Phone Lines

[DJ Frankie]

Hi Guys

I was wondering who has a second phone line set up in their house/office for buisness use and if so which company have you gone for or did you just order a second line from say BT/SKY/Virgin etc?

Frankie

[LeapCreative]

I got a phone a little while ago to help me on the odd time I work from home on a Saturday. By far your cheapest option, if you've got a broadband line already, is to go with VoIP.

If you're using it for business, there's all sorts of features including multiple incoming lines, voicemail, call management etc. Personally I pay less than £7 a month for the extra line - just had to buy the phone itself. Feel free to give me a PM and I'll send you over the links to who we use.

[mattydinx]

+1 for VoIP

I'm reselling VoIP systems as part of my Full-Time job and its fantastic. As LC said, if you've already got a phone line and a broadband connection - you're set!
Call quality is just as good (if not better when calling VoIP to VoIP) and the calls use very little bandwidth.

I've got an account running for my disco and it's great as I can take my extension with me on my mobile (providing I've got 3G/WiFi), at times when I don't the call will bounce over to my mobile, the person ringing being unaware that it's doing so.

My package costs £4/month which provides you with a number of your choosing (you can pay extra for better numbers or 0800/0844/0845...etc) and you only pay for the calls you make (again, super-cheap). Alternatively you can add call-bundles on depending on the type of calls you make (Landline, Mobile, International)

A huge benefit for me is being able to have a Geographic number from a different location. I'm based in Northumberland and my home phone has an area code of 01670, My VoIP line has an area code of 0191-4 which makes me seem like I'm in Newcastle Upon-Tyne/Tyne & Wear i.e. more central to the North-East region I cover.

You can use the system to make yourself look bigger than you are too, for example:
You can set up an auto attendant so when someone calls you, they're presented with a pre-recorded message and you can give them options for example "press 1 for mobile discos, press 2 for uplighting and dance floors, press 3 for photo booths, press 4 for accounts or for anything else please press 5 to be put through to a member of the team"

The calls can all be routed to a single extension/phone if you're a sole-trader however, depending on the option the caller makes said option will be displayed on your phone so you know how to handle incoming calls better. If you've got a team working for you, again, you can simply manage how the calls are handled and who they go to. You can setup things like over-flow so if someone's away from their desk, you can intercept the call, or have it ring other extensions if the original extension isn't answered within a number of rings.

All good stuff! - and FAR cheaper than getting a 2nd line put in which you'd have to pay line rental for plus calls.

[DJ Frankie]

Thanks chaps, very useful information. Appreciate the replies.

[DazzyD]

Just thought I'd provide an update to this thread.

I've known about VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) for years so it's nothing new. However, tonight I've managed to get an 0845 number completely free of charge - no setup fee, no subscription charge, no line rental fees. I can take incoming calls completely free of charge and I also get free voicemail. I can use it on any computer connected to the internet as well as on a tablet, Android smartphone or an Apple mobile device. If I was to add a physical VOIP phone then I wouldn't even need to have any other computers or mobile devices switched on. The only time I'd ever be charged is if I made any chargeable calls (which are cheaper than from a mobile or BT landline anyway). Seems like a plan to me!

If anyone is interested then visit the site at http://www.sipgate.co.uk

So why did I go for this? Well, I live with my parents and they didn't want me publishing their phone number. I've always only publicised my business mobile phone number. But then I've realised that potential clients ringing from a BT landline or similar get charged quite a hefty fee for ringing mobile numbers so that may be a stumbling block for potential clients ringing me. So I've decided to give them the option of either ringing my mobile (which would be inclusive in a mobile phone contract calling plan) or calling my Lo-Call rate number which is much cheaper than calling my mobile from a landline. So I'm giving potential customers a choice and the option of saving a few pennies whilst not costing me anything more than the time it's taken to register with Sipgate and set up the apps. I've spent the last couple of hours testing it and it works quite well (the voice on the voicemail facility options can get a bit annoying as it's a computer-generated voice but hey ho - it's FREE!!).

My initial opinion of the service is that it's very good. Anyone else got any opinions on this one?