VOIP for small business - does anyone know anything?

DougHuntingdon · Post by **DougHuntingdon** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:34 pm

Does anyone have any personal experience with voip for small business? I am looking into something like packet8.com virtual office.

I want to set up a traditional office in Independence for 5 employees, then have one employee working from home in Lakewood, one in Cleveland, one in North Royalton, and one in Hudson, with potential for further expansion, of course.

I am just looking to see if anyone else has any experience with this and has some feedback. I have checked into some local companies that sell packet8 or other brands, but they seem to add a lot of mark up. They may provide service for the markup, but we are fairly technologically capable here and I would like to cut out the middle man.

Thanks

Doug

Lynn Farris · Post by **Lynn Farris** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:55 pm

The best thing about VOIP is that if you make lots of long distance calls it is inexpensive.

But the quality is normally poor. Have you ever talked to India or some call center outside of our country? You are going with VOIP. You can hear the halting and the breaks - that is VOIP. I know a guy who had people throw a phone at him because he had recommended the VOIP solution for his firm (Wasn't me

) I have also had lots of clients who put it in, only to rip it out and replace it with a traditional phone system.

AT&T will tell you that it is good quality - but at the end you have to sign a disclaimer that they aren't responsible for quality or some such garbage - that should tell you something.

That being said - the time is coming and it is the only way to go if your business is making lots of calls outside of this country.

So in short, in the near future, we will all be using VOIP. Currently you should strongly consider it if you have huge long distance phone bills. If you have 1 satellite office there may be better options in terms of calling them.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:08 pm

I personally use AT&T CallVantage for my home line (they have a small business plan as well) and have loved the service. The call quality is outstanding, the other people I speak with don't even realize I'm not on a landline. While AT&T may be more expensive than some other VoIP providers, it's considered to have the best call quality.

As for overall quality, VoIP is at the mercy of how good your internet connection is. If you've got a good connection, you'll be fine. I used CallVantage both on Cox before I moved from Lakewood and on Time Warner right now. Service has been great.

Ryan Salo · Post by **Ryan Salo** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:00 pm

I use Packet 8 for my home office. I am tied into my main office in Elyria. I have used the 12MB internet from cox and then the 7MB and have had no problems with the VOIP. The main office uses a T1 for the lines there.

As far as other VOIP, I did use Vonage for my home for a bit and hated it. My home number was accidently MAC address swapped with a guy in California for a day, so he was getting all my calls!! I also got garbled conversations a lot with it. Packet 8 has been good so far. Hope that helps!

DougHuntingdon · Post by **DougHuntingdon** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 10:05 pm

Thank you for the responses. I am thinking of setting this up for flexibility reasons and not really to save money, although a little cost savings wouldn't hurt. One of the features I would like to use is "ring groups" and also the ability to see on a web interface whose extension is being used, etc. Those working at home all have cable internet 3mbps download or greater, I believe. As far as upload, mine tested at 400kbps here in Lakewood with Time Warner. The main office will probably have 3mbps synchronous (up and down), but that has not been decided for sure yet. We currently have 1mbps synchronous in downtown Cleveland, but that is not available in Independence.

Doug
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