July 11th, 2009
Hi Fred,
Wow what a great site you have put together. I am hoping you can make a suggestion for me. My husband is in the process of taking over the sales and customer service of some computer software he had written.
In the past we had leased the software to a big corporation and they handled all the issues for us. But that contract is over and we are now going to be in charge. So we are looking for a 1800 number to handle all of the incoming calls. If a person has bought the software and doesn’t have an internet connection they have to get a hold of us to be able to install the software on their computer. The problem is that my husband has a full time job so he can’t be accepting phone calls at work from someone wanting to install software. So what we need is a virtual voicemail system hooked up to an 800 number. The way I see it happening is that someone calls the 800 number… they get the press one for installation…press 2 for technical issues etc. Anyway all of those numbers will take them to a virtual voice mail system. My husband can either check the voicemails occasionally or have it emailed to him when a new voicemail comes in. Then he would call the person back on his cell phone to talk about the issue whenever he has a free moment. Is this possible? If so do you have any recommendations for a company to use. Everything I see has incoming charges for calls. He wouldn’t want to talk to anybody calling in. He would have to call them back. Anyway, is this clear as mud? Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks so much!
Nikki
Posted in Q&A, RingCentral, onebox | 1 Comment »
April 17th, 2009
I’ve been looking into support chat software for a client of mine and I thought it would be best if I test the programs out on TheBestTollFree.com. You’ll notice on the main site I’ve added the “I’m online” buttons. If you have a question for me, please consider using the chat software so I can test it out. Also, if you use support chat software yourself for your business let me know which company you use and what you think of it.
Thanks!
Posted in Random Notes | No Comments »
April 17th, 2009
Fred
Thanks so much for your in-depth analysis and reviews of the leading virtual pbx systems. My search has lead me to RingCentral and Virtual PBX. I thought I was finally at a point to make a decision when I came across some rather disconcerting reviews of RingCentral. The reviewers’ claims were related to RingCentral’s reliability.
Specifically, the reviewers on PCMag.com stated they experienced:
- inbound calls going straight to voicemail
- long outages (8+ hours) nearly twice a month for maintenance
- slow and untrained customer service with long hold times
- poor VoIP sound quality (this isn’t an issue for me as I will retain my current VoIP through Time Warner Cable)
The reviews I’m referring to range in date from Nov 2008 to Apr 2009.
It seems as though you’ve had a great deal of experience with RingCentral, so I wanted to ask if you’ve had instances of these issues.
My biggest concern is reliability. In your opinion, would I be better suited going with VirtualPBX for the sake of reliability (assuming both services would satisfy my needs)?
Thank you so much for being willing to take emails!
Sincerely,
Matt M.
Hi Matt,
If it’s the same reviews I’ve read I believe they are referring to their voip technology only and not their virtual pbx technology. I haven’t used their voip as I prefer the piece of mind of using a landline and cell phone so I can’t speak to the quality of their voip product. Here is the link to the article I’ve read:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2246090,00.asp
However, I have used their pbx system extensively and have been extremely pleased. I have never experienced any outages, dropped calls, lost vm, or problems with customer service. Additionally, I haven’t heard from any users that have had any problems with RingCentral’s virtual pbx system.
What I can tell you is that I believe both RingCentral and Virtual PBX are quality companies with robust features. With the exception of a few minor differences in features I highly recommend both companies. You should feel confident that either company will serve you well.
Let me know what you decide and please let me know how your experience has been with the company you choose.
Thanks for the question!
Fred
Posted in Q&A, RingCentral | 2 Comments »
April 10th, 2009
Hello Fred,
Your site is VERY helpful, Thank You!
One basic question for you: my assistant was researching the various companies and they led her to believe that Virtual PBX (non-VoIP) requires high-speed internet constant connection of a computer at our location to make this happen.
We will be moving to an area which may not have high-speed internet available to us (yes there are still a few of these locations in the world!), although we do have Verizon internet cards, or will have satellite if high-speed cable is not available. It appears there is a dashboard in each VirtualPBX system which of course would require a descent internet speed. But, the companies led her to believe that it would be our computer that controls the actions of the call (which sounds like hosted PBX to me) and that for this system to work, high speed internet is required.
Could you set us straight? Would we need a computer at our main location at all?
And if we do, what does “our” computer do?
