators where and how to access markup tools available for annotating or editing files shared with the group. Explain how anyone can receive help if they encounter any questions or difficulties related to accessing or using the conference and individual features. It’s also a good idea to verbally lay out the agenda at the beginning to remind people what to expect and how long each item of the meeting should take.
 

#8. Record the meeting

Use available recording features for your web conference if you would like to save the content for later review, either personally or for offering to your attendees or anyone who missed the live conference. Become familiar with the process required to record, and remember to start the recording before you begin.

Ensure that audio and video are at their highest quality for the best conference recordings. Use dedicated phone lines with high-quality equipment for better audio, ensure that background noises are at a minimum, and facilitate the transitions between the parts of your conference smoothly. Use a quality webcam for your live video, and use clear and relevant slides, images, and videos that will make sense to anyone who doesn’t have the option to ask live questions.

After the conference is done and the recording stopped, convert the recording file at the highest quality, allowing the extra processing time it takes for a full-sized file if given the choice. Do this right away so you can offer the recording the next day after the live conference, ideally.
 

#9. Ask for feedback

Request that your web conference attendees provide feedback in whatever way you need it, whether related to the content of the meeting or regarding the conference itself. Prepare for at least one question-and-answer session at the end of the call, and organize polling if applicable and useful. These tools can not only be used to get valuable feedback, but also to encourage engagement and attention throughout longer speaking portions when listeners don’t have the opportunity to contribute verbally.

Depending on the software, your web conferencing service may also provide built-in post-conference surveys automatically distributed to attendees after the conference. These and other built-in analytics on your conferences can help you to get a more complete picture of feedback and engagement so you can improve your conferences over time.
 

#10. Deal with problems gracefully

No matter how much you prepare, there can still be unforeseen problems that arise during a live conference of any kind. Whether technical or otherwise, get familiar to the best of your ability with the troubleshooting steps you can take for common issues, or other information from your individual conferencing service, like customer service phone numbers to have on hand or the option for live operator support.

Move on as quickly as possible after resolving an issue or any other unexpected pause or deviation from the agenda. Apologize genuinely for inconvenience caused to attendees. If an issue cannot be solved after several minutes—like the dreaded disruptive background noise that you cannot control—politely apologize and offer to reschedule the conference for a later date. Show your attendees you value their time, and take any steps necessary to ensure that the same issue doesn’t happen again.

And there you have it! Your ultimate checklist for sailing through any web conference with ease. Learn more about web conferencing and start your own online meeting today by contacting us at Conference Calls Unlimited.

 

 

Why You Still Need Phone Conferencing Audio Over VoIP

With more and more people using webinars, video conferencing, and webcasting for their conferencing needs, to some it may seem like phone conferencing is less needed, or a thing of the past. Can’t you just use the typically free VoIP audio built into a web conferencing service?

Well, the answer is yes, but the overwhelming feedback is that it just doesn’t work as well as good old fashioned phone lines, which is why they’re still used in addition to online services. Here’s why many people choose to integrate phone conferencing into their web conferencing service.

 

VoIP is subject to internet connectivity

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) takes analog audio signals and converts them into digital data to be sent over the internet. It makes sense that VoIP audio is built into web conferencing services, as conference call hosts and attendees can easily stick to one technology to participate in a call, and they won’t incur any applicable phone charges.

However, many people experience technical issues with VoIP due to changes and inconsistencies in internet connection, upon which this service depends in order to function.

Say you’re traveling and not in the office (when you need web conferencing the most!) so you have to use public WiFi or another crowded WiFi network on your laptop. Or you’re connecting through WiFi on your phone and end up moving in and out of WiFi signals. Or you simply don’t have a WiFi connection available at all.

By now we’ve probably all experienced the crackling and cutting out that occurs on a call like this in spotty WiFi, whether it’s on a Skype call or another conference with online audio. It’s frustrating and wastes time to miss what people say and ask them to repeat it, or have the audio cut out altogether. This is where using phone lines can be a lifesaver when WiFi is unpredictable.
 

Phone lines are dedicated and available

In addition to bypassing Wifi concerns, phone lines can also provide more consistent audio due to the ability to have dedicated lines reserved for the call. Conversely, VoIP relies on servers that are potentially crammed with other users, calls, and data.

