Virtual Phone Review

Most communications service providers for hosted PBX service are aimed at SMEs (Small and Medium Entrerprises). However, GismoTel offers products not only for SME but also for a “consumer”. From the site’s information (gismotel.com) am guessing that when they “consumer”, it is referring for household use.

Apparently, there are four (4) services being offered for consumers: Pay-as-you-go / calling plans, Softphone, Global DID numbers, SmartPhone / mobile phone (Fring).

>>> Pay-as-you-go / calling plans:
It seems that signing up for this service is free with VoIP account for Gismotel. Imaginge a free but global internet telephony. Aside from its main benefit (being free), below are some added features:
• Free IP-to-IP calls to any GismoTel subscriber worldwide
• Free GismoTel SIP number
• Free GismoTel Softphone application
• Control panel to view your account details, calls etc.
• You can “‘Bring Your Own Device” – Softphone, ATA, VOIP phone etc.

>>> Softphone
Evidently, another free service from the provider. With this application, it will use the existing internet connection to make phone calls.

Softphones are desktop applications which can also be installed / run on laptops and pocket PCs. It will enable a telephone network to receive and initiate calls over the Internet or a private enterprise networks. Please take note that the software will require speakers and mic for the conversation.

>>> Global DID numbers
GismoTel can offer the consumer an international DID phone number which is supposedly available worldwide. The following are advantages when using the service:
• Virtual international availability in more than 40 countries worldwide
• Global coverage (incoming calls could be forwarded anywhere globally)
• Cheap and economical
• Compatible with IP PBX services, SIP Phones, SIP servers, ATA’s, 3CX, pbxnsip, Asterisk servers etc.

>>> SmartPhone / mobile phone (Fring)
Want to save up to 90% on international calls using your smartphone, PDA, or pocket PC? Through GismoTel, consumers can avail of this feature simply by installing and using fring messenger or SIP softphone on said devices. Subscribing for this service comes with the following benefits:
• No monthly and activation fees
• Unlimited and free IP-to-IP calls to any GismoTel subscriber worldwide
• Free GismoTel SIP number
• Control panel to view account details, calls etc.

With different communications service provider in the market offering virtual PBX features, it is quite difficult to choose which one to go for. “Should I subscribe to this? That’s one better…, This one has more features, etc…” Suggest that when choosing a provider, look for one that will meet your company’s needs. If you don’t deal with online faxes very much but rely heavily on line quality, then opt to look for a provider with good line quality reviews and user experience.

Earlier, came across voicenation.com and its features. Voicenation offers “Presence Management”. With presence management, you can change how your calls are handled according to seven (7) various ways. This includes “Home,” “Cell,” “Work,” “Meeting,” “Travel,” “Vacation,” and “Do Not Disturb”. No need to worry on missing any calls, and take control on how to receive this calls.

Voicenation also offers personalization of delivered messages. Prospective SMEs may choose to have messages delivered by email, voice, and SMS (text). Customized greetings is another benefit offered by the provider. Will give an impression of professionalism to the incoming caller.

As per site information, this service provider works by using two main methods: SimplyONE and NextPBX.

SimplyONE enables subscribers to quickly adjust and change to 4 different services (Voicemail, Re-Direct, Hotline, and Virtual Personal Assistant) using only one number. The four services are already industry standards. Voicemail has already been explicitly explained on previous posts. Re-Direct does only thing, forwarding calls. Hotline service is worth noting. This service does not take any messages, instead it will only play a recorded message greeting. The greeting may inform the caller about the SMEs’ company profile, products, or any information that might be relevant to the caller. Lastly, VPA service, the most accommodating and robust of the four. The application provides a complete set of unified communication tools suitable to your work. Call Management is true on the modes of status, voicemail, fax, call forwarding, music on hold, and more.

NextPBX is voicenation’s virtualPBX service. As discussed before, this will allow SMEs to gain PBX features without the high cost and setup hassles of traditional PBX.

All in all, voicenation is a great service. Though it is only fair to include in this post some industry standard features not offered by voicenation.
• Does not offer free trial. Instead 30-day-money-back guarantee is offered.
• The service is not available or cannot be accessed on smartphones.
• No call recording and tagging. Though it does allow call screening.
• Does not allow conference calling.

Just came across the website tollfreeforwarding.com. It would appear that it is a communications service provider well suited for SMEs catering or who would like to obtain international market.

