There's little I like better than finding a free service online that replaces something costly.  Newspaper subscriptions, international calling, photo storage (Picasa, Flickr), conversion of file formats (Zamzar,) online store (Box.net, Mozy)  - you name it, you can find it online for free or pretty darn close. It's one of the great benefits of living in an online world. 

But sometimes being online becomes impersonal - too much email instead of talking, too much blogging instead of discussing.  And no matter how prolific a writer you may be, talking is still easier, faster and more direct.  When I see people sending text messages that are more than just a few words I always think, "why don't they just call?" Whether you're trying to plan an event, review a business proposal or catch up with family there's something about getting everyone on the phone together that still beats trying to coordinate everyone's thoughts by email.

So, in an effort to make talking to business associates, family and friends easier and more productive, I'm going to switch to some more use of conference calling in the upcoming year. And a lot of it will probably happen from my cell phone so I wanted to find the perfect service for creating and participating in conference calls while mobile.  In the past, there were a few good services for creating conference calls online, but I didn't use them that often because most of my calls could be handled with the three-way calling that's standard on every cell phone (and ubiquitous on almost every landline phone). 

And I've found  a service that I've found that will really facilitate it.  It's incredibly easy to use, very cell phone-friendly and (be still my heart) totally free. It's called "Rondee" - as in rondezvous - and is available for both landline and cell phone users. I haven't used it much yet, but it's one of those services that I can see making great use of going forward. 

The nice thing about it from a cell phone user's standpoint is that, once you're registered, when you call into the Rondee system you'll always use the same number and the system recognizes your caller ID, placing you automatically into the correct conference call.  You can set up a call either on the fly or in advance using a very straightforward web-based form that works similarly to a party invitation web site - it sends out an email to whoever you're inviting and everyone agrees on the time.  Once the people on the upcoming call agree they receive a PIN (which they won't need if they register) which allows them to call into this - and future - conference calls. 

One of the really cool aspects of the service is the web interface - you can see who's scheduled to be on the call, who is actually on the call and offers some in-call control features.  But my favorite feature is the one that allows you to claim your own "space" inside Rondee.  The way that this works is so simple it's deceptive - but elegantly thought out.  You simply call into the system and enter a user ID that you want to claim as your space.  To make mine easy I claimed "Scott" (72688).  Now, when I want to do a conference call on the fly, I will simply tell people to call the Rondee conference line and when asked for the PIN, to use my ID.  Nobody can steal it or use your space without you using it (and why should they when the service is free and you can get your own ID anyway?).

Calls are placed by all of the participants into the 619 (San Diego) area code.  There are absolutely no charges of any kind other than what people might incur by calling long distance into that number.  Most people have free long distance on their cell phones anyway so it doesn't't matter where they're calling.  Plan the call for nighttime and the minutes will be after hours and probably won't count against the user's "bucket" of available cell phone minutes, making the calls free from every conceivable aspect. 

Their web site (Rondee.com) has a nice FAQ page with answers to the most basic questions, but my guess is that you really need to use the system to learn its nuances.  It's a snap to use, totally free and available to anyone.  All in all, just the kind of service that you should put at the top of your speed dial list.  I did.