Just think about how having more and more tabs open at once on your internet browser will bog it down, or how data-heavy applications cause crashing and lagging. Your VoIP audio can get bogged down by heavy use elsewhere, either locally or on the part of your web conferencing service, depending on your provider.

But many conferencing services that feature traditional phone line use offer dedicated lines with much more reliability. At Conference Calls Unlimited, for example, our phone conference call bridges are backed with redundant technology for 99.9% reliable calls. You get a permanent phone number with unique dial-in codes, so you know your line is dedicated to your call—and only your call.

You should consider as well that phones can be more available in a literal sense. While not everyone may be able to get to a computer or tablet, connect to the internet, and log into a conference with VoIP within a given time, they can typically pick up a mobile phone or landline and quickly punch in a number. This leaves open the possibility that one can at the very least listen into a conference, even when technology prevents one from accessing the web.
 

Computer speakers and microphones are unreliable

Most attendees on a web conference will typically be joining in from their computer, whether desktop or laptop, at work or on the go. And unless their office environment is set up for frequent calls, recordings, or other projects for which sound quality is paramount, the chances are that they’ll only be working with their built-in speakers and microphone.

This means that the quality of VoIP audio can be greatly reduced by poor quality built-in hardware. Speakers on the conference can’t be heard or are far too loud to others when they use a poorly positioned or calibrated microphone, and others might have audio cutting out or at the wrong volume simply due to their built-in speakers. If they want to maintain quiet and privacy of the call content, they may not have headphones of a good quality available.

Many conference attendees may not even be on a computer, as the popularity and portability of smartphones and tablets frequently replaces them for many tasks, especially while traveling. However, this reduces audio quality even further, as the built-in microphones and speakers on these smaller devices may have even less power to handle the web conference audio.

While traditional phone conferencing doesn’t guarantee callers are using high quality hardware either, a simple phone headset generally offers more consistency in the audio, as that’s what it is designed for. Whether on the phone or web, most any audio can be improved with a high quality headset.
 

Phone conferences offer professionalism

Due to all of the above technical advantages and disadvantages, using phone lines for conference audio generally imparts a measure of predictability that VoIP audio cannot. On a basic level, there are just more components at play with VoIP that can cause something to go wrong, or that attendees can misunderstand.

These technical and user-error issues can come at a high cost when dealing with sensitive and high-stakes conference call events for business. You want valued partners and stakeholders to get an overall impression of quality, professionalism, and timeliness, especially if it might be their first impression of the way you run your business. Of course, you also want your own time to be used effectively as well, without wasting it on hang ups and glitches.

Conference calls using phone lines can also include features for hosting a call with live operator support. Assistance facilitating all of your attendees, parts of your call, and other features like polling and recording really help to create a conference that runs smoothly and with an extra touch of professionalism.

The great news about phone conferencing is that you don’t need to sacrifice any of the features you want to use in your web service. You can simply integrate phone service audio with the video and other web components available online. Conference call attendees will thank you for this extra step in ensuring quality and reliability, because it ultimately shows that you value their time.

The takeaway from all of this is that you may not need phone conferencing, but it could be much simpler to integrate it into your web conferencing to begin with—before you discover the potential problems of relying on VoIP for important business calls. Learn more about how Conference Calls Unlimited can customize your web conferencing package with dedicated phone conference lines, and start upgrading to quality, professional audio.

How Conference Calls Help the Environment

It’s common knowledge that business today is almost all conducted online, making files digital, communication global, and meetings virtual. But many businesses and individuals continue to rely on older methods of conducting business—which certainly doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it can sometimes have a negative impact on the environment when it comes to two things: travel and paper.

We think it’s important to understand the positive ways in which phone conferencing and web conferencing can actually impact the environment by reducing travel emissions and paper use. In turn, this creates a smaller footprint for your company and the added benefit of increased efficiency and cost-saving. It’s a win-win for any business in the market today.

Reduce travel

Web and phone conference calls create the ability for people all over the country and world to meet virtually, without the spent time, cost, and vehicle emissions associated with travel. Conference calling can replace the need for travel in a variety of regular business operations, and provide the means for the same essential communication. This could look like:

• Hubs of the same business meeting regularly to discuss and compare performance.
• Company leaders conducting business with national and international partners, stakeholders, and vendors.
• Remote or traveling teams and individuals connecting to their main office.

