How to Create an Online Order Form in WordPress (Step by Step)

Several of our readers have been asking how to create an online order form, so customers can easily place their orders on the website.

If you’re running a business like a restaurant or a physical store, you might not want to create a whole online shop. However, you may want to offer an easy way for customers to order food or other goods for you to deliver.

In this post, we’re going to show you how to create an online order form in WordPress. This will allow you to easily collect customer orders without adding a full-fledged eCommerce software to your website.

Creating an Online Order Form in WordPress

Perhaps you decided to start a website for your business recently, and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Many businesses start an online store to not only collect orders but also accept payments and manage inventory. However, not all businesses need a complete eCommerce website.

If you only want customers to be able to fill an online order form, then you can create that much easily without a shopping cart solution.

A simple online order form gives you the option to either accept payments online, upon order pickup, or on delivery.

In this tutorial, we will be using WPForms to create an online order form because it allows you to do that easily with their drag & drop interface.

WPForms is the best WordPress form builder plugin on the market. Over 3 million websites use WPForms to easily create any kind of online form and add it to their website (no coding skills required).

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. Need help installing the plugin? See our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin for detailed instructions.

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. If you are new to WordPress, then take a look at our article on what are WordPress plugins and what you can do with them.

Once you have activated the WPForms plugin, you’ll see a new WPForms tab in the admin sidebar of your WordPress dashboard.

You need to visit WPForms » Settings page to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the WPForms website.

Now you are ready to create your online order form.

Simply head over to WPForms » Add New page to create your first form.

Now, you’ll see the form creation screen. Type in a name for your form and choose a template. We recommend the ‘Billing / Order Form’ template.

Simply move your cursor over the template description and click the ‘Create a Billing / Order Form’ button.

Your form will automatically be created for you, and you’ll be taken straight into the WPForms form editor.

You can now edit your online order form however you want. The different parts of the form are called “fields”. You can change, add, or remove fields on your form with a single click.

The default template already includes fields for most of the information you’re likely to need, such as name, address, and phone number. However, you’ll need to list your actual products.

Click on the ‘Available Items’ field to edit it.

Type in the name and price of each of the items that customers can order from you. The price won’t automatically display on the form, so you may want to add this into the item name.

To add more options, simply click the (+) icon wherever you want to add the extra items.

Note: You can add as many items as you want. However, customers will only be able to select one option from this field.

If you have several categories of options, then you may want to copy the field to create groups.

You can copy the ‘Available Items’ field by clicking the ‘Copy’ icon that appears when you run your cursor over it, or when it’s selected.

Make sure you change the ‘Label’ of the fields to something appropriate to each group, too.

If you want customers to be able to select two or more options within a single field, you’ll need to use a different type of field.

Click on the ‘Add Fields’ tab then scroll down to ‘Payment Fields’ where you’ll find a ‘Checkbox Items’ field. Drag and drop this into position on your form.

You can now edit that field as before, entering names and prices for your items. Customers can check as many items as they want to order.

If you want to show images of your products, that’s really easy too. Simply click the ‘Use image choices’ box:

For each item, click the ‘Upload Image’ button to add images either from your computer or from your WordPress Media Library.

Your images won’t be resized or compressed by WPForms, so it’s important to upload them at the right size. They should all be the same size and no more than 250×250 pixels.

Ideally, you should also optimize your images for the web.

Finally, you may want to edit the ‘Comment or Message’ field at the bottom of the form, so that it’s not required. Not all users will want to add a message.

Simply click on the field and then uncheck the ‘Required’ box on the right to make this field optional.

You can follow this process for any field that you want to be optional. You can tell which fields are required because they’ll have a red asterisk next to the field’s label.

Once you’re happy with the design of your form, you can move on to configuring its settings. It’s a good idea to save the form first by clicking the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen:

Configuring the Notifications Your Order Form Will Send Out

First, click the ‘Settings’ tab on the left-hand side of your screen. This will open up your form’s settings.

