Business VoIP

Being a small, really small, business owner, I understand the need to be professional on a budget. It's important to me that my customers receive the best service possible, without breaking the bank. While I don't do a lot of business by phone, I still do get calls and need to present a serious business image.

I recently found a company, Packet8.net, that provides a hosted iPBX service which allows businesses like mine to have all the advantages of an in-house call routing system without purchasing expensive hardware. We've all experienced this service - "Press 1 for Sales", etc. Until now, I thought that the only way a business could route calls this way was to actually own and maintain the PBX equipment.

Well, I was wrong. For an incredibly modest amount, I can get a Virtual Assistant that will route the calls to the main number (included in the package) to 1 of 3 extensions. In my case, I could have orders sent to my cell, customer service or admin calls to my house phone, or vice versa. Total flexibility. I can customize messages for each extension, giving the appearance of a much larger organization than I have, while presenting a 'personal touch' image, when the owner of the company returns or answers a call.

Another option that intrigued me was Virtual Numbers which are inbound numbers with different area codes that call into the one main number. It saves my customers money, because they are dialing a number local to them and gives me a 'local' presence without having offices all over the country. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me.

But the service that really got my attention is what they call Softalk Office, a Virtual Office extension that works from any personal computer, without the need for an additional phone number. Using a graphic keypad to access basic and advanced calling features, Softalk even supports videoconferencing for up to 6 people simultaneously.

If you have a business and need to inexpensively manage incoming calls, I think you'll really like what Packet8.net has to offer.

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We look forward to seeing you online.

God Bless!

Jules