Comparing VoIP Providers For Small Business Solutions

It is no secret that communication is key to survival for small business. The advantage to small busineses of using a VoIP solution is that the market is very competitive. While there are relatively few companies from which to choose for normal phone service, many VoIP providers will gladly offer VoIP phone service at a very competitive rate and with unlimited long distance.
But....you need to do your homework first.
Phone service features indispensable to your business, such as voicemail, conferencing and call waiting, allow business to flow smoothly and efficiently. So....how do you decide if a VoIP solution is best for your business?
One of the first steps when analyzing your current service is to decide what features your business needs. Does it need multiple lines to accommodate the sales force? What about a toll free number for customer service? Make a list of all the features your office uses and think about others you might want to try.
The next step is to make an estimate of all intrastate (in- state), interstate (state-to-state) and international calls. An easy way to estimate these numbers is to view a recent phone bill. You might be surprised at how large or small your call volume actually is. If you rely heavily on fax machines, consider the number of incoming and outgoing faxes. As you review these numbers, remember to consult growth projections for the rest of the year.
Once you've done all this...you're ready to go comparison shopping.
Here's some resources to help you do that:
* VoIP Comparison Reviews
VoIPReview does a good job comparing feature sets from each of the providers. Its user reviews seem a bit skewed, but otherwise the site looks good.
* ZDNet Reviews
ZDNet usually has objective reviews. Read through its commentary on any of the providers you are considering.
* Broadband Reports
Broadband reports has a specific area for review by users...with a regularly updated scoring system. It's often skewed with a tad bit of emotion....and reviews are mostly residential. But it does give you an idea for business use.
* Google
I'm sure most of you already do this, but once you've figured out what you're looking for, perform a search on companies on Google to see what others have said about it.
If you're willing to do a bit more work, contact various providers and create your own comparison chart. You can begin your research by visiting voipreview.org. The site offers VoIP facts and reviews of various broadband phone service providers. Compare the business plans for different providers and research the various features offered with each plan. Also, make sure your current Internet connection can handle VoIP calls. The Web site testyourvoip.com will evaluate and score your Internet connection. You'll know if it makes sense to run your phone traffic over your broadband connection.
Here is a list and description of the top ten (supposedly) VoIP providers (includes home plans for telecommuter staff).
- Axvoice
Axvoice has many plans for you to sign up. Unlimited call to USA/Canada plan costs $ 18.99 per month. Unlimited international & USA/Canada plan costs $29.99. Axvoice also has business plan starting from $ 39.99 per month.
- INVIVNI
INVIVNI has three plans, Residentials, Small Office, and Business. The Residential plan costs $24.95 per month. The Small Office plan costs $32.95 per month, and the Business plan costs is negotiable.
- VCInetwork
VCInetwork has three plans, Unlimited Long Distance :Home, Unlimited Long Distance: Business and 500 minutes to USA/Canada and Europe. Unlimited Long Distance : Home plan costs $28.95 per month. Unlimited Long Distance : Business plan costs $49.95 per month and 500 minutes to USA/Canada and Europe plan costs $14.50 per month.
- Skype
Skype is famous for their slogan, "The Whole World can Talk for Free". Skype is a free download and users can make free calls via, Skype to Skype. For a fee, you can advance your Skype to Skype Out and make calls to landline phones. Skype In will let your choose your area code and phone number. This way, friends and relatives can call you locally, if you select the same area code. Skype is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, and Pocket Pc operating systems. Not really a good business solution.
- Vonage
Probably the most well known VoIP providers, you may be surprised to discover that Vonage is also one of the more expensive providers. Vonage offers two plans, residential and small business. Residential users may choose between the Basic 500 plan and Unlimited. The Basic 500 plan offers 500 minutes of talk time for $14.99 a month. The Premium Unlimited residential plan costs $24.99 per month.
The Small Business Basic plan costs $39.99 per month and allows 1500 minutes. The Small Business Unlimited plan costs $49.99 a month and provides unlimited calls throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
- Dialpad
Dialpad and Yahoo have merged services. Currently, Dialpad offers three plans- Dialpad Monthly 300, Dialpad Monthly 500, and Dialpad USA. The cost for Dialpad Monthly 300 is $7.50 per month, Dialpad Monthly 500 costs $9.99 per month, and Dialpad USA costs $11.99 per month.
- Broadvox Direct
Broadvox Direct offers residential and small business services. Their residential services include the Residential Choice Plus plan for $9.95 per month. The Residential Choice Plus plan includes 100 outbound minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. Their Residential Unlimited Plan costs $29.95 a month and includes unlimited calling anywhere in the US and Canada. The SoHo Small Business Regional Plan costs $34.95 per month and includes 1500 monthly minutes in the US and in Canada. The SoHo Small Business Unlimited Plan costs $44.95 per month and includes unlimited calls in the US and Canada and also includes a free fax line and Yellow Page listing.
- Galaxy Voice
Galaxy Voice offers two plans, Residential and Business. Their residential plan costs $19.95 a month and includes unlimited calling, Voicemail, Caller Id, Call Waiting, Call Return, Three Way Calling, and Call Forwarding. Their business plan costs $39.95 per month and includes unlimited calling, Free Voice Mail, Free Call Transfer, Free Call Forwarding, Free Repeat Dialing, and Free Caller ID block.
- Voice Pulse
Voice Pulse has three plans, America Unlimited, Local Unlimited +200, and Business Unlimited. The America Unlimited plan costs $24.99 per month. The Local Unlimited +200 costs $14.99 per month, and the Business Unlimited costs $45.99 per month.
- VoIP American
VoIP American has three different plans. These are the VoIP American PBX plan, the VoIP American Voice plan and the VoIP American bVoice plan. The VoIP American PBX plan cost $19.99 a month for a private line and $44.99 a month for unlimited calling. The VoIP Voice Residential Basic plan costs $14.99 per month and the VoIP Voice Residential Unlimited plan costs $29.99 per month. The bVoice Business plan costs $34.99 per month.
- Packet 8
Packet 8 not only offers phone plans, but they also offer videophone plans. Their residential plans are the Freedom International and Freedom Unlimited. Both of these plans cost $19.99 per month. [note: currently they're running a special for $9.95 per month for your 1st 3 months.] The Videophone plan is the Freedom Unlimited and that too is $19.99 per month. Their business plans consists of three different plans. These are the Virtual Office service plans, the Virtual Attendant Service plans, and the Business Phone Service plans. The Virtual office phone plan costs $39.95 per month, the Virtual Attendant service plan costs $14.95 per month, and the Business Attendant service plan costs $34.95 per month.
- Sun Rocket
Sun Rocket offers their signature service for either $24.95 per month or $199.00 per year.
- Speakeasy
Speakeasy offers many different plans ranging from Home Office, Small Office I, Small Office II, and Small Business. Their Home Office plan costs 79.90 per month, the Small Office I plan costs $560.00 per month, the Small Office II plan costs 1,039 per month and the Small Business plan costs $2,349 per month.
Analyzing phone service is often a real headache. However, unreliable line quality, which results in poor customer service and huge monthly bills are even worse. In the end, doing your research will pay dividends for your business. Personally, I have no reservations recommending Packet8 for your business VoIP solution right now. However, go through the above steps first for your own peace of mind.....you'll likely reach the same conclusion.

