Phone.com » Blog

Will cell phones replace your navigation devices?

ari — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:36:54 +0000

Today, CNBC had this story about GPS devices and how they are being (or might be) replaced by mobile phones. I thought the interesting comment was that of the Forrester Research Analyst, Charles Golvin, who commented that those who still do not use navigation devices are more likely to use them on their next mobile phone rather than purchasing a “stand alone” navigation device.

What do you think?

How You Benefit from Using a VoIP Home Phone System

ari — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:03:22 +0000

When you equip yourself with this system you will receive a variety of services designed to enhance your home phone system. You will have the ability to control the way you route incoming phone calls, set greetings and call forwarding based on caller ID, read your voicemail via text messages, and much more.

Once your home phone number has been transferred to our VoIP home phone system and you are connected to the Internet, all you have to do is dial the way you normally would. The person on the other end doesn’t need anything special to receive your call, and chances are they won’t even hear a difference.

Subscribing to this home phone service does require that you have a broadband Internet connection, but because it uses the power of the Internet, it offers several advantages not available through regular phone service. With our VoIP home phone system you are able to:
- Enjoy essential in-call features, such as transferring and call screening, at no extra cost
- Receive and make calls wherever you go by taking your telephone adapter with you and having access to an Internet connection
- Listen to your voicemails online
- Select a telephone number with an area code outside your calling area
- Manage your account features and preferences online
- And more

The Internet connection you use can be the same one you use for your computer, and you can still talk on the phone while you are online, or even while your computer is turned off.

You can manage your entire account online, and we provide 24/7 technical support. Plans start at just $9.88/month with no long-term contracts. We offer a unique pricing system that allows you to reduce your bill based on the number of people you refer to our service. Refer enough friends and your bill is free. You can even earn credit towards your account if your referrals exceed your total bill!

Improve your home phone by subscribing to our VoIP home phone system.
Take advantage of its many benefits and start saving money today!

Caller ID Tips – from a customer

ari — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:42:04 +0000

Below is a copy of post to the Phone.com Forum from one of our customers named Trey:

I just wanted to share some tips that I have found extremely useful:

One of our options when clients call our number is to press 9 for the emergency line. I have set up our system so that the emergency extension will dial multiple people simultaneously, with the option set to show our phone.com number as the caller id. All other extensions show the caller’s caller id. Some cell phones (blackberry is one) have the option to have different ringer exceptions for particular numbers. So we all set up our phones to override the ringer settings when the call comes in from our own business line number. This way we can turn our ringers off when in a meeting or while sleeping at night, but if someone calls the emergency line, it will still ring on our phones.

In addition, turning on call screening enables you when you answer your phone, to immediately know if the caller called your phone number directly, or if they dialed in through your phone.com number. Some great things about this: if the conversation starts getting long and I know I was called through the phone.com number, I can ask the caller if I can call them back to save on my phone.com minutes usage, and I have the caller ID on my phone already. (I used to do this when I just started out, but now the nominal cost of minutes is not worth interrupting the conversation anymore.) Another way I use screening is: I have more than one extension forwarded to my phone. The screening prompt tells me how to answer the call. For example, if the screen prompt tells me the call came to me from the Operator extension, I could say, “Good morning, how can I help you?”, but if they called my extension, I could say, “This is Trey, how can I help you?”

Another tip: If using screening, set the time on the phone.com system which forwards to a cell to at least 45 seconds. Otherwise if you aren’t quick the call could be gone before you hear the entire screening info. I also frequently get voicemails on my cell that sound like this, “Press 1 to accept, 2 to ignore.” Some people may find that annoying, and that’s kind of a side effect of using the system as I described above. I actually like it, because it tells me that the call I missed came in through the business line, and not directly to my cell, and I can check the system to see which extension they dialed, if someone else answered it, if they left a message, etc. (Though I would know if they left a message because it would get emailed to my phone too!)

I just used the conference call feature last night for the first time. This is a GREAT FREE service for phone.com members. Here’s a tip: you do not have to wait until prompted to type in your conference id number. You can just start entering it in before the (just long enough to be annoying) message prompts you to enter in your code.

Hope people out there find this helpful.
trey

Thank you Trey for taking the time to write and post these great tips. Comments like yours from our users are great to see / read!

VoIP Home Phone System

ari — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:21:34 +0000

Tired of never knowing what your home phone charges are going to be each month?

Wish you could find a flat rate for the features you need?

Now you can! Change the way you think about home phone service with our VoIP Home Phone Service. VoIP, which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol, transforms analog audio signals (think of the kind you hear when you talk on the phone) into a digital signal to be transmitted over the internet and converted back into voice at the other end.

Get the clear advantage over regular home phone service. Sign up for our home phone service plan today!

The Benefits of Transferring Your Existing Home Phone Number with Phone.com

ari — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:47:46 +0000

To follow up on our earlier post. Once you’ve transferred your existing home phone number, you can customize your new system to meet your individual needs. Your home phone system can now:

- Allow you to effectively run your business from home and provide an improved professional sound it may have been lacking
- Direct your calls based on client importance to ensure you never miss a critical call
- Forward your calls to voicemail at specific times
- Provide music for callers who are put on hold
- Give you the option of checking your voicemail via text messages
- And much more…

To make it even more convenient, you can manage your entire account online, and we provide 24/7 technical support. Plans start at just $9.88/month with no long-term contracts. We offer a unique pricing system that allows you to reduce your bill based on the number of people you refer to our service. Refer enough friends and your bill is free. You can even earn credit towards your account if your referrals exceed your total bill!

Transfer your existing number and start receiving the benefits of our home phone service today!