Any help you can offer is GREATLY appreciated.
All my best,
Thyra
Hi Thyra,
The only time you would need a high-speed connection is if you are using voip technology instead of a landline or cell phone to talk to someone. While VirtualPBX offers a package that provides voip, it is not required AND most people do not use it.
You will need a computer to configure the account, view reports, etc. but some people rarely use the online account once it’s set up. Me for example – I set my RingCentral account up and now I rarely need to go on the website for anything. I might access the website once every two months. The only downside to having a dialup connection is if you have voicemail messages sent to your email. If there is a large recorded file it may take a while to download to your machine, but it will still work.
The only thing you would need a computer on a daily basis would be if you are going to use ACD queuing. VirtualPBX has intelligent queuing which requires “operators” to log in and update their status to “available”; however, you can do that without a high speed connection.
Hope that helps!
Fred
Posted in Q&A | 1 Comment »
March 27th, 2009
Found your web site as I was scouring the web for information about setting up a new phone system. We have had 7 lines on a pbx system…but have been downsizing and only need three lines…and have been looking at ring central (we just signed up for their web fax service) office. This might be a silly questions, but is their office package just for VOIP phones or can you use all of the features that it provides on land lines. I am not sure if I am totally sold on Internet phone service for quality and reliability. I know it will go that way eventually but think I’d feel better (phones are critical to our business) sticking with what I know and trust….but I do want to have all of the great features that ring central seems to provide.
If you use a virtual pbx system like ring central….you pay for the minutes ( or get them in your plan) plus you pay for your long distance with your phone company too right.
As you can see I need help. Thanks for taking a moment to help out.
Ric
Hi Ric,
Great questions!
The great thing about virtual pbx phone systems is that they integrate directly with your landlines and/or you cell phones. While some offer VOIP service, they all are meant to be used in conjunction with the phones you already have. For example:
I have a cell phone, office phone and home phone. All three are provided service by a major carrier and I pay my monthly fees for service to those companies (AT&T, Verizon, etc). They each have separate phone numbers. When I make a regular call on them or receive a regular call on them the PBX service is not involved – everything works as normal.
ENTER THE VIRTUAL PBX
At the most basic level, a virtual PBX system is a toll-free number that routes calls to an existing phone number. RingCentral is a robust virtual PBX system that will allow you to configure calls to ring to as many numbers as you choose. In my case I have configured my toll-free number to ring my office phone AND if I don’t answer it within 5 seconds it will then ring my cell phone. Once I accept the call I am talking to the other party directly and not through my computer or any other gizmo. When you purchase a virtual PBX system you will need to configure it to work with your existing phone numbers.
PHONE CHARGES
With RingCentral I use the minutes provided with my monthly plan. If I go over those minutes I will end up paying a per-minute rate for each additional minute. I also pay my regular phone bill for phone service. HOWEVER, on my landlines, I could choose to have the most basic local service and not long distance. RingCentral allows me to receive AND place long distance calls with their service without requiring me to have long distance service with my regular carrier. How can they do this?? With RingCentral you can initiate a long distance call from your computer OR by dialing into your toll-free account. Over the computer I can designate which number I would like to call and which phone I would like to use. Then my phone will ring, I answer it and an automated voice says, “To place this call, press 1.” I press 1 and the phone of the receiving party starts to ring – they pick up and we talk as normal. If they have caller id, my toll free number shows up on the id NOT my regular phone number. The process is very similar by calling into your toll-free account and initiating a call from there except you are able to connect the call directly to the party you’re calling since you’re already on the phone.
I hope I haven’t made that more confusing for you!
Good Luck,
Fred
Posted in Q&A, RingCentral | No Comments »
February 7th, 2009
I’m researching IVR and PBX solutions for the customer support group at my company (software startup, currently <20 total employees). They key features that I need are:
1) Off-hours call forwarding (to our off-peak support provider)
2) ACD functionality (for queuing and routing as support group grows)
3) Toll-free number
4) Voicemail
I’ve looked at a number of different hosted PBX and virtual call center solutions (GotVMail, RingCentral, VirtualPBX, Angel.com) and so far VirtualPBX seems to have the most features at a reasonable per minute rate (roughly $.05/minute), as well as capability to scale with our growing company.
Any additional input would be appreciated.
Max S.
