Shopping for conference call rates can be as easy or as hard as you make it. You can shop online and get as many rates as you need, but how you shop online will determine how much time it takes you to find the rates so that you can compare them and get the best deal for the best conference calling to fit your needs.

One way to find conference call rates to compare is to search online for conference calling providers and visit each and every website. You will then need to search for their pricing, which is not always readily available because they will want to sell you on their features first before dropping the price bomb on you.

Once you find these rates offered by conference calling providers, note these rates down, along with the features and benefits, so that a couple of days later, after you've found all the rates you want to look at, you can compare your papers. The problem with this method is that by the time you get to the end of all of your research, you will have forgotten some of the details from the beginning. When that happens you have to go back and find those details yet again. The good thing about using this method, though, is that you get real time conference call rates.

An alternative way of finding conference call rates online is to find websites that compare the different popular conference calling plans from different providers side by side. These are great because it is so much easier to look at these to compare prices and some features in one place than to spread all those papers you wrote on out on the table and try to make sense out of it all.

The thing you have to remember about these websites, though, is that often the company with the seemingly best conference call rates is the company hosting the websites.

Also, you don't know how often those rate schedules are updated so these sites might not be right on the money. It's always best to check the websites of the ones you're interested in anyway just to make sure that the rates showing in the comparison are still correct.

In addition to checking the price, you should also check the different features of each plan. Look at connection fees, if any, per call. Check to see what the limit of attendees of each conference call will be. Find out if there is a monthly fee on top of the per minute rates and if so, how much.

Find out if the conference calls will have a toll free access for your callers, and if so, if the conference call rates are the same or higher than toll access. Check the difference between operator assisted and non operator assisted calls.

Once you have all your details, add up the cost for a 30-minute conference call for each carrier. You may also want to divide a monthly fee into how many times you think you will use the conference calling and add that cost to your 30-minute call. You should then be able to determine the best conference calling rates and choose your provider.