Some coverage on Phone.com’s HD Voice Announcement

ari — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:37:52 +0000

Below are links to some of the reports that covered Phone.com’s press release announcing our new Business Phone Service and our HD Voice network:

http://www.voipevolution.com/2009/10/phonecom-introduces-hosted-hd-voip-service-.html

http://www.smithonvoip.com/alon-cohen-hd-voice/

http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/virtual-office/articles/67517-phonecom-intros-hosted-hd-voice-phone-network.htm

HD CONNECT NOW

http://hdconnectnow.org/2009/10/27/phone-com-launches-hosted-hd-voice-service-for-smbs/

We thank all the reporters and bloggers and appreciate the great reception of our new service.

Phone.com Introduces new business phone service on an HD voice Network

ari — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:17:07 +0000

Today is a special day for all of us at Phone.com!

This morning we announced our new Business Phone Service. This is a service based on a simple product: the PHONE!
Yes. Complementing our successful and award winning Phone.com – Virtual Office service we now let our customers enjoy a real high quality business phone on their desk at home or in their office.

Our new Business Phone service works in conjunction with Phone.com Virtual Office and provides a complete business experience for our customers who can dial and receive calls using their Phone.com numbers plus enjoy all of the Virtual Office features.

We are also very proud to support high definition (HD) voice capability. HD voice is somewhat new but growing. The basic proposition is simple: much better quality when you talk on the phone. It is what we call “CD like” quality. HD voice quality can be achieved only with voice over IP networks and only when 1) the network supports HD capability, which is what the Phone.com network does and we hope other service providers will follow and do, and 2) when both parties use an HD voice enabled phone.
At Phone.com we conducted extensive tests and decided to offer our customers Polycom phones. The Polycom HD Voice phones have superior voice quality and the company is committed to the success of HD Voice. We also want to thank Jeffrey Rodman, Polycom Co-founder and CTO of its Voice Division for his help and support.

We also thank VoIP industry pioneer and host of the HD Voice conference, Jeff Pulver for enthusiastically promoting the introduction of HD voice in the market place.
Finally, here is what industry analyst Jon Arnold had to say about our announcement: “I really like this news for both partners”, said Jon Arnold, Principal of analyst consultancy J Arnold & Associates. “Being an early adopter, Phone.com is using HD voice as a differentiator, and showing the market that even small businesses can benefit from this great technology. For Polycom, Phone.com offers a unique entree to a large market that has significant upside once they discover how good HD really is.”

HD is “cool” and the voice quality is great but it is still early because in order to enjoy the quality both parties need to own an HD enabled phone and the network has to support the technology. So this is perfect for a Phone.com business customer who buys 2-3 phones for its own use and where each employee or partner works out of their home. This will ensure calls between the three employees / partners will always be HD grade!

However, regardless of HD, with our new Business Phone service any small business can enjoy great voice quality with a great Polycom IP business phone on their office or home office desk regardless of who you make calls to or receive calls from. this is because the Polycom phones are great and offer superior voice quality whenever you use them.

The new service offers all the advanced features that come with our Virtual Office service plus the great advantage of having a business desk phone.
Our customer support agents are always available to help you sort out the right phone and plan for you!

Toll Free Tips: Transferring Your Existing Home Phone Number with Phone.com

ari — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:17:27 +0000

If you’re looking to switch to a more affordable phone plan with more of the features you want, you don’t have to give up your home phone number. With our simple local number porting (LNP) you can easily transfer your current home phone number to our system.

You will still own the number, just as you would if you were switching cell phone companies. However, do remember that you will need to get a new number for your original phone, unless you are planning on completely getting rid of your existing service.

Make the smart choice to transfer your existing home phone number. We make it affordable, and the benefits to you are clear. Sign up for our easy-to-manage home phone service today!

What Getting an 800 Number Can Do for Your Small Business

ari — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:27:14 +0000

Small businesses that make the choice to purchase an 800 number receive countless benefits. Everyone in the business is able to continue using their existing mobile devices or land line phones, but they are now all connected by the same new number. In addition, an 800 number for your small business will allow you to build your customized phone system in which you can:

• Record your own personalized greetings or select a professional voice to record your greeting
• Set up a call menu that uses an audio message to offer callers the options they want upfront
• Create extensions for employees or departments in other locations, even worldwide
• Activate your dial-by-name directory
• Use advanced phone call scheduling to route incoming phone calls to different places based on the day and time they are received
• Utilize Follow Me Calling to get your calls forwarded to multiple numbers that ring simultaneously until you answer one
• And more

Phone.com Virtual Office 800 numbers offer you the flexibility you need to customize your phone system to meet your small business needs.

Activating an 800 number for your small business could not be simpler; there is no hardware to purchase or software to install, no technicians to hire, and no maintenance. You can even configure all your individualized virtual phone number settings through an online account.

To set up your small business’ 800 number, simply assign your current phone number to your new virtual extension. When people call your new virtual number, they can dial your extension and be forwarded to your existing phone or phone system. This allows them to be connected with multiple staff in various locations who are using different phones, all at once!

Once you’ve set up your small business’ 800 number:

• We will activate your new local phone number and all of your calling features
• You can then use your online account to set up your 800 number and customize it to meet your individual needs
• You have the ability to modify your settings at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Get the credibility and efficiency your small business needs at a price you can afford. Set up your small business’ 800 number today for the flexible solution to call handling.

800 Numbers for Small Businesses

ari — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:10:34 +0000

Do you have a small business and struggle with setting up an effective and affordable phone system?

Do you have a few employees, but no actual office space?

Solve your problems today and get an 800 number for your small business with our Virtual Office phone system.
With our variety of flexible phone features and communication tools you can be projecting a big business image in no time.

Decide which Virtual Office plan is right for you. Sign up for an 800 number for your small business today!