By Michael Lemm

How to Choose a VOIP Service Provider

1. Find out if your internet connection is "VOIP-ready". Most of the time when people are unhappy with VOIP service it's not the fault of the service itself, but the internet connection of the subscriber. Go to http://www.testyourvoip.com and run some of the call quality tests there to see if your connection is fast enough to support VOIP.
2. Look at your phone bill to see how much you're paying in services and what services you really need such as call waiting, call forwarding, three way calling, caller ID, etc. Jot down your total amount paid each month for services. If you're looking to VOIP to save you money, consider how much it would cost you to lose "bundled services" such as DSL, and Television if you were to cancel your landline phone service.
3. Research several different VOIP providers to find out which has the features that you need or desire for the best price.
4. Look at the money back guarantee and equipment return policies. Make sure that any service provider that you're considering has at least a 30 day guarantee. If they don't offer a guarantee then don't even consider them. All of the major providers offer a solid guarantee.
5. If you are using DSL, be aware that you may not be able to cancel your phone service. Most phone companies will offer a "metered service" that you will pay for per call. Since you're going to be using VOIP, you will not be making many (if any) calls over your copper line, only running DSL over it. It's really essential to look into metered service if you're using DSL. After all, why would you want to pay for a standard line if you're going to be paying for VOIP?
6. Look into number portablility for the provider that you're considering. If you need to keep your current phone number then don't consider a provider that cannot let you keep your current number.
7. Order your VOIP service and enjoy all of the fancy phone features for free that you would pay an arm and a leg.

Sorce : Wikihow

Comparison of the Voip Providers: Skype, VoiceGlo and Vonage.

