Frequently folks from Canada (or other countries) ask us whether they can use Rondee’s conference service. The answer is yes. Anybody can dial into Rondee (whether they are from Canada or any other country). The only requirement is users be able to dial a US phone number. Rondee’s bridge number is 619-276-6333 which is a regular, normal California phone number.
You are making Rondee one of the most talked about conference calling companies in America. Thanks to all of you who give us your feedback, ideas and suggestions to help us grow.
Our first issue focused on the new features that we built to help make Rondee the best free conference calling service available. If you do not currently receive Rondee News, simply register for an account and you’ll be included on our issue next month.
Yes, you can record your Rondee conference calls! When you set up your Rondee you’ll see several boxes with options you can select. Just check the box to record the call. Your invitees will be notified that the call is being recorded. After the call is over, just go back to Rondee.com (you can get to your call through “My Rondees” link at the top of the page once logged into your account; you’ll see a new link for the recording which will have appeared on the particular page corresponding to that Rondee.)
Your call will record in the GSM format. If you’re interested in how to convert that to another format, please see the blog post by one of our users: converting your Rondee to another format
A few folks have written to us asking what could have happened. Invariably the answer is this: After inputting the PIN, you must press pound. Otherwise, Rondee will not know that you have finished inputting your PIN and will wait for you to continue. In a few cases, users report that they entered their PIN and pressed pound only to be told that “This Rondee is not in use”. Assuming you have dialed in at the correct time, this error message is generally caused if the PIN is entered too quickly or if the reception on your phone is poor and the tone transmission is affected. The solution is to re-enter your PIN a bit more slowly.
If you start a bit late, no problem. As long as someone joins the Rondee within 30 minutes of the scheduled start, the space will be ‘held open’ for the group. If the call goes later than anticipated, its still not a problem. You can keep talking as long as you like.
Only Rondee gives you a convenient way to schedule calls on the web, a universal access number 619-2-RONDEE (619-276-6333) you can put in your speed-dial, and your very own virtual meeting space where registered users don’t need to remember random codes.
And, besides being free, Rondee also includes convenient web-based scheduling.
Inviting more people to a Rondee conference call is possible, provided the organizer has allowed this. It is an option that the organizer selects as part of the Rondee setup process. Remember: your PIN only works for you, so if you want to invite someone else, be sure to visit Rondee (just click on the link in the email you received) rather than forwarding that email.
The following post is by Dr. John Rachow. John serves on the national board of Physicians for Social Responsibility (hence his use of Rondee for conference calling) and recently investigated options for converting Rondee audio files.
“I tried The FreeAudioConverter at the brothersoft site. Despite the description of the program it does not seem to support .gsm. Further during installation, I am told that the product will not work full featured unless I install their (purportedly free) security suite software, System Guard. It got more complicated and invasive after that. I unloaded it all.
I had tried FXBear Audio File Converter (I had purchased it earlier in the week). It does not successfully convert gsm files as it claims to do. Since I purchased the software ($38) I have queried their support people. The FXBear interface is certainly simple and it did look like a good solution.
Last night I searched further and found NCH Swift Sounds (Australian based company http://www.nchsoftware.com) and installed their free Switcher audio file converter. With this product, I stopped looking. The link is:
Rondee audio file converter application
Installation is super fast and simple It is a compact program (553 KB) with a sophisticated looking but easy to use interface. It works fine, converting the Rondee .gsm file to other formats quickly, including .mp3
They also have a free audio file editor, WavePad. that that allows editing a wide variety of native audio file formats including .gsm. WavePad allows you to save the file in any of a wide variety of formats (allowing you to set all the sampling and bandwidth parameters unique to each format in the process). Editing options include applying a variety of effects (noise reduction, equalizer, volume, band pass, echo, flange, and others) In effect, Wave Pad also can be used as a file converter as well as an editor. Switcher only does one thing, convert formats and has a more very simple interface.
NCH has versions for both Window and Mac. They have a Linux version for WavePad and the Linux version for Switcher is coming.”
If you saw Bob’s Ezine post a few days ago on free conference calling you noticed the broad array of potential applications that are now being employed. The ‘Listen Only’ feature launching soon will continue to expand your range of options in using Rondee
Folks sometimes ask, “I get that Rondee doesn’t charge - but how can you afford not to charge?” There are indeed providers that do not charge for their service because they have placed their bridge lines in remote and rural areas which are theoretically eligible to receive high interchange tariffs from larger telecom companies. One problem for users is when these companies get sued and their service interrupted by the same carriers who resist paying these tariffs (one cause of the busy tone issue you’ve probably seen press about).
We obviously have not gone this route - our bridge line is in the major metropolitan market of San Diego and so our users are not exposed to the risks mentioned above. So our business model is premised on developing a healthy and growing base of customers who find value in the Rondee conference calling service and then providing for those users who want to pay for special services such as toll-free premium access or transcription.