Small Business VOIP Service

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I run a small services business and our major overhead is the telephone. We are looking to make a major step and move into a serviced office building with secure Cisco networks, and I am looking to avoid their huge monthly telephony costs by putting in place a good VoIP solution to give us a more professional image.

There are 4 of us … we want to someone to be able to dial a main company number and be greeted by a company introduction message, and then presented with options on who they would like to be directed to. We want this solution to have all the normall business things you would expect like voicemail, call forwarding, message indicator, etc. Up to now I have been looking at the following solutions: Skype (obviously too basic for proper business purposes), SIP (like sipgate and voipfone … these look pretty good to me) and Primus Telecom.

Taking into account the functions we are looking for coupled with good value call rates what would you recommned?

Well, there are several aspects to look at for your system.

One is the line provider - do you want normal PSTN or ISDN lines? Or do you want to be entirely VOIP, and therefore use a web based phone provider? I can't really advise on this aspect, as it really does come down to your specific needs. I would contact a selection of normal providers and look at organisations such as Vonage for a VOIP solution and compare the costs.

The other aspect is the PBX itself. Personally, I am comfortable setting up and maintaining an Asterisk based system, but this can require some significant technical knowhow, or require the need to pay for someone to do the initial setup and a support contract (which, as I a business is a must really). You could look at trixbox

The other possibilities include VOIP systems by Cisco, Alcatel and many others. Your best option here is to get some quotes and compare.

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I am trying to find a good system, most likely a model of phone someone has some information on, that is capable of the "press 1 for sales, press two for service" etc. interactive menu for a small business (no more than 4 phone lines). IVR equipment all seems to be $7000 and up, but just an autoattendant is fine. $7K is way more than I'll be able to spend, I am more looking for equipment around $1000 or less. There are also some "subscription services", which I would like to avoid. If the phone will transfer to a vonage line, that would be a great thing. Anyone who has had to set up this kind of system for a small business, please let me know what you chose, and why! Thanks…

Yes - you have lots of options here. Don't toss away the subscription service! I've used a subscription service (this is called a "Virtual PBX", or "Virtual Phone System" for my girlfriend's housecleaning business and it's been very reliable.

If you want a true "phone system" (with auto attendant, extensions, call forwarding, a local or toll free number, etc.), you should try RingCentral. (You can read my review of their service here: http://small-business-phone.com/?p=4)…. I have used RingCentral ($9.95/mo) for over a year and it's been awesome. You can get a free trial (30 days), too. (and, as you probably guessed - you don't buy any equipment).

Yes, you can use it with your Vonage Line.

If you want to go "Free", you can use GrandCentral (just acquired by Google). You will get a local number (not toll-free), but there's NO auto attendant, extensions etc. When someone dials your GrandCentral number, it forwards to you cell phone (or other phone) (there's some more bells and whistles in there, it's really neat).

Good luck! My Blog continues to review free/low cost voice solutions for the small business/individual professional. Please bookmark it.

-Jordan

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I have a small retail business, however, our telephone line blows up with calls about store hours, directions, address, etc. I am searching for an announcement recording system, but I have no idea what it’s called, so it’s difficult to know where to look. What I have in mind: “Thank you for calling… We are located at BLAH BLAH. Our store hours are BLAH BLAH. If you would like to speak to a representative, please stay on the line (or please press 0)” Only after they stay on the line or press Zero will the call be connected and our phone will ring. Might anyone know what that service/system is called?

Hi shannmariep: This type of system is call Voice Mail. It is a Computer with a special program that processes your incoming calls & you can program it to your specific needs.There are various types available. These are not cheap. I hope this provides you with some helpful information. exbelltel

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A reliable phone system from Cisco helps amaZulu put its best foot forward. Customers are no longer frustrated by dropped or unanswered calls. and employees can focus on delivering superior customer service. More info, http://www.cisco.com/go/smb

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Technorati Tags: business, Cisco, communications, connecting, customer, network, office, people, phone, service, small, smb, system, VoIP

The award winning Phone.com Virtual Office is a small business / home business phone system that makes your business look bigger and more professional. You don’t need to purchase any equipment or download any software and you continue to use your existing home phone or cell phone.

