May 17, 2007

VOIP Solutions (In Case Vonage Tanks)

Vonage's very existence is in doubt. A friend of mine called me yesterday from the Dominican Republic. Someone else called me from Trinidad. Both use a local phone number from Vonage to make call them as cheap as a local phone call.

With Vonage on the blink - what should your business do?

Skype is one quick and easy solution. I recommend everyone have a Skype account and all in one ear piece / microphone wire.

What else can you do?

David Strom, writing for the NY Times offers several other options. He writes SunRocket (sunrocket.com) offers a $200 annual plan. Others offer monthly plans that start at $50 a line. These include Verizon's VoiceWing for Business, AT&T's CallVantage, Virtual Office from Packet8.com and various business-phone plans from Cablevision, Time Warner and other cable companies. Should the courts ultimately rule against Vonage, any of these competitors would be a good alternative, if they don't end up with their own legal woes.

Your phone system is your life line and is probably one of the most critical functions of your business. Services like M5 Networks provide a 100% outsourced phone system. You just need the network (they'll supply it) and phones. Everything else is hosted by them.

If you don't want to replace your phone system, Gotvmail's service can meet your needs.

TalkSwitch and Bizfon are other options you might want to consider.

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