Need a new phone system... Anyone useing IP phones?

[Unregistered]

I am moving my office and need to upgrade my phone system. I need to have two main lines, one fax line, and 4 unpublished lines. Anyone have a suggestion? Has anyone tried these new IP phones. I was looking at these: http://www.packet8.net/ but know nothing about them.

Thanks in advance.

[S T]

Great Question

What a great question. I myself have wondered about Vonage.

Maybe someone will share.

Sandy

[Chief]

New phone system

Hi:
Go with a local, independent contractor who specializes in small phone systems. But someone with a proven track record. You wil l never regreat it.

[WhiteOleander]

Not sure if this really applies. But, I have a friend who went with cable phone service. (residential) She had cable TV, Phone, & Internet.

It was constantly going out. And she had no way of contacting the company. She lived out from town.

One day she drove in to report the trouble. They told her they would come out and check. She asked when. They said they would call her and tell her when the tech was on his way. She said you can't call me, my phone is through your cable. And it is out. They said ok, we'll be out. She asked again when. They again said they'd have to call her.

She said this went on in circles several times. She began to wonder if she was on candid camera or some other show. They never gave her a suitable answer. She finally went home. And they eventually showed up.

But, her cable keeps going out and the company can't seem to find the problem.

[newbie]

Residential service

My clients' daughter went with Charter Communications to integrate cable, internet and phone service. Her complaint is the telemarketers, she said every 10 minutes the phone is ringing with an offer or looking for a contribution.

[Zee]

We've used a Brighthouse cable, internet, phone package for 3-months. It seems to be very reliable and has a battery backup.

[Roberts]

You don't say where you are or what your calling history is like. If you make a lot of long distance calls, the IP phones are much more attractive than if 90% of your calls are local.

Depending on where your business is located, think about contacting a phone firm known as a CLEC type company. CLEC means Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. For our firm we went from a monthly bill of over $900 with a bell firm to $365 with a local CLEC. Just a thought. They rent the standard phone line you already utilize and just resell it at a MUCH more attractive price. Plus in our case the customer service was much MUCH better.

I know very little about the IP phone systems but when I looked at them I just couldn't help but imagine myself spending a day or two at a very busy time trying to get the phone system working because something in the office broke.

[Matt Sova]

Vonage

I have Vonage at home and we love it. In the couple of years we have had it the cable has gone out twice and the calls get forwarded automatically to my wife cell phone. It is cheaper than the phone service through Comcast and you get all the same stuff (as far as I can tell).

I could not put Vonage in at my office because Comcast is shortsighted. When the commercial building park was being developed, they decided not to bury their cable along with the rest of the utility companies. When I moved here they said it would cost over $5,000 to bring in cable. Idiots. I am stuck with ATT for the DSL line that I use for internet access here.

[Chief]

IP Phones

I am using a bright House Package which inclds local phone service. Excellent service with no problems. Did use My Phone and Vonage at one time. Will never go back to these but will stick with the local people.

[TaxBird]

Related Article

Here's a pretty good article on the subject.

http://www.smartbiz.com/article/articleview/1735/1/61

[Unregistered]

Have been using Vonage for 3 lines including an 800 # plus a fax line for 2 years. Had one cable outage for 4 hours. Have saved lots of money. For reliability, have learned to re-boot the modems once per week, and then all works very well. -RJM

[Hoosier Tax Guy]

Packet 8

I am moving my office and need to upgrade my phone system. I need to have two main lines, one fax line, and 4 unpublished lines. Anyone have a suggestion? Has anyone tried these new IP phones. I was looking at these: http://www.packet8.net/ but know nothing about them.

Thanks in advance.

If you want free or cheap long distance, or very inexpensive toll free numbers, Packet8 is excellent. If you want customer service, the Bell companies make a very good product.

I have Packet8 at home, and I love all the features that come standard. And the ability to have a virtual local number at multiple locations is great. We have friends and family a twelve hundred miles away that can call us locally, and it just costs 4.95 monthly.

But if you ever want to change your account, you're in trouble. You have to put in a support ticket, which will often be ignored, or closed without resolution. If you call them to make changes, be prepared to be on hold for awhile. Eventually, everything gets done, but customer service is not speedy.

Still, I have unlimited calling, three local numbers from all over the country, and a toll free number, and have the calls automatically transferred to my cell phone if the cable is down for some reason, and it all works flawlessly. And the cost is less than or about equal to what I would pay for local service only with the Bells. The only complaint I have is an occasional slight echo, and that has more to do with my cable connection than with the Packet8 service (I think).

If you are looking for every feature imaginable (including Video Phone), and at a cost less than Vonage, Packet 8 is great. But, again, they have a real problem with customer service.

[taxmandan]

Advertising in yellow pages

You don't say where you are or what your calling history is like. If you make a lot of long distance calls, the IP phones are much more attractive than if 90% of your calls are local.

Depending on where your business is located, think about contacting a phone firm known as a CLEC type company. CLEC means Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. For our firm we went from a monthly bill of over $900 with a bell firm to $365 with a local CLEC. Just a thought. They rent the standard phone line you already utilize and just resell it at a MUCH more attractive price. Plus in our case the customer service was much MUCH better.

I know very little about the IP phone systems but when I looked at them I just couldn't help but imagine myself spending a day or two at a very busy time trying to get the phone system working because something in the office broke.

If you aren't using the local bell system, how do you get an ad in the yellow pages? That is my best advertising in this town and always wondered how you get listed if you're not utlizing the bell companies phone system.

[Roberts]

If you aren't using the local bell system, how do you get an ad in the yellow pages? That is my best advertising in this town and always wondered how you get listed if you're not utlizing the bell companies phone system.

Yellow Pages doesn't give a darn who your phone company is - they'll take your advertising dollars regardless. The business white pages are included in the normal phone bill for us and I would assume that is the same with the IP and cable phone services?