ForumsStarting a Business

As you've seen from previous posts there are a lot of solutions available that are low cost and, for the most part, reliable. Even magicJack works if you configure it correctly. I'd say for a business though, go with skype or vonage as they have the market positon to offer the level and reliability of support your going to want. Still, I have to say that some of the other solutions talked about in this thread are very interesting and probably merit a look as well.

Archangel

Bluesuit,

Yes, VoIP can save you a lot of money, especially when doing overseas calls or a lot of calls in general. If done right, it is very cost effectve and works very well. However, there are a lot of potential risksand problems along the way if done incorrectly. A lot depends on your business network and ISP. If any link between the two is weak, you will not have a positive experience. Also, the carrier has a lot to do with it, and would not recommend the "commonly known" carriers in most cases.

You're welcome to contact me off-line for assistance, as we do have VoIP service offerings. Visit http://www.interdict-it.com for info or call 602-296-1881. I can offer some pointers based on your setup and needs. Our solution may not be what you are looking for, but may be able to give some pointers to help avoid the pitfalls along the transition.

Bluesuit,

I use a VoIP solution for my 10 person business. I use a company called SipVine, but they only serve Kansas City. I am very happy with our features (link email voicemail messages) and overall pricing, but we had to expand our broadband capacity over time to accomodate our needs. Each of our employees are heavy internet users, so our call quality was negatively impacted as we grew until we added both a T1 line and one DSL line.

We use Vonage for our main business line. LOVE it.
AMSPCS
www.MerchantServices-help.com

I suggest miniSipServer and Vonage.

Have a try!

The problem with sending a fax through voip is the way the codecs are design to compress voice. With VoIP, voice are transmitted by packets and although some packets maybe lost by the time it arrives on the other end, theres still enough packets to have a clear voice on the other line. With faxing, there should be steady transmission of data or else the transmission will stop.

That is why it's not wise to rely on voip when sending fax and its advisable to get a separate fax to email service. RingCentral has one with virtual pbx features. If you don't need PBX then Onesuite.com three-in-one (prepaid calling card, VoIP, online faxing) service is a very good choice.

Not sure what do you mean by "Which would explain why it hasn't been an issue"

I already explain the issue of sending fax over voip. Using an online fax service is a different thing altogether because its not real time. If you use a voip to send fax, it means that your fax machine is tied up on your voip line. Sending to another fax machine this way usually creates error because of the codecs, packets and compression issue which is not the case with online fax service.