Next, click the ‘Notifications’ tab to change your form’s email notifications. By default, completed order forms will be emailed to the admin address for your WordPress site.

You may want to change this or have the order forms copied to more than one address. You can simply type the email address or addresses in the ‘Send To Email Address’ box. If you’re entering more than one email address, separate them with a comma.

You might also want to change the subject line, so that it’s not the same for every order. This could make it easier to keep track of orders in a crowded email inbox.

Here, we’ve changed the subject line of the emails to read “Customer order from” and then the customer’s name. We used ‘Show Smart Tags’ to insert the name field in the subject line.

You can change any other details you want too.

We also strongly recommend setting up an email notification for your customers. This gives them a reminder of what they’ve ordered and lets them know that you’ve received their order.

To set up a new email notification, click the ‘Add New Notification’ button.

You’ll be prompted to type in a name for the new notification. You can call it whatever you want, as customers won’t see this name. We suggest something like ‘Customer Receipt’ or ‘Customer Email Confirmation’.

You’ll want the ‘Send To Email Address’ to be your customer’s email account. Delete {admin_email} from this box. Click the ‘Show Smart Tags’ and select the ‘Email’ field.

You’ll also want to enter other details for the email. We suggest using a subject line such as “Your order with” and the name of your company.

In the ‘Message’ field, you’ll probably want to add a message to your customer. The {all_fields} tag will give all the information the customer entered on the form.

What if you only want to include some of the customer’s information in the email? Or what if you want to put their order details first and include their delivery details at the end of the email? You can simply use Smart Tags to add any form fields into your form.

Once you’ve finished setting up the notifications, click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen.

Tip: To get back to the first notification you were editing, just scroll down the screen.

Setting the Confirmation Message for Your Customers

Along with sending your customers an email receipt, you’ll want to show them an on-screen confirmation, so they know that their order has been sent.

You can do this under Settings » Confirmation tab.

The default confirmation reads “Thanks for contacting us! We will be in touch with you shortly.”

You can change this to anything you want, and you can use the visual editor here to format your text too.

Alternatively, you can redirect customers to a “Thank you” page on your website, or even to another website altogether.

Once you’ve set up the confirmation message, click ‘Save’ at the top of the screen.

Integrating Payment with Your Order Form (Optional)

If you want to take payment through your order form, then you’ll need to integrate it with a payment processor.

WPForms integrates very easily with two popular payment processors, PayPal and Stripe. Customers can pay either through their PayPal account or by entering their credit card details.

We’re going to use PayPal in this tutorial, but the process for Stripe is similar.

First, you’ll need to exit the form builder. You can do this by clicking the ‘X’ at the top right. You’ll be prompted to save your form if you have unsaved changes.

Next, go to WPForms » Addons page in your WordPress dashboard. Scroll down to the ‘PayPal Standard Addon’ and click the ‘Install Addon’ button beneath it.

The addon will then install and activate automatically.

Go back to your form, which you can find under WPForms » All Forms. Now, click on the ‘Payments’ tab.

Click on ‘PayPal Standard’ then fill in the details of the form. First, you’ll need to check the ‘Enable PayPal Standard payments’ box and enter your business’ PayPal email address.

Leave the ‘Mode’ dropdown set to ‘Production’ and leave ‘Payment Type’ set to ‘Products and Services’.

If you’re collecting the delivery address through the order form, then you can change ‘Shipping’ to ‘Don’t ask for an address.’

You don’t need to enter a ‘Cancel URL’, but you may want to create a page on your website for customers to be sent to if they don’t complete the checkout process.

Click the ‘Save’ button once you’ve finished.

Now, when the user submits the form, they’ll be automatically directed to PayPal to pay. You don’t need to add any extra fields to your form or do anything else.

Adding the Order Form to Your Website

The final step is to add your order form to your website.

