How to disable WebEx call-back feature
First published on May 7, 2013
My company uses WebEx a lot for screen sharing and conference calls. When we first had a WebEx account, we quickly learned how fast the costs added up when offering a toll-free call-in number. Enabling that feature always occurred by accident when creating a new meeting. At 12 cents per minute (or possibly more at the time) per participant, a few calls with a few participants using the toll-free number could triple the normal monthly fee. We soon disabled that feature account-wide — it was an unnecessary feature since participants could connect via VoIP or use much cheaper or free long-distance calling to a US number.
Recently WebEx enabled the “call-back” feature by default on our account. This meant that when we selected the normal “WebEx Audio” conference type, participants were offered the option to have WebEx call their number in order to join the meeting.
This was a similarly unnecessary feature and extra cost. This time, however, I couldn’t figure out where to disable the feature in the usual account settings, nor could I locate any information about it in WebEx’s online documentation. Eventually I contacted their support team and got this answer, which is still undocumented from what I can tell:
Follow the steps below to disable call-back feature on your WebEx site/host account:
1. Log in to your WebEx Site Administration page. https://[your_account_name].webex.com/admin
2. Click the Edit User List link on the left-hand side of the page.
3. Enter your search criteria into the User name: or Email: field, then click the Search button.
4. Click the name of the account that needs to be modified.
5. Scroll down to the Telephony privilege: section.
6. To disable call-back, uncheck the Call-back teleconferencing box.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page, then click the Update button.
In other words, there isn’t an account-wide setting for this, but you can disable the call-back feature by editing each individual account user’s settings.
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May 28th, 2013 at 7:26 am
Timothy Chu says:
Good tip-we use webex frequently. I’m not the one who sees the bills, so I didn’t realize the 1800 number costs extra. The other option is to use the computer for audio, provided there is a decent microphone.
June 27th, 2013 at 5:50 am
Annika says:
Thanks a lot for this tip! We use WebEx quite frequently and had some steep phone bills due to the Callback option.
December 21st, 2016 at 1:50 am
Phil says:
Thanks for this tip. I was trying to test out our company Webex the night before a morning conference call I have the privilege of hosting at the last second, and just spent the past hour trying to figure out why there was no dial-in phone number. The webex application and their website doesn’t mention anywhere that it can be disabled. Really wish there was a ‘your organization has disabled telephone access’ hint somewhere for the meeting organizer. I’m guessing that’s what the issue is. I really wish stuff like this would be documented somewhere on their official site or in their software…