Phone.com Virtual Office is a small business virtual PBX phone system that lets you decide where and how calls are routed. You can get a toll free 1 800 number or vanity number or any local area code number or even transfer to us your existing number and each caller who dials that number can be greeted by a professional auto attendant that will guide each call to the correct extension / destination.

Phone.com Virtual Office gives your business unlimited flexibility in a sophisticated phone system and an affordable price!

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Technorati Tags: 800, Attendant, Auto, business, Fax, internet, phone, Phone.com

I run a business out of my home so I need a private personal line and an 800 number with unlimited ( or in the 1000-2000 minute range) incoming and outgoing calls. By now I'm cross-eyed and confused about which is best. Should I try a Cox Bundle? Go with VOIP? And where does digital and T-1 fit into this?…And which is the best price? Vonage only allows 100 minutes incoming, so that won't work. My business is start-up so I could go with a smaller service now and increase later.

I use a virtual 800 number added with my home service from packet8 for over 5 year and never had problems with them!! I use the international plan, so I use to call all countries and ppl can call me from abroad with my US 800 number!

I pay 29.99 for the Internatl. plan and 4.99 for the toll-free number, per month!!

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I am American and I run a small business in Shenzhen, China. I also have 3 Americans that work for me here in China. My customers in the US need to constantly contact our office via phone. Currently I have a skype phone, and my customers contact our office by calling a US phone number but it is routed to the skype In number that I have. The problem is that skype in is very unreliable, and it is killing my business. About 30% of the calls dont even come in. I have tried vonage and lingo and the quality is not good enough. I have also used a service called www.telcan.net, which provides me with a toll free number, that is routed to my LAN lines in China. This is also unreliable as around 20% of the calls also end up being dropped.

My question, is there a solution out there which will allow my customers to dial a US phone number which will allow me to reliablly receive phone calls at my office in China. Any help would greatly be appreciated as my current situation is frusturat

The problem is very likely the speed of ISP connection. Even if your internal LAN is a GigaLAN, you are still dealing with the network speed of your ISP provider and ultimately, the speed at which your office connects to the internet.

How are you connecting to your provider? Visa PPP and ASDN? What is the speed of your connection to your ISP? If it is less than 2,000 mbps your VOIP quality will suffer and you will experience droppages.

You could go with a major forwarding outfit like AT&T, or SBC, and they can route calls directly to your land lines, which will be far better than the skype or VOIP.

You need to chose where to spend your money, don't be so "Xiao Qi" with your decision. If you have option to improve your network bandwidth, than upgrade that and go for VOIP. That would be my first choice, otherwise, spend about an equal amount of money on a provider like AT&T for this service.

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I have a small business, and I need a phone system for a good price. Where do I locate one?

Call your local telephone providor as they may cover you in a few areas you may not be thinking about.

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I work in a small-town electronics store. Quite regularly, we have people bring in telephones or answering machines that are not working properly. Unfortunately, the telephone system in the store is business digital, which means we cannot directly connect the customers devices to it for testing purposes.

So, what I am wanting to do is construct a standalone device into which I can connect the phone and/or answering machine that will allow me to make the phone ring, and also allow the phone to operate when it is taken off the hook ("Operate" as in hear sound on the line, not necessarily call someone).

Now, I have already figured out how to make the phone ring, that was the easy part (A pair of transformers to step household 120VAC down to 10VAC, then back up to ~90VAC). The must-do tasks that still remain are:

-How do I make it stop ringing when I pick up the phone?
-How do I put an audio signal on the line that makes the phone work?

I'm new at this, so gentle/simple answers please.

The phone ring is usually 20 Hz, but 60 Hz will work fine as you note. When a phone is taken off-hook, the switching equipment at the telco premises sees this and removes the ringing voltage an applies 48 VDC for the voice part. The phone impedance off-hook should be about 500 ohms. On hook is about 1200 ohms if I am remembering right. If the phone rings, you no longer need to keep the 90 VAC applies. Remove it and connect the 48 VDC. You need to watch your polarity. One way will work and the other way won't. If the impedance changes correctly, and the audio works, the phone should be OK.

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