But the opportunity that many businesses don’t take full advantage of is the use of conference calls to reduce more local travel. Any company can quickly connect employees within the same city for day-to-day operations, for any situation in which they are not already in the same office. This could mean:

• Allowing independent contractors and employees to work remotely while still being included in on-site meetings and operations.
• Virtually connecting individuals back to the office while they are performing important business functions across town, saving time and productivity.
• Allowing employees stuck at home due to illness, emergency, or severe weather to still connect with their team without risking health or safety.
• Eliminating occasions for which an in-person meeting is not truly necessary and leaves employees feeling frustrated at their time spent traveling to make it.

Making a greater shift towards virtual communication—even if you already take advantage of it to some extent—has obvious benefits for your business operations, but it’s also essential to reducing the severe impact of travel on the earth’s atmosphere. Emissions from cars, trains, ships, and airplanes accounted for 26% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, according to the EPA.¹ The car and plane travel your company might use on a regular basis contributes to this statistic—but it can be easily reduced with simple conference call solutions.

Cut down on paper

Businesses naturally end up using a large quantity of paper for their day-to-day business operations, particularly in preparing copies and sometimes thick packets of material for everyone in attendance at meetings and presentations.

However, this paper usage can easily be reduced or avoided altogether by taking advantage of the ease of web conferencing, which saves the time and costs associated with printing and preparing hard copy materials, as well as connecting attendees who can’t make it to the meeting in person. Typical web conferencing features include:

• The ability to host a meeting, presentation, or conduct training all from one platform
• Easy file sharing to share documents, images, etc. to participants
• Screen sharing to quickly show content on a host’s screen in real time
• Integration with PowerPoint, Learning Management Systems, and other software
• Built-in tools like reminder emails to send to participants
• Markup tools that assist collaboration through whiteboards, annotations, etc.
• Polling, Q&A, and chat to gauge engagement and encourage participation

All of these features allow you to replace the paper copies you might use for spreadsheets, graphs, presentations, meeting notes, etc. Even if you’re holding an in-person meeting, there’s a good chance there’s someone missing from the discussion who could easily join the call via a video conference—and who would not have access to relevant material if you print it on paper.

But don’t people pay better attention to something physical in front of them? This is a valid question and argument in favor of keeping good old fashioned paper copies around for business and education purposes. But the truth is that everyone needs to have a reason to pay attention to and care about the material in front of them, whether it’s on paper or a computer screen. And web conferencing services are actually better equipped to prompt that level of engagement.

Say you need your employees to prepare for your next meeting by looking over documents you sent by email—and you’re worried they won’t, because we all know how one email can get buried in the masses. But instead of printing copies to stay on the safe side for those attending in person, simply ask that everyone come up with one point or question on the material that they should be prepared to offer via audio, chat, or collaboration tools at the beginning of the meeting. The power of requiring public engagement to encourage attention is a useful one.

The impact of reducing paper usage as a business is huge, as office and school environments contribute by far the most to overall paper consumption in the U.S. Approximately 68 million trees are cut down each year to produce paper and paper products, and offices typically throw away 45% of printed documents within the same day. This has obvious negative effects on tree population and waste management, as paper makes up 16% (26 million tons) of the solid waste in U.S. landfills. Paper production uses more water per ton of product than any other industry, and is the fifth largest consumer of energy.²

At Conference Calls Unlimited, we know that more and more businesses strive to start “green initiatives” and reduce their carbon footprint, but also want to keep costs and training time low. We think it’s one of the best features of conference calls that they are able to both reduce environmental impact and increase efficiency, productivity, and money for the business itself—in a completely simple and readily-available way. Please don’t hesitate at all to call us, learn more, and start improving your business with conferencing—while also doing your part to improve the world.

_____________________

¹ http://ift.tt/1UfHGBk
² http://ift.tt/1fD2Lmj
 

 

What is a Conference Call? Defining Common Conferencing Terms

With so many conference call services out there today, there are always new terms added to the teleconferencing industry lexicon. Particularly with the advent of video conferencing, it seems like there is always a new service to combine yet more features into the same calling and virtual meeting service.

