As the old saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch. But doesn't any meal taste better when someone else pays the bill? In this case, the meal is conference calling, and the company picking up the check is Long Beach, Calif.-based Free Conferencing Corporation of America, which offers, as its name indicates, free audio conferencing through its online service, FreeConferenceCall.com.

Conference calling is often a mission-critical tool for small businesses, and teleconferencing charges on top of standard phone costs can take a hefty chunk out of a company's monthly budget. FreeConferenceCall.com (FCC.com) provides the service for free.

There's no teleconference charges — callers pay only what their long distance carrier normally charges them for a call. Or as Dave Erickson, FCC.com's founder and CEO, puts it, "It's a free lunch, but everyone has to get to the restaurant."

So how does the company make money? The site offers a number of free services — the newest is conference recording, more on that later — as well as paid services and upgrades. "We engage people in free services and make our money on the back end by selling enhanced services and features," Erickson said. "We also receive marketing fees from various long distance carriers."

The free conference-calling service supports up to 96 people on a call, which can last up to six hours each. Erickson said there's no limit to the number of calls you can make, and that you don't need to make reservations.

You sign up for an account online by submitting your name and e-mail address. That immediately generates a dedicated phone number and an access code that's good for 120 days. When the account expires, you must repeat the process.

Companies that need to conference with people outside the United States will be glad to know that anyone who can dial in to a U.S phone number can use FreeConferenceCall.com. Erickson says international callers pay only for the long distance charge. "So many people have cheap long distance to the U.S., " he says. "Right now, calls from Australia to the U.S. cost about two cents a minute."

In addition, Erickson says the service works with VoIP technology. "Right now, we're seeing about 50,000 Skype In and Skype Out calls every month. It's significant, and it's growing."