Simply choose the page you want to add your form to, or create a new page under Pages » Add New.

Next, click on the (+) icon to add a new block (wherever you want your form) and find the ‘WPForms’ block. It’s located under the ‘Widgets’ section of blocks, or you can simply type ‘WPForms’ into the search bar to find it.

You’ll see a WPForms block. Click the ‘Select a Form’ dropdown and choose your form.

You’ll then see a preview of the form itself in the WordPress editor.

When you’re ready, save and publish (or update) your page. You can view it live on your site to see your form in action. Before sharing it with customers, we recommend testing out the form to ensure that it works as you expected.

It’s also a good idea to check that you receive the email notification when the form is submitted. If not, check out our post on how to fix the WordPress not sending email issue.

Even if you do miss an email or accidentally delete it, WPForms saves form data in the WordPress database. You can find all your orders by going to WPForm » Entries in your WordPress dashboard.

Click on the name of your form, and you’ll then see a list of entries. You can click ‘View’ next to any of these to see the details.

That’s it! We hope this article helped you learn how to create an online order form in WordPress. You might also like our guide on the best business phone services, and the must have WordPress plugins for small businesses.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create an Online Order Form in WordPress (Step by Step) appeared first on WPBeginner.

March 30, 2020 at 01:01PM

How to Create Custom Single Post Templates in WordPress

Do you want to create a custom single post template in WordPress?

Custom single post templates allow you to use different layouts for your individual blog posts. Many WordPress themes come with a few different page templates, and you can also create your own if needed.

In this article, we will show you how to easily create custom single post templates in WordPress. We’ll share multiple methods, so you can choose one that works best for your needs.

Note: This tutorial requires you to edit WordPress theme files. If you haven’t done this before, then check out our tutorial on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

When Do You Need a Custom Single Post Template?

Sometimes you may want a different look and feel for certain posts on your website. For instance, you may want to use a different layout for featured articles or stories in a particular category.

This is where you’ll need a custom single post template in WordPress.

By default, WordPress uses the single post template based on WordPress template hierarchy. All themes come with a single.php template which is used as the default for all your single posts.

Some themes may also include additional templates or layout choices that you can use.

It is very much like creating a custom page template. Most WordPress themes also come with page templates that you can use while editing a page in WordPress.

Having said, let’s take a look at how to easily create custom single post templates in WordPress. We’ll show you multiple methods, so you can use the one that works best for you.

• Creating a single post template in WordPress using the block editor
• Creating a custom single post layout in WordPress using Beaver Builder
• Using theme settings to create single post layouts in WordPress
• Manually creating custom single post template in WordPress
• Create custom single post templates by category in WordPress
• Creating custom single post template for specific author

Creating a Single Post Template in WordPress using The Block Editor

This method does not really create a post template and is limited in flexibility. However, it is the easiest way to save your own single post layouts and then reuse them.

The default WordPress block editor comes with a built-in feature that allows you to save and reuse blocks. One such reusable block is called the Group block.

The group block basically allows you to put several blocks and entire post layouts into one group. You can then save this group block and reuse it in your other posts.

Let’s take a look at how to use the group block to save your custom post templates.

First, you need to create a new post in WordPress. After that, simply add a group block to the content area.

Now you can start adding blocks into the group block to create a single post layout. You can add any blocks you want including columns, media and text, cover images, and more.

Once you are satisfied with the layout you have created, you need to take your mouse up and select the group block. Click on the three-dot menu icon and then select the ‘Add to Reusable Blocks’ option.

Next, you need to provide a name for the reusable block and then click on the Save button. WordPress will now save your reusable block including all the blocks inside the group block.

You can then edit any existing post on your website or create a new one. On the post edit screen, simply click on the add new block button and look for your saved block under reusable blocks.

Add the block to your post and WordPress will load your entire group block with all the blocks and settings as you saved them.

This method allows you to save your custom layouts. However, it does not allow you to change how your theme handles single posts.