The Voice over Internet Provider services have provided an alternative to the older analog landline telephone services. There are several companies that are now serving as a VolP provider. VoIP telephony as it is sometimes called is a protocol that converts an analog signal to a data signal and transmits it over the internet and then converts it back to an analog signal to be received as a voice transmission.
These services are also called a voip service provider. One such company is Skype which began as a free service, but recently has revamped its fee program and is now charging for most basic services. Skype is a peer to peer internet telephony system and allows such additional services as video calling and voice mail to its customers. With its Skypeln service, virtual phone numbers can be created. Virtual phone numbers are numbers that are created in local directories and can receive calls at local rates from other users in that same zone. A user living in California can create a virtual number in Paris, France, and receive local calls from other people living in Paris. The protocol used for Skype transmissions has raised some concerns about security.
VoiceGlo is an example of a more conventional VoIP service provider. It allows call forwarding which is one of the nice features available on all phone systems. The sound quality of the calls is excellent, but VoiceGlo does not yet offer the full range of features that can enhance VolP. You are not able to use your existing phone number when you transfer to this service. There is no virtual numbers, call return, or conference calling available. A major drawback is that it does not have 911 support. The services like VoiceGlo are really intended as a low price addition to your regular landline telephone service, rather than a replacement for it.
Perhaps the best and certainly one of the most well known services is Vonage. Vonage is moderately priced and offers a full range of services. It is easy to install and allows you to retain your existing numbers. It does have 911 service, although it differs slightly from normal and must be activated during installation. Virtual numbers can be used on Vonage. With its full range of services, Vonage is designed to replace your landline telephone service. A VoIP phone service has the advantage of being able to go with you when you travel as it is available anywhere you can hook up to the internet. Power loss is the one drawback to VoIP telephony, but back up batteries can overcome this. VoIP is one of those remarkable new technological breakthroughs that is revolutionizing communication in our society today.
Natalie Aranda writes about technology. The Voice over Internet Provider services have provided an alternative to the older analog landline telephone services. There are several companies that are now serving as a VoIP provider. Perhaps the best and certainly one of the most well known services is Vonage. Vonage is moderately priced and offers a full range of services. VoIP telephony as it is sometimes called is a protocol that converts an analog signal to a data signal and transmits it over the internet and then converts it back to an analog signal to be received as a voice transmission.

Voip Providers Review - Choose The Best One For Your Business

Making phone calls applying a broadband Internet connection,known as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), is becoming so popular with corporations of each size. The prospect of paying a flat fee for unlimited long-distance phone calls is attractive to each company that has struggled to balance the want to conduct business phone calls with the cost of those calls.
Many companies are finding that installation of VoIP phones is simpler than traditional Private Branch eXchange (PBX) systems, since the desk sets can share the Ethernet cables already in place for the desktop computers. Now, I m going to review 3 most popular Voip Services providers who offer full service products primarily aimed at the small to medium sized business telephone market. Such companies typically support multi-line telephone systems, small PBX gateways and hosted VoIP.
Vonage will bring VoIP service without routing calls through your PC. When you sign higher for its DigitalVoice service, the company gives you a phone number in the area code of your option and sends you a free ashtray-size devices device known as an analog telephone adapter or even ATA. You easily plug the adapter into your network router and attach your phone to the adapter, and you're ready to produce calls. If you like, you are able to plug the adapter to a wall jack, connecting each phone in the home.
For corporations that want extensions and services that are even more closely identified with PBXs uncovered in the corporate globe, Vonage isn't a very good option. Its Microscopic Business Project is built on a lone line, similar to a residential line, and does not provide facilities for multiple extensions, call transfers, administrative functions, and the more tasks virtually all corporate users take for granted. 2 more vendors are better suited for the corporate environment.
Vonage Features:
Equipment required: Broadband telephone adapter, Motorola VT1005V$30 activation fee.No contract.$39.99 termination fee after 14 days Call waiting, caller ID and conference calling.911 service
TalkSwitch 48-CVA
The TalkSwitch uses your phone company's existing phone lines and phone numbers to connect to the outside world, but uses your Internet connection to connect to other TalkSwitches in your company's remote offices. This setup is simple to install and lets you keep your existing phone numbers and lines. It also lets you keep your existing phone bills, since your long-distance calls still travel over your phone-company lines.
Where TalkSwitch shines is in its features as a PBX and its ability to connect remote offices and treat them as a single phone system. When two or more TalkSwitches connect through the Internet, the company has a virtual PBX. The offices can make calls to one another by dialing extensions that may be in the same office or at a remote office without incurring long-distance charges.
The same connection can be used to make standard calls to phone numbers that are local to the remote office but long-distance from the calling office. I found this feature worked well, but it requires the person making the call to know whether the number is local to the remote office. That's something many callers won't make the effort to deal with.
TalkSwitch 48-CVA Features:
Price: $1,7954 lines in 4 VoIP trunks 8 local extensions8 remote extensionsExpandable to a 16-line, 32-extension phone system by networking up to four 48-CA or 48-CVA units on the LAN 9 Auto Attendants26 voice mailboxesBuilt-in traditional and VoIP trunks for combined network access Full-featured PBX telephone system Customer installable and configurable via PC interface Works with standard analog cordless or corded phones and TalkSwitch TS 100 phone sets
Packet8 Virtual Office
Packet8 is a service provider. It will bring a "virtual office" by means of a hosted PBX that you are able to attach to from any broadband connection. The equipment consists of 1 DTA and 1 phone for every extension. Minimum configuration for a Packet8 system is 3 extensions, however there appears to be no upper limit to the number of extensions. Every DTA and phone combination costs $100, and there exists a $40 activation fee per line.
Because all the extensions attach to the equivalent PBX, calls to extensions and calls to outside amounts are processed just as they usually are in a corporate office. The phones have a huge LCD with soft-buttons for voicemail, don't disturb, and each feature you would expect in a corporate PBX. I personally discovered the system elementary to utilise however as well incredibly flexible. Phone functions are managed applying the phone's LCD and its buttons, while extension assignment, routing, auto-attendant, and system-related functions are managed through the PBX's Web interface.
Packet8's sound quality was incredibly fantastic. Calls between Packet8 VoIP lines were clear with no noticeable delay. Calls between Packet8 VoIP phones and standard phone lines were equally clear. The quality of the overall system was even more than acceptable.
This is the kind of system that fits any virtual office whose employees require to produce lots of long-distance calls. The Packet8 system is particularly well suited to today's distributed virtual businesses. The fact that all the extensions are section of the equivalent system and operate as a seamless phone system puts a consolidated face on the distributed office.