Out of that list you mentioned, both RingCentral and VirtualPBX are great companies and can meet your needs. They are the only two that offer true ACD Queuing.
Posted in ACD Queuing, Q&A, RingCentral, VirtualPBX | No Comments »
August 26th, 2008
I happened to see your online site and had a question regarding the 800 number services industry. I need an 800 number however I dont need all the bells and whistles. I only need a Voice mail and to have that number forwarded to my cell phone when i am away. Thats really all i need. What service do you think that would be best in this regard?
Thanking you in advance for your assistance,
Jeffrey J K.
Take a look at TelCan. They have a very simple plan and you can add voicemail to it if you would like. If that’s not exactly what you’re looking for, let me know and I can help narrow down some other options for you.
Fred
Posted in Q&A, TelCan | No Comments »
August 20th, 2008
The only other concern is that I would like to have a local vanity number. Any ideas of the best way to get one? RingCentral doesn’t have the number (at least one) that I want and I am trying to find the best way to get the local vanity numbers we want. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Local vanity numbers can be difficult. I don’t think RingCentral allows a vanity search on their local number. Your best bet would be to call your local telephone company and ask them if they let you port your number to a different company once you have it. I believe that the major companies: Verizon, ATT, etc. allow you to do this. Your local company will have access to many more local combinations than any of the virtual pbx companies. Once you get your local number you can contact RingCentral to help you “port” that number to their service. The other benefit of doing it this way is that you get to keep the number if you choose to leave RingCentral. While you can port any toll-free number from RingCentral to a different company you cannot port their local numbers to a different company if you purchased it from them.
Hi Fred,
I just wanted to let you know that I spoke with both Verizon and AT&T. Although I was told that Verizon could not port numbers, AT&T will definitely port the number for me! They will waive the installation fee and I will have to activate a random number first, before I can choose my vanity number, but I think it’s worth it! And to your point, at least we will own the number then!!!
Thanks again & I’ll let you know once everything is complete.
Tyra
Posted in Q&A, Vanity Numbers | No Comments »
August 18th, 2008
Hi Fred,
First, let me thank you for this site. I have done a lot of research on the type of phone that we need and want. I wanted to get your opinion on the best phone company to go with based on the needs we have below:
- Want the business number to be listed on our cell phones so we can distinguish between
calls to the business number or our mobile number
- Want to be able to call out from the number
- Want an easy interface for mobile use when not at a computer
- Want to be able to check voicemail from either computer or another phone
- Would like the business number voicemail to be activated even when the number is forwarded to our cell phones.
With this in mind, what company do you think is best?
Thanks for your advice.
God Bless,
Tyra
Sounds like you’re in the market for RingCentral. Here’s how it breaks down:
Quote
-Want the business number to be listed on our cell phones so we can distinguish between calls to the business number or our mobile number
Easily done for each user profile. You can set this on a per staff member basis – very slick in case you have someone in your business that would prefer to get caller id for the person calling in.
-Want to be able to call out from the number
This is a favorite feature of mine that they have. If you’re at your desk you can use the call controller installed on your desktop to initiate the call. You punch in the number, choose which of your phones you want to use and hit dial. Your phone rings, you answer and a voice says, “To complete this call press 1”. You press 1 and then the phone of the person you’re calling rings but the business number shows on their caller id. If you’re away from your desk you can call into your account from any phone and use the call-out feature and again, the business phone number will appear on caller id.
-Want an easy interface for mobile use when not at a computer
RingCentral Mobile allows you to make RingOut calls directly from your Windows Mobile 5.0 device, and provides easy access to your online Messages and Call Log pages. Also, you can access all of your messages by calling into your account if you don’t have a windows mobile phone.
-Want to be able to check voicemail from either computer or another phone
No problem either way.
-Would like the business number voicemail to be activated even when the number is forwarded to our cell phones.
No problem here either. You just need to set the number of rings to something less than you have set for your cell phone provider voicemail system. If you don’t answer, the call will go to your business voicemail. When a call is answered the system allows you to 1 – take the call, 2 – send the caller to voicemail, 3 – transfer the call to someone else. If you send the caller to voicemail you can listen to them while they are leaving the message (they can’t hear you). If you want to interrupt the voicemail and take the call you can – very helpful.
Posted in Q&A, RingCentral | No Comments »