If you would like greater flexibility then continue reading.

Creating a Custom Single Post Template in WordPress Using Beaver Builder

The easiest way to create a custom single post template is by using Beaver Builder. It is the best WordPress page builder plugin on the market and allows you to create a post template without writing any code or modify your WordPress theme.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Beaver Builder plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » Beaver Builder page and switch to the license tab to enter your license key.

You can find this information under your account on the Beaver Builder website.

By default, Beaver Builder is enabled for Pages in WordPress. You need to make it available for posts as well.

To do that, switch to the Post Types tab under Settings » Beaver Builder page. From here you need to check the box next to the ‘Posts’ option.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Post Types’ button to store your changes.

Now that everything is set up let’s create a custom post template.

Simply create a new post in WordPress and on the post edit screen click on the ‘Launch Beaver Builder’ button.

This will open the Beaver Builder interface with a live preview of your website. You can start adding modules and rows to your existing layout by clicking on the Add button at the top right corner of the screen.

You can also select a template as a starter point. There is even a blank template to give you clean slate to begin with.

Once you have chosen a template, you can edit it by simple point and click. You can also add rows and columns and fill them with modules and elements to create your custom layout template.

Feel free to experiment with different modules and play around with their settings.

Once you have created something that you would like to use as your post template. It is time to save it.

Beaver Builder allows you to save your layouts as a template and then reuse them with other posts. Simply click on the menu at the top-right corner of the screen and select Save Template.

You’ll be asked to provide a name for your template. After that click on the Save button to store it.

Now, let’s see how to use this custom post template when creating posts.

Simply edit a post or create a new one and then launch the Beaver Builder to edit the post.

Next, you need to click on the Add button at the top right corner of the screen and then switch to the Templates tab. From here you need to select ‘Saved Templates’ from the Group dropdown menu.

Beaver Builder will now load your saved custom layout and you can then start adding content for your new article.

Using Theme Settings for Custom Single Post Layouts

Many popular WordPress themes come with built-in settings to customize the appearance of your single post template.

If your theme supports these settings, then you’ll be able to find them on the post edit screen. The options available may change depending on the theme you are using.

For instance, this is how the Astra theme offers customization options when editing a single post.

Using these options, you can change sidebars, hide headers, title, menus, and more.

On the other hand, many of the top WordPress themes come with ready-to-use templates that you can use.

If your theme includes single post templates, then you will find them under the Post Attributes tab while editing a post.

These templates are complete layouts that you can use.

Manually Creating Custom Single Post Templates in WordPress

This method is a bit advanced as it requires you to edit theme files, copy and paste code, and optionally add custom CSS.

First, you need to open a plain text editor on your computer like Notepad and paste the following code inside it:

<?php
/*
 * Template Name: Featured Article
 * Template Post Type: post, page, product
 */
 
 get_header();  ?>

This code defines a new template called Featured Article and makes it available for post, page, and product post types.

You can save this file as wpb-single-post.php on your desktop.

Next, you need to upload it to your current WordPress theme folder using an FTP client.

After that, you can log in to your WordPress admin area and create or edit a post. Scroll down a little on the post edit screen, and you will notice the new Post Attributes meta box with an option to select the template.

You will see your ‘Featured Article’ custom template listed there.

Right now your template is essentially empty so selecting it will simply display a white screen.

Let’s fix this.

The easiest way to do that is by copying the code from your theme’s single.php file and use it as a starting point.

Open the single.php file and then copy everything after the get_header() line.

Paste this code in your wpb-single-post.php file at the end. Now you can save this file and upload it back to your server.

However, this will look exactly the same as your current single post template. You can now start making changes to your custom single post template.

You can add your own custom CSS classes, remove sidebars, create a full-width template or anything you want.

Create Custom Single Post Templates Based on Category

Want to use a custom single post template based on categories? For example, posts in the travel category can have a different layout than posts in photography.

