Top 3 Telephone-Based Tools for Mobile Business People

Published on February 4, 2014

For business people on the go, conference calls and other phone communications are a way of life.  We're sure you're bluetooth-ing from the car and using voice-to-text technology, but there are 3 tools that are tremendously useful for a business person on-the-go.

Google Voice

Google Voice is one of the best free ways to keep work and personal phone calls separated on one device (or on many different devices.  When you first sign up, you get assigned your own personal Google Voice number for free.  You can link this number to your own phone number, multiple phones, or devices like your computer or tablet.  Having this number is a great way to organize work calls from personal calls.

Through your Google Voice number, you are also able to send and receive text messages either through the Google Voice app on your phone or by using wi-fi on your computer.

Google Voice even provides a transcribed interpretation of your voicemails as well, so you can read your voicemails before you ever listen to them. (Sometimes these translations are a little, shall we say, creative, but it usually grasps the broad strokes).

Google Voice additionally links directly through to your Gmail and Google Apps accounts, for increased optimization.  Many businesses use the Google product line extensively, so this can be an added bonus.

Meeting Burner

Meeting Burner is the webinar app that beats WebEX and GoTo Meeting.  Meeting Burner offers an entirely online, software-free alternative to its counterparts.  Oh, and did we mention its free version is leaps and bounds above its competitors?  No ads, no necessary upgrades (though a $40/month alternative is available for those wanting to host meetings to 50+ people).

Meeting Burner is download-free for participants.  Simply sign up, sign in, and you're good to go.  This can be a huge relief to businesses dealing with less tech-savvy clients who may not feel comfortable downloading software.

It is also built in the cloud, making it 3x as fast as its counterparts.

Within the service itself, you can sync screen sharing with as many as 10 people on the free service (plus 50 for pro and 1,000 for premier), alongside a conference call style audio connection (you can use your computer speaker or call in with a phone).  You can also record the meeting and share it later - audio, screen and all - with any premium plan.

Speek.com

For those who deal with conference calls on a consistent basis, Speek.com is the app at the top of the line.  Speek eliminates the need for a dial-in number and PIN number all together by replacing this with a website link (like speek.com/geek, or speek.com/johndoe).  You can easily text or email the link, or even put it in a calendar invite.  Attendees can then enter the conference call easily from either their smartphone or their computer.  It is as easy as that.

Within the call itself, Speek is unique in the fact that it offers file sharing directly on the computer screen (drag and drop) so everyone can access the file.  It also lights up the face of whoever is speaking at the time for clarity.

Like Meeting Burner, Speek is also download-free.

We've found these 3 tools invaluable for our company.  If you'd like more information or would like to share how you've used these tools, we'd love to hear from you!  Drop a comment, send us an e-mail, or give us a call.