What "responders online at once" means

Every Echo plan includes a number: 5, 10 or 25 responders online at once. It is the single most misread line on the pricing page, so here is exactly what it means.

It is not the size of your team

The number does not limit how many volunteers your ministry can have in Echo. It limits how many of them can be signed in and answering at the same moment.

Most ministries run shifts. A team of forty people, working across six shifts in a week, rarely has more than eight or nine answering simultaneously, which fits comfortably inside a ten-responder plan.

How to work out the number you need

1. Look at your busiest hour, usually right after a broadcast, a campaign push, or in the evening.
2. Count how many people are answering during that hour, not across the whole day.
3. Add a little room for the volunteer who signs in to help unexpectedly.

That is your number. If you are between two plans, start on the lower one. Moving up takes a moment and does not require a call.

What happens if you hit the limit

Nobody is thrown out of a conversation. Your team will see that you are at capacity, and an administrator can add a seat for $150 a month or move the ministry up a plan from inside your account.

Seats versus plans

An added seat raises your limit by one, at $150 a month. If you find yourself adding several, the next plan up is usually cheaper. The pricing page has the arithmetic.