But as an individual or small business owner shopping around for these services, you are probably simply thinking, but what does it all mean? Let’s lay out some of the common terms that you’ll come across so you can more easily learn what you need and don’t need for your own conference calls.

Conference call

A conference call is an audio call, typically done by phone, that allows more than two participants to speak or listen to each other on one call. It can be used simply to discuss something with a small group of people, or to host a larger event or meeting with a few key speakers and more attendees listening in.

Toll-free conference call

A toll-free conference call is a method of phone conferencing that allows the host to provide a toll-free 800 number to participants, ensuring that they do not face any long distance charges they may incur to dial in. Toll-free numbers can even be provided to international guests to access a call.

Toll conference call

A toll conference call is a typical conference call by phone that allows the host to pay a rate for the service, while any attendees that might face long-distance charges to call in pay those fees themselves. This type of service offers a unique phone number to use to dial into the call, but it is not a toll-free 800 number.

Operator assisted call

Conference calls that have assistance from an operator provide help and support to the conference host via a live operator present throughout the call. A live operator can make the conference run smoothly by assisting with screening and greeting participants as they join the call, moderating Q&A sessions, recording, compiling post-conference reports, etc.

International conferencing

International conference calls allow participants from outside the host’s country and all over the world to dial in easily to the same call. Phone conferencing services will offer toll or toll-free phone numbers to international participants, with specific codes or dial-in instructions to make joining in from any country straightforward and easy. Hosts can also choose to take international conferencing online with a web conferencing service.

Webinar / web conference

A webinar is a neologism meaning a web-based seminar. It typically involves a one-way video feed shared with an audience that can participate through feedback features like polling and chat. Web conference is a more general term encompassing webinars, and could involve a conference with more than one video feed and other features within an online platform.

Desktop sharing / screen sharing

Desktop or screen sharing is a feature of web conferencing that allows the host to share his or her computer or other device screen with the participants of the conference. With this feature, everyone involved can view in real time the applications, files, and any other activity on the screen just as the host does.

VoIP

VoIP is an acronym that stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, which refers to audio that is transmitted digitally over the internet, rather than through an analog phone. A VoIP service allows one to call others with the same VoIP service, or sometimes any other normal phone number. VoIP is often offered along with web conferencing services, but a regular phone line can also be used for higher-quality audio, or even to hook up to a VoIP adapter if necessary.

Whiteboard / markup tools

Whiteboard or markup tools are common features of web conferencing that allow participants more freedom in participation and collaboration. Each member of a team can typically type notes, draw, or add images to the same document, or annotate existing slides, images, or documents, allowing for interactive brainstorming and discussion in meetings.

Polling / Q&A / raise hand

Many web (as well as phone) conferencing services provide several tools to allow participants to provide feedback regarding the content of the conference. Hosts can take a poll to have participants vote on a question, conduct a question and answer session to address topics from the audience, or gauge a quick general reaction from a “raise hand” button. These tools are particularly important for conferences designed to have one or a few main speakers with the rest of the participants only listening in.

Webcasting / audiocasting

Webcasting and audiocasting are methods of broadcasting a streaming audio or video file over the internet, either live or on demand. A streaming video or audio feed means that playback can proceed continuously while subsequent data is received. This type of service is used when one wants to share video or audio with a very large group of people—more than a typical phone or web conference.

Analytics

Built-in analytics come with many web conferencing services, including audio streaming and webcasting, for which tracking data on large audiences can be particularly essential. Numerical and visual data allows hosts to track statistics on number of attendees, return on investment, and lead generation in order to improve conferencing services and build business over time.

Branding

Hosts of ongoing webcasts, audiocasts, or other web conferencing series often have the option to provide their streaming files via a custom URL, with a website that features a company logo or other information to promote their brand to all watching. This tool allows for more customization and the ability to promote a business through traffic to a dedicated page.

At Conference Calls Unlimited, we want to make it simple to select and use a conference call service. We believe that conference call users should be as informed as possible on the different features available to them in the industry, to better understand the scope of their service and the comparisons they can make between options for their business needs. Feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions, or to start designing a custom package of services of your own.