Apparently, the provider’s main benefit is to offer an “international phone line” or “smart numbers”. As per site information, they can offer activation of toll-free or local phone lines in foreign countries for your business even if you don’t have offices in those countries. Currently, they have 80 listed countries with 14,000 available international phone lines.

The international phone lines will act as the client’s virtual presence. If a customer dialed or called the IPL (international phone line), the provider’s system will forward the call to the client’s existing office. An ideal setting for businesses who would like to have or deals with international customers. Logically speaking, buyers would prefer dialing a local or toll free number to prevent incurring high charges of long distance calls.

Aside from the main benefit of smart numbers, which is to capture international customers, tollfreeforwarding.com also offers the following features with the smart number service.

>>> Advance Call Forwarding:
• Instantly Change International Call Forwarding Settings
• SIP (VoIP) Forwarding
• Time/Day Call Routing
• Simultaneous Ringing
• Sequential Ringing
• Simultaneous and Sequential Ringing
• International Ringback Tones
• Instantly Activate New Local and International Phone Numbers on Your Existing Account
• Select Your Phone Number
• Instant Activation

>>> Failover Routing
• Failover Routing Overview
• PSTN/PSTN Failover
• SIP/SIP Failover
• SIP with PSTN Failover
• Failover to Multiple Destinations
• Combine Failover Routing with Time/Day Routing, Virtual Extensions, or Voice Menu

>>> Hosted PBX Phone System
• Unlimited Extensions
• Customizable Voice Menu (IVR)
• Call Transfer
• Dynamic Caller ID
• VoiceMail2MyEmailSM
• Fax2MyEmailSM
• Press Any Key to Accept Call
• Dial Foreign Extensions
• PBX Set-up Assistance Service

>>> Online Control Center
• Online Control Center
• Real-time Call Record
• API Access Call Record

All in all, this communication service provider’s business strategy and main benefit is perfrect for SMEs catering or looking to capture foreign clients. With all the features and fail safe indicated on the site, it would be impossible for the customers not to contact or reach your office.

My1Voice is a cost effective, feature rich virtual phone service that is designed specifically for entrepreneurs, home offices, and small businesses with 1-25 employees. Being relatively new company, My1Voice maybe lacking few features that some of the more established company is offering, but on the other hand they stand out when it comes to customer service.

My1Vioce’s Pro’s

•Simple Approach: Among most of the other virtual PBX companies, My1Voice is being one step ahead being able to provide ALL of their features with ALL of their plans. They include all their virtual receptionist features, regardless of the minutes used. This allows you to pick a plan mainly based on the numbers of minutes you need.

•Unlimited Extensions: You can now add as many extensions as you need with no additional cost with My1Voice’s recently implemented unlimited extensions on all their plans joining Phone.com and Grasshopper on this feature.

•No Hidden/Extra Charges: This is one truly great feature that will be hard to beat. Most of the competitors have additional charges for setup, Vanity numbers and transfer of existing toll free or local numbers.

•Web Calls: You can now place a call me button or a link on your website or in your email signature and My1Voice will direct a caller to you at a click of a mouse button..This is similar to Click to Call Me feature offered by Phone.com and RingCentral.

My1Voice’s Lacking Feature

My1voice doesn’t offer as many features as some of its competitors. It currently lacks the ability to add answering rules for holiday’s w/c for many would be finding beneficial. My1Voice only allows you to record an after hour greeting that you can schedule to start and stop at specific dates and times but you cannot specifically define how you’re after hour calls should be handled unlike RingCentral. When a caller is on hold, instead of hearing a ringing phone while waiting to be connected to an extension, callers hear music like their competitors. But unlike most of its competitors, My1Voice does not have the option to customize what music can be played while on hold or doesn’t give you an option to pick music that would best reflect your industry. But while My1Voice lacks some of these features, it still offers the basic and the most popular features available in Virtual phone features.

•No Outbound Fax Option: while you can receive incoming faxes, currently any outbound faxing option is available with your My1Voice account. In order to send faxes you will also need to sign up to their myfax product. Prices start at just $10 per month for this service.
•1 Incoming Lines on All Plans: This can be a problem for businesses who want both a toll free number and a local number. You will have to pay additional $5/month to get that additional line with plans above the professional level.

Even if My1Voice doesn’t offer many features unlike its competitors and even if they are new to the Virtual PBX thing, they do offer the popular features. It’s nice to know and see that My1Voice offer no additional costs for additional phone lines except for $5 per month and Outbound Internet faxing without needing to purchase the myFax solutions. My1Voice is able to compete nicely with their competitors. The recent and significant changes to their Virtual PBX plans resulted on all their features now available on all of their plans. They are a great option for all professionals and small business companies needing the basic features of a PBX. They offer great costumer service and a very nice bundle of included minutes at an affordable price.