Here is how you can do that.

First you need to add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin.

/*
* Define a constant path to our single template folder
*/
define(SINGLE_PATH, TEMPLATEPATH . '/single');

/**
* Filter the single_template with our custom function
*/
add_filter('single_template', 'my_single_template');

/**
* Single template function which will choose our template
*/
function my_single_template($single) {
global $wp_query, $post;

/**
* Checks for single template by category
* Check by category slug and ID
*/
foreach((array)get_the_category() as $cat) :

if(file_exists(SINGLE_PATH . '/single-cat-' . $cat->slug . '.php'))
return SINGLE_PATH . '/single-cat-' . $cat->slug . '.php';

elseif(file_exists(SINGLE_PATH . '/single-cat-' . $cat->term_id . '.php'))
return SINGLE_PATH . '/single-cat-' . $cat->term_id . '.php';

endforeach;
}

This code first checks to see if WordPress is requesting a single post. If it is, then it tells WordPress to look for the template in /single/ folder of your WordPress theme.

Now you need to add template files defined by this code.

Connect to your WordPress hosting using an FTP client or File Manager in cPanel and go to /wp-content/themes/your-theme-folder/.

Inside your current theme folder, you need to create a new folder called ‘single’.

Now you need to open this folder and create a new file inside it. Go ahead and name this file single-cat-{category-slug}. Replace {category-slug} with your actual category slug.

For example, if you have a category called ‘News’, then you will create single-cat-news.php file. If you have a category called ‘Travel Tips’, then create a template single-cat-travel-tips.php, and so on.

Now, these template files will be totally empty. As a starting point, you can copy the contents of your single.php file from your theme folder and paste them inside each of these templates.

After that, you can edit these templates to make your desired changes.

Once you are done, you can go to your website and view a post. It will use the template that you have created for the category where this post is filed.

Now let’s suppose you have a post filed in two categories News and Travel Tips. WordPress will automatically show the template for ‘News’ because it appears first in alphabetical order.

On the other hand, if you filed a post in a category and didn’t create a template for that category, then WordPress will fallback to the default single.php template of your theme.

Create Custom Single Post Template for Specific Authors

Let’s suppose you want posts written by a specific author to look different on your website. You can do that by using the same technique we showed for categories.

First you will need to add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin.

/**
* Define a constant path to our single template folder
*/
define(SINGLE_PATH, TEMPLATEPATH . '/single');

/**
* Filter the single_template with our custom function
*/
add_filter('single_template', 'my_single_author_template');

/**
* Single template function which will choose our template
*/
function my_single_author_template($single) {
global $wp_query, $post;

/**
* Checks for single template by author
* Check by user nicename and ID
*/
$curauth = get_userdata($wp_query->post->post_author);

if(file_exists(SINGLE_PATH . '/single-author-' . $curauth->user_nicename . '.php'))
return SINGLE_PATH . '/single-author-' . $curauth->user_nicename . '.php';

elseif(file_exists(SINGLE_PATH . '/single-author-' . $curauth->ID . '.php'))
return SINGLE_PATH . '/single-author-' . $curauth->ID . '.php';

}

Next, you need to connect to your website using FTP or File Manager in cPanel and then go to /wp-content/themes/your-theme-folder/.

If you haven’t already created a folder called /single/ inside it, then let’s go ahead and create it now.

Inside this folder, you need to create a template using the author’s username in the template name. For example, single-author-johnsmith.php.

This template will be empty, so you can copy and paste the contents of your theme’s single.php template and use it as a starting point.

You can now visit your website to view a post created by the specific author. It will now use the template you created.

That’s all for now.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create custom single post templates in WordPress. You may also want to see our article on how to create a custom WordPress theme from scratch without writing any code.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create Custom Single Post Templates in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

March 28, 2020 at 04:50PM

9 Best Conference Call Services of 2020 Compared (w/ Free Options)

Are you looking for the best online conference call service for your business?

