Need advice for a VoIP business line

[tankman1989]

I don't know if this is the correct forum for this thread, but it is directly related to my business and is mainly used for business purposes.

I've decided to go all out and start my own IT support company. I had a traditional business LAN line a year or so ago but now only have a cell, and I don't want to go back to a traditional phone line (is that stupid??).

I've thought about Vonage, but their business line is like $50 per month!! That is more than my traditional biz lan line!! Next I thought about the MagicJack just to try it, but think it is going to fall short of what is needed for a good business phone, or am I mistaken, lol?

What are my options so that I am not spending $50/month? If it is going to cost that much, I'd be willing to set up Trixbox or an Asterisk setup. I actually want to familiarize myself with Trixbox as it is going to be one of my "premium" products down the road.

Does anyone know of anything that is "middle of the road"? Not quite Trixbox and certainly not Magicjack?

I already have the standard analog phones and can buy one of those VoIP adapters.

I really appreciate any help you can provide!

 

[bluenoise]

Try skype. Might not be exactly what you are looking for but they are cheap and frankly amazing.

http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/

 

[14049752]

I second Skype. It's certainly a lot less expensive than Vonage... You can get a real in/out phone number, a "real" phone, and voicemail and all of that.
Vonage's price, honestly, isn't that bad for what you get...but their service is horrible. When we had it, we had call quality issues..and then when we did finally switch, our number wasn't ported correctly....that's actually still not completely resolved.

We've used skype a fair amount, and the call quality is FAR better than Vonage...no skips, I can actually hear the other end, and on top of that it's free 800 numbers and skype to skype.

 

[Chicky]

Have a look at
bbpglobal.com.au for a voip direct dial number.
I have a Melbourne Australia phone number which rings at my house in New Zeland. This cost me $50 for the whole year. I pay for outgoing calls at 10cents unlimited time to an Aussie Landline. It is a free local call for anyone calling me in Melbourne and standard toll charges for anyone else phoning my in Aussie.
Also in NZ i use Xnet for voip and naked broadband so i have no land line and i can take my phone anywhere so to speak. There is a free voip server program for windows think it is 3xc???? you have to pay when you reach something but it is good to muck around on. Also there are a few turnkey solutions for a linux box, found an excellent website awhile box, sorry cant remember it now though.
Dont go back to a landline, you pay way to much and with VOIP you will get alot of experience for the future to help your customers out, also with some VOIP providers you can make extra money by becoming a reseller!

 

[tartis]

For the $50 at Vonage, you also get a fax number.

 

[pcguy]

I like RingCentral

 

[purple_minion]

MagicJack is crap. We saw it on tv once and I looked it up out of curiosity... just look up some reviews. Utter CRAP! It's just like Video Professor, a real con artist judging from what others have said.

 

[frostbyte5014]

Zoom makes a nice device for Skype that lets you connect your regular phone. I bought one for about $30 at Wall-E-World.

 

[paidsupport]

It may not be voip, but I'm very familiar with a service called Gotvmail.com and they do a good job routing calls, setting hours. You can create a phone tree system that hunts your mobile if it can't reach you at your desk, or even better route to on of your other employees. They are also very reasonably priced.

 

[Majestic]

MagicJack is crap. We saw it on tv once and I looked it up out of curiosity... just look up some reviews. Utter CRAP! It's just like Video Professor, a real con artist judging from what others have said.

MagicJack is far from crap. It works well and it's cheap. How do I know? A client of mine showed it to me when *I* thought it was crap. I had seen it on the shelves of some cheap computer stores before and thought it was a scam.

Since then I've used it, and many of my clients have had me install it for them. I find it's very good. Not sure which reviews you've read but I am speaking from experience.

Majestic

 

[tartis]

I use Vonage combined with GotVMail to give me all the features that I need. I have a fax line, a local number, and a PBX service that manages my calls.

 

[tankman1989]

I use Vonage combined with GotVMail to give me all the features that I need. I have a fax line, a local number, and a PBX service that manages my calls.

Who do you get your DID or PSTN from? How much do you pay total per month?

 

[geeksmobileusa]

Ringcentral.com all the way. you can negotiate with them and get like 100 free phone numbers, and $2 a number after that. They're sooo cheap and the quality is great. You can get vanity #'s from them too.

 

[angry_geek]

http://www.packet8.net/

been using them for years. total bill is $30.00/month great service

 

[manderso]

Along the same lines as Trixbox & Asterix, take a look at the PBX in a Flash iso from http://pbxinaflash.com/.
It's a much easier installation than Trixbox, and a great support forum. They sell (cheap) an iso that installs on a very cheap box, and it's smooth enough to install in a virtual machine.

 

[krutoi]

I use Vonage combined with GotVMail to give me all the features that I need.

Vonage is a voip provider. GotVMail (now Grasshopper) is a virtual office system. You can setup x number of phone lines, multiple extensions and all sorts of rules about what time of day to direct calls to what numbers, etc.. By combining the two you get cheap phone bills and a professional front end phone automation system with voicemail, company directory, etc..

My voip provider is Broadvoice which I am reasonably happy with - I have the unlimited in-state call plan for about $10/month.

 

[majznw]

Trixbox, Asterisk ....

callcentric.com

Been using this setup for about 2 years and works flawlessly. Pricing at Callcentric is great and call quality is like traditional pots lines. Plus they have a reseller program as well .... use my agent # if you decide to signup ...
Agent ID: 28711

 

[MrUnknown]

thanks for the recommendation, I was looking into possibly using them as my home phone service.

 

[noki123]

bluenoise is right Skype is really good i use it to call my european customers landline calls for unlimited $50 per month they have some seriously good offers