Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I would recommend getting a Google Voice phone number.  You can use the number to follow you anywhere, your cell, your home, office, etc.  It doesnt matter which phone service you use or how many times you change vendors, you always own your phone #.

For a SOHO like yourself I would probably go with one of the more simple like Vonage, they offer  SOHO plan.  Ring Central is also pretty good.  They both offer features above and beyond basic calling, like voicemail to email service and online call logs.

Hope this helps!

Gary   www.garyshouldis.com

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The Small Business Playbook gary@thesmallbusinessplaybook.com

GoogleVoice is great if you are a sole proprietor and only want call forwarding.  If you want to appear bigger than you really are or project an image, then definitely use a virtual phone service of some sort, like Virtual PBX.

RingCentral is good as well, though they just dropped their included minutes in their entry level plan from 300 back down to 100.  Not sure why they did that.  And in order to get the $9.99/mo rate, you need to pay annually -- that's a large up front cost that you don't need to make.

Virtual PBX has the highest number of included free minutes (300) in an entry level plan that starts at a true monthly price of $9.99/mo with no annual commitment.  Definitely check us out.

Thanks,

John Coyle

http://www.virtualpbx.com

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John Coyle
VP Sales & Business Development
Virtual PBX
Tel: (888) 825-0800, x334
Email: john.coyle@virtualpbx.com

I use a combination of both a virtual phone system and then integrate it into GoogleVoice.  It works wonderfully.  Although I do get line quality issues from time-to-time while using it via the computer and/or Droid.  As the Google product continues to mature they should repair that problem.

I'm not pushing any virtual voice services, so hopefully my response is a bit objective for you.

Regarding looking "big," I've learned as a service provider the 800 and looking too corporate is a major disadvantage.  When a potential customer is trying to get in touch the last thing they want is a voice robot with elevator music.  They want the system to have a human on the other end.  It is personable and in my opinion will earn you more points with winning a sale.

Customers coming to you are already qualified sales. Now you just need to get them over the sale.  They don't need an obstacle tooting music and a robot bragging with an ego trip.

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Steve
Computer Repair in St Louis and Saint Charles

There are some great review sites out there.  I would recommend using the review sites as a one-stop feature/price comparison matrix so you don't have to run around the web doing your own research.  They've done all that for you, as long as it's updated.

However, be careful about making a decision on the recommendation of the review sites.  Most of the review sites out there are affiliates of the vendors they review.  So their recommendations are slightly weighted to those vendors that pay a bit more for leads and signups.  Just something to be careful about.

Great review sites are:

PBXCompare
VirtualPhoneSystemReviews

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John Coyle
VP Sales & Business Development
Virtual PBX
Tel: (888) 825-0800, x334
Email: john.coyle@virtualpbx.com