With the rising trend of remote working, many businesses rely heavily on conference calls, group video calls, and group team chats. There are tons of great free and paid conference call services in the market, but how do you pick the one that’s right for your business?

In this article, we’ll compare the best online conference call services and software to help you manage remote teams, improve communication, and grow your business.

Transparency Disclaimer: WPBeginner content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of the links in this post, we may earn a small referral fee. Please know that we only recommend products that we use ourselves and/or believe will add value to our readers. See how WPBeginner is funded for more details.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is one of the best business phone services on the market. It allows you to easily manage conference calls using your virtual business phone number.

Nextiva app works on all devices (Android, iPhone, laptop, and desktop computers). You can use it to receive phone calls on the go, at home, or in the office.

It is perfect for remote teams because Nextiva makes it super easy to add team members and set up call forwarding rules based on departments.

Their audio call quality is excellent, apps are easy to use, and they offer incredible customer support. Their platform also includes CRM, LiveChat, and other wide-range of features you’ll need to manage your business.

The only downside is that their video call feature is a bit limited.

Note: We use Nextiva on WPBeginner for our virtual business phone number. In our experience, Nextiva is the best small business phone system in the market from both features and pricing point of view.

Pricing: $20 per month per user, but if you need unlimited conference calls, then you’ll need their pro plan which starts at $25 per user per month.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another popular business VOIP provider that offers conference call services. They offer professional business phone numbers with both audio / video conferencing features.

RingCentral also provide a virtual phone number with mobile apps that allow you to use the same phone number on multiple devices from any location. This works perfectly for remote teams that work from anywhere.

RingCentral platform features include cloud phone, team messaging, conferencing, call-forwarding, auto-greetings, and more.

All RingCentral users can get a free online meeting service, RingCentral Meetings, which lets you have high quality video conference calls with anyone in your team and/or customers.

The free online meetings plan can have up to 100 call participants, comes with screen sharing, but it’s limited to 40 minute calls only.

Pricing: Their basic plan starts at $19.99 / operator per month. You can upgrade to their Office Premium plan $34.99 / month which removes the call restrictions and gives you tons of additional features.

3. Zoom

Zoom is a popular online video conferencing and meeting software. If you are only looking for video conferencing and online meeting software, then Zoom is an excellent option.

You can easily set up an online conference call or meeting, and invite your team members by simply sharing a link. It is easy to use and has apps available for all devices including mobile phones.

Zoom offers a free service plan which includes conference calls with up to 100 participants and unlimited 1 on 1 meetings. This is quite enough for most small businesses with remote teams.

The downside of the free plan is that conference calls are limited to 40 minutes duration. This is really frustrating because all attendees will start to see a countdown timer, and at 40 minutes mark, the app will kick everyone out of the meeting room.

Unlike the first two providers in our list, Zoom does not give you a dedicated virtual business phone number. However each Zoom meeting gets a unique dial-in code that participants can use to join via phone, in case they don’t have the app or access to reliable internet.

Pricing: Basic plan is free, but you can upgrade to their paid plan to remove the time limit and unlock other features. Pricing starts from $14.99 / month per host.

Note: Our team uses Zoom for internal team meetings and video calls. Our team leads have the Pro plan, so they can run longer meetings as needed since only the host has to have a Pro account to run unlimited length meetings.

4. G Suite Hangouts / Meet

G Suite offers Google Hangout meetings for conference calls and video meetings. It offers secure messaging, chat, audio, and video conferencing for small businesses and teams.

It is also available for free via Google Hangouts apps which also support online conference calls. However, as part of G Suite, you get a professional business email address, cloud storage, Google apps like Calendar, Sheets, Docs, and more.

Unlike some other conference call software on the list, Google Hangouts does not come with a business phone number. Users can join meetings with a dial-in number, but you don’t get any features of proper business phone service.

