Another thread VOIP need input.

[fplowman]

Ok so,

Im starting a small business out of my basement.

For the last 5 years or more have I have always used cellular phones due to the free long distance basically.

We rent currently and hope to move to a new home we purchase later this year.

Now my dilema. I need a phone for my business. I need to be able to keep the phone # indefinetly. So i figure VOIP would be ideal.

Does anyone have any feedback? I realize that there is some negative publicity out there for Voip..

The ability to take my phone lines with me when I move, The ability to have a fax line, The ability to have a hard wired land line "kinda".

Im afraid that a cellphone specifically isnt ideal due to the dropped calls etc. I dont want to ever have to change my # either due to the marketing materials e5tc.. I am spending alot of money on.

The Voip programs have business model phones full featured. And the fax aspect...

Im lost.. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[B Ozanne]

What's stopping you? VOIP seems ideal for this scenario. The business plans generally cost more than the residential plans for VOIP, but this is also the case with copper wires.

For somebody who is computer savvy VOIP should be fine.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I work out of my house and have VOIP. I have Packet8 which is $10/month cheaper than Vonage. I was able to keep my existing number for it AND have it ring both my home and cell phone at the same time (this is a HUGE help). You cannot send faxes over a VOIP line unless you get a second VOIP dedicated fax line.

It is cheaper to sign up for an e-fax service instead of getting the dedicated fax line unless you are constantly sending and receiving faxes all day. I use Send2Fax, about $3 a month. There is a small charge per page (10-15 cents). You basically send the fax pages via their web site as tiffs or jpegs, and it converts it to a normal fax to any fax number. You get your own fax number, and incoming faxes come to you as TIFFs. I like it a LOT better than using a fax machine.

Bottom line is this: VIOP line, e-fax service, unlimited long distance, ring both home and cell phone simultaneously, keep old phone number: less than $25 a month. Can't beat that.

I can't say enough how great the simultaneous cell-home ring feature is. This has eliminated a lot of my communication problems and cut my cell usage. You can give out just your home number, instead of giving both your home/cell and having everyone have to try both to get you. I never miss calls now unless I'm asleep! If for some reason the VOIP line goes down or has problems (mine hasn't yet) your cell phone will still ring. If you're on the road, people can call your house and you can pick it up on your cell! Caller ID info even gets passed through to both. You can configure which picks up voice mail too. Great stuff.

 

[fplowman]

Ok,

so if the internet is down will it still ring to cellphone?

 

[Dan Robinson]

So if the internet is down will it still ring to cellphone?

Yep! The cell phone rings regardless of the staus of the VIOP line or the internet connection.