Why integrate your phone conference and web conference for your next meeting?  This is an especially apt question when you already have VOIP nested in your web conference platform. It seems much more convenient to just use a web conferencing platform. And you would accrue significant savings cutting out the conference calling bridge. There are five upsides though to using those good old fashioned conference call connections:

• The phone is universally available for conference calls while the computer is not. Some parties may be a way from their desk. This gives invited parties the option to join the meeting without a computer.
• Even if all parties have computers they may not have a decent USB headset or a mike. They may have speakers but if other company members are in the vicinity this could disturb their work or compromise the security of the meeting. It’s just plain easier for participants to hook up by phone and join the parallel running online meeting.
• Using a good quality phone conference service gives a higher degree of predictability to a meeting. This is especially important for the host when internet connections can get a bit unreliable. We don’t want to lose him!
• If the web conference gets large, phone conferencing operators can help manage question and answer periods. This will add a very professional touch to the call
• Some computers are incompatible with the many different web conferencing platforms out there. We have seen where Mac computers cannot access downloaded applets that allow them to join the web conference. Or somebody may have an older operating system that does not jibe with the available system.

There is a clear but slow trend of increased VOIP usage for web conferences. iPad users and other mobile devices will be able to directly participate. In the immediate foreseeable future quality providers will continue to offer integrated phone conferencing/web conferencing solutions.  Otherwise a significant number of users will not be able to participate in web conferences.