Pricing: Classic Google Hangouts is free. G Suite’s paid plans start from $6 / month per user. A single G Suite user can run a meeting with up to 100 participants. You can increase the limit to 150 participants (G Suite Business plan), and up to 250 participants on G Suite Enterprise / Education plan.

5. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a multi-purpose communication tool for remote teams and small businesses. It comes with text messaging, group chats, channels, file sharing, and audio / video conferencing features.

It is super easy to set up your small business team. Microsoft Teams works on all operating systems and devices including mobile phones.

The basic software is free for all, but you get even more features with Office 365 which is Microsoft’s productivity suite. Office 365 allows you to get a professional business email and all Microsoft Office apps including Outlook, Word, Excel, and more.

Microsoft Teams also does not give you features of a business phone service. If you need to manage customer calls, then you may still need a phone service.

Pricing: The basic Microsoft Teams is free but you can upgrade to Office 365 which starts at $5 per user per month.

6. Skype

Skype is a popular messaging and audio / video call app. It has been the go-to way to conduct one on one (1:1) conferences and meeting for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and individual users.

It allows you to call local and international phone numbers from your Skype app. You can also get a local phone number from various regions and countries and receive calls on that number.

Skype offers HD video conferencing, screen sharing, call recording, file-sharing, and more. Skype works really great for 1-on-1 calls, but during video conferencing adding more participants degrades the call quality significantly.

Pricing: The basic Skype app is free to use. If you add a phone number or want to make phone calls, then you’ll need to buy upgrades. Pricing varies based on the region and call-rates.

7. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is another good option for conference calls and online meetings. Their service offers quick online meetings with simple sharing tools allowing all team members to join in using any device.

They have apps for all operating systems including mobile phones, which allows you to conduct meetings on the go.

Optionally, you can also add toll-free numbers to your plan and allow users to dial in to join a conference call.

Pricing: Starting from $12 per organizer per month.

8. Slack

Slack is the popular productivity and communication app for remote teams. It comes with a built-in audio / video call feature allowing you to make conference calls without leaving the app.

As a team collaboration tool, Slack comes with integrations for many popular productivity apps that your team may already be using, like Asana, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, Zoom, and more.

Slack does not include a phone service, so if you are looking for conference calls with customers or run webinars, then it cannot do that.

Pricing: Basic free plan limited to 10,000 message history and 1:1 calls. Standard plan starts at $6.67 per user per month.

Note: We use Slack for our internal team chats and group messages. Some of our team members use Slack call features when Zoom or other platforms are not working properly.

9. UberConference

UberConference is another great free conference call service to communicate with remote teams and customers.

It is super easy to use. You can simply invite users by sharing a URL, and they don’t need to download anything to join in the call. It works on all devices including mobile phones.

The platform include easy screen sharing, call transcripts, custom hold music, schedule call reminders, and apps for all devices.

It is part of DialPad which allows you to integrate a business phone service to your UberConference plan. You can also integrate it with Slack, G Suite, and Office 365.

Pricing: Free plan allows you to add up to 10 participants. Paid plans start at $15 per organizer per month with up to 100 participants.

Which is The Best Conference Call Service?

All the above-mentioned software platforms allow you to conduct conference calls and online video meetings. However, you need to pick the one that best suits your needs.

If you need a business phone service to manage your audio conference calls, then Nextiva is the best option.

If you want an all-inclusive platform (phone + video conferencing), then RingCentral is the best conferencing call platform.

If you are looking for a standalone video-conferencing service, then Zoom is the best since it allows you to add multiple participants without losing quality.

Slack and Microsoft Teams are both suitable for better team collaboration, text messaging, and file sharing with basic conference call features.

We hope this article helped you find the best online conference call software. You may also want to see our tips on best email marketing services and best live chat software for small businesses.

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The post 9 Best Conference Call Services of 2020 Compared (w/ Free Options) appeared first on WPBeginner.

March 27, 2020 at 04:28PM