Residential VoIP: Things to Consider Before Switching

While Voice over IP Telephony has proven to be a viable and cost saving alternative to the traditional telcos for the small business community, there are some drawbacks that the residential consumer should consider before making the switch.
Power Outages
Because your VoIP service utilizes a broadband connection and the hardware plugs into the wall, if a power outage should occur, you would have no telephone service. If you are using a cable modem and your ISP experiences an outage, you would also have no phone service. However, many VoIP providers offer call forwarding at no extra charge, thus allowing the call to be automatically forwarded to your cell phone.
In the case of extreme disaster situations, i.e. a hurricane or tsunami, even cell phone service could be disrupted, but so probably would traditional landline telephone service.
Emergency Services
Most networks, including your broadband Internet service provider, employ the DHCP protocol, dispersing dynamic IP addresses to the nodes on the network. While your IP address will usually remain the same when you are online, if you turn off your computer for any amount of time, your address will more than likely change. It is for this reason that makes it difficult to pin down devices on a network to a specific geographic location.
The most serious drawback of VoIP in the household is that your service provider may not be able to map emergency service calls such as 911 to your physical address, or to properly route the call to your local call center. Indeed, so serious is this matter that the FCC has mandated that service providers deal with it by implementing enhanced 911, and they are doing so in their own ways.
Cable and telephone companies usually deal with fixed residences and know your address already, making it easier to comply with the FCCs mandate. The pure play providers, such as Vonage or Packet8, provide the consumer with the ability to have phone numbers in different area codes, and deal with a much more mobile road warrior type of consumer. An advantage of the nature of VoIP prized by many.
The pure plays could just pay to connect to the already established local phone companies 911 systems, but many have balked, preferring to develop their own E911 technology. For now, most providers do offer 911 services to fixed addresses by having the customer activate 911 at sign up.
Local Listings
If you choose a pure play provider for your residential VoIP, more than likely, you will not be listed in your local white pages, but check to be sure. Of course, if you choose your local phone company as your provider, you will be. Check with your cable company if you are considering them as your provider to see if you will be listed in your local white pages.
There are many white page directories on the internet, not the same thing, but an option nevertheless. The yellow pages are a paid directory, so if you have a business, you still can exercise this option.
Faxing over VoIP
Faxing a document involves scanning it, converting the data into sound, and transmitting the sounds over a copper telephone line to their destination. Sounds do not travel well over the internet. In IP telephony, the standard T.38 was developed to convert the fax sound into sendable data, much like VoIP converts the human voice. Another standard called T37 can send faxes as either an email attachment or a remote printout using the Internet Printing Protocol. Many providers offer a separate fax line for an extra charge.
Choosing VoIP over traditional telephone services has its pros and cons just like anything else. It is up to the consumer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and to come to a conclusion with eyes wide open.