I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the technology used to transmit voice conversations over data (computer) networks using the Internet. The data network can be T-1, DSL, Cable Modems or any other high-speed Internet (broadband) connection.
In the past few years, Vonage took the country by storm, offering low cost unlimited long distance using VoIP. For most residential users, Vonage is perfect. Vonage is easy to setup and use and has all of the features a standard phone would have for a fraction of the cost for most people. ViaTalk, Sun Rocket, ITP, Lingo, SpeakEasy and TalkTimes.net are all competitors to Vonage, but while some of these are cheaper than Vonage, few are better for a residential making Vonage the preferred choice.
One Vonage competitor that has risen above the rest due to its ability to help Small Businesses is Packet8.
Packet8 takes VoIP a step further; from the home and into the workplace. Their Virtual Office offers unlimited calls to the US and Canada, unlimited worldwide calls within the network, a unique inbound telephone number, auto-attendant routing and online switchboard viewing for $42.48 per month. Each virtual extension is $10.49 per month and each virtual number (other numbers that can be used to reach your organization) is $5.49 per month. The cost is more than that of a service like Vonage, but the commercial features available to Packet8 systems are also much greater. The big thing that Packet8 offers with the Virtual Office and switchboard are 3-digit dialing and other traditional PBX features.
The pricing is fairly straight forward, and numbers can be ported from existing services. An example of the pricing for a typical office with 5 people on a Packet8 plan might be:
5 lines $212.40/month
Switchboard $19.99/month
Total (no fax service included) $231.40/month
Telephone service can be obtained below 64 kilobits per second but audio quality may be adversely affected. Each active voice line uses approximately 23 kilobits per second of total data throughput, upstream and downstream. Typically, no firewall configuration is needed and all of the administration of the system occurs using the easily understanding web portal. The best part is, users do not need to buy an expensive PBX or VoIP telephone server.
The Virtual Attendant can be a great call routing technique for managing an office where users are mostly out of the office. The Virtual Attendant can route calls that come in through one phone number to wired or mobile phones and other Virtual Office extensions, regardless of geographic location. Virtual Attendant can be used in conjunction with a Virtual Office Service Plan. This service is $14.99 for unlimited minutes.
Packet8 also offers Video Phones so that when you are on the road you can connect your phone into the network of a hotel or remote office and stay in touch. The quality and versatility of the Video Phones is unparalleled for the price. The units are affordable, compared to many other solutions and there are no rules against taking the phones or Video Phones to foreign countries as there are with Vonage.
For more information on the many VoIP services that may be available to your business, please contact Three18, Inc. at 310-581-9500 or via email at sales@318.com