Another VoIP company that offers virtual phone service is Nextiva. Although Nextiva lacks some of the more advanced features such as True ACD Queuing, and for some reason they are not offering Vanity of numbers, still they have most of the features any of the small businesses will find necessary such as their unlimited plans.

Nextiva’s Pro’s

•Unlimited Minutes on Connect Unlimited and Connect 360 Unlimited: Nextiva’s Connect Unlimited offers all the features of a Virtual PBX and unlimited minutes for as low as $69.95/month if pre paid or $99.95 per monthly payment. The difference with Connect 360 is you can get a business class VoIP phones for costumers who are looking to invest in total business phone solutions. As of now, the only company that offers unlimited minutes is RingCentral and only with their RingCentral Office Plans.

•Costumer Support: Nextiva states that they are offering costumer support from 6am until 6pm Scottsdale AZ time, and some website have “derived” them for not offering 24/7 costumer support, they indeed offers a 24/7 support. They stated that they have a service that will answer any calls after the standard time-frame which is 6am to 6pm and will then forward the call to the appropriate support person as necessary. They also stated that they are committed to a costumer support and as their costumer grows and their costumer support needs changes, they will also be changing their costumer support setup.

Nextiva’s Lacking Feature

•Internet Fax as Separate Service: If you want Internet Faxing, you must purchase their vFax service in order for you to get it with Nextiva. Unfortunately RingCentral also has separate faxing solution, however if you purchase one of their hosted PBX solutions, you don’t have o purchase the faxing solution separately in order to get the internet faxing ability.
• Only 1 Incoming Line: Nothing new. The only two companies that offer more than one incoming line on most of their plans are Phone.com and Grasshopper. To those small businesses who wants to have both an 800 number and a local number, it would be best to see more companies who offer at least 2 incoming lines as a default without an additional monthly charge being applied.

•Lower Minutes: Nextiva’s are a little on the lower side until you get to the unlimited plans.

•No Vanity Numbers: Currently, Nextiva is not offering Vanity Number. This made them a bit disadvantageous in regards to their competitor companies who all offer this service.

•No Support for Canada: Because Nextiva is supporting enhanced 911 or E-911, they currently do not support Canada.

Nextiva offers solid service with no contracts, no set up fees, and unconditional 30 day money back guarantee and take pride in the fact that they work hard to provide the best costumer experience possible. They are only two of the companies who offer unlimited minute calling plans and true office plans with VoIP business class phones.

All in all Nextiva appear to be going through the process of growing where they are adding features, services, and redefining their product lines to more closely compete with the top companies.

EVoice.com is the number 5 pick based on the research that I have done. EVoice offers 3 basic plans, but their feature appears to be lacking in some cases.

EVoice.com’s Pro’s

• Simple approach: Their approach offers 3 basic plans that are very similar except for minutes and extensions. You can get an additional 100 minutes for each extension you add. However, their prices are similar if not more than their competitors with considerably fewer features.

EVoice.com’s Lacking Feature

• Questionable Customer Service: eVoiceReceptionist and another Virtual PBX company called OneBox are both owned by J2 Global Communications. Based on the review, they had several questions and made repeated attempts to contact both eVoiceReceptionist and OneBox to get clarifications and got no response. It may not be an issue but it is something we can be aware of.

• Lack of Features: this puts them at a distinctive disadvantage to their competitors considering the price difference. No queuing, no internet faxing, no conference calling, no after hour’s mode, no Canada or International. And no call from web.

• Limited to 2 Incoming Lines: From what we can tell via signing up for their service, it appears you are only allowed to sign up for a maximum of 2 incoming lines – 1 local and 1 – toll free number. This may not be an issue for most companies, but it may be a problem for small businesses that have a national presence and want local numbers across the US that would ring into one central Virtual Phone System.

• Slow Load Time on Website: Their website loads very slowly, and has at times even returned load errors and also found the quality of information on their website to be lacking in comparison to their competitors. This definitely raises concerns with regards to the quality of the actual product they are providing.

If you are in that mid-range area where you will use around or just under 1000 minutes a month, and don’t need features such as conference calling, internet faxing, or queuing then you will probably do fine with eVoiceReceptionist. You can now select from plans on the low end with only 300 minutes/2 extensions, to their top plan with 1000 minutes/5 extensions.