Cheap Business Phone Service Providers
In recent years, the telecommunications industry has seen many changes in technology that have affected phone calls and how telephone service is sold. But the cost of your business phone service is largely dependent on the phone service provider that you choose. Below is a comparison table that lets you compare business phone service plans by monthly rates, long distance rates, set-up costs, customer rating, and features.
The cheapest business phone service that you can take with you anywhere (compatible with small office phone systems and cell phones), is Grasshopper Phone Service. You can easily add as many extensions as you want, get local or toll free 800 numbers, and even get the iphone app for free. Plans start at just $12/mo with this free activation, and you can add as many lines as you want to your account thereafter. The cloud based control panel makes changing your custom greeting or hold music a snap, and all phone system options are easy to use and customize in your online account. Perfect for small office phone solutions, contractors and service businesses, and even solo entrepreneurs.
Most of these VoIP solutions will require stable and consistent internet connectivity at every location where the wired phones are to be used. In many cases, standard business-class Internet service with suitable bandwidth will suffice, though the use of Quality of Service (QoS) configuration on a business-class Internet router may be necessary to prioritize voice traffic over other Internet traffic in order to maintain good call quality. Some hosted PBX providers offer assistance with this type of configuration on existing customer hardware, assuming that hardware can support QoS configuration. Other providers will sell a specific piece of network hardware with the proper QoS configuration for the business to install that will ensure that call quality is prioritized.
Mobile Phone Having a cell phone for your small business can help keep costs down, especially if you are the only person taking calls. It can be cheaper than a land line and is convenient because you can take it with you. For the smartphone variety, you can use apps to set up a way to send and receive faxes via your computer. If you have several employees, the advantage is they can work from outside the office and still be on a constant communication loop. Price plans vary with providers, but providing cell phones to staff in critical functions is still a relatively cheap alternative to increase productivity and efficiency.
Furthermore, most (if not all) providers also offer smartphone integration with custom and third-party apps, like CRM systems that can extend the phone system beyond just basic voice communication. Such integrations can also allow users to transfer calls to and from their mobile phone, place and receive calls from their personal phone (that appear to be coming from the business), and interact with colleagues and customers via voice and text.
However, the most significant feature that’s missing is the phone service itself. Because Grasshopper is a virtual phone service, calls are made and received on the your personal mobile phone, although they appear to come from and to the virtual number. This means that you will also use your mobile phone plan’s minutes in addition to Grasshopper’s.
Having a cell phone for your small business can help keep costs down, especially if you are the only person taking calls. It can be cheaper than a land line and is convenient because you can take it with you. For the smartphone variety, you can use apps to set up a way to send and receive faxes via your computer. If you have several employees, the advantage is they can work from outside the office and still be on a constant communication loop. Price plans vary with providers, but providing cell phones to staff in critical functions is still a relatively cheap alternative to increase productivity and efficiency.
Either way, the quality and functionality of a hosted PBX with VoIP service will only be as good as the internet service at the business location. If this service is not sufficient, a VoIP solution may not be possible. Some hosted PBX providers do offer dedicated circuits that can be installed to directly connect the business to the provider, but those are generally quite costly. Fortunately, there are other ways to use hosted PBX solutions without requiring internet-connected phones.
In the old days a lot of VOIP providers had staticky crackling phone lines, since the connections weren’t what they are today. As long as you stay away from lower quality providers (I wouldn’t advise using companies like Twilio, etc… for your main business line) you should be fine. I recommend Grasshopper to pretty much everyone.
As a virtual phone service, Grasshopper is missing many of the more advanced calling features that full VoIP phone service providers can offer. This, of course, is reflected in Grasshopper’s significantly lower cost.
In some cases, providers will offer on-premises Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity through hardware that is connected to analog or digital phone lines from the local telco, and connected to the business network. This allows a business to continue to use local phone lines with their hosted PBX solution and may be of significant benefit to businesses that have a requirement to maintain local wired lines.
Toll-free numbers are provided by Responsible Organizations, as well as other toll-free service providers. Responsible Organizations, known as RespOrgs in the industry, may or may not be phone companies. Toll-free numbers come in five formats -- 1-800, 1-888, 1-877, 1-866 and 1-855 --- but they all work the same. You can customize the number to reflect your business name by applying for a vanity number. You pay a monthly service fee to the issuing company. Benefits include portability, one number for all of your company branches regardless of location, and they make it easy and free for customers to reach you.
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