When I started my art company earlier this year, I listed my cellphone for my contact info. But I’ll admit that part of me thought that was not a good choice since cellphones can be unreliable if you are in an area that is not celltower friendly. And so the other part of me wishes I had something like Packet8 Virtual Office for any incoming calls I get about my artwork, craft markets or order requests. Packet8 is the latest and greated VOIP service for both residential and business needs.
One way in which Packet8 Business VoIP could have helped me recently is in the coordination of my craft market in September. I used email as my primary method of correspondence with the other 8 vendors, but it would have been nice to have the capability of doing a conference bridge with all the vendors the week before the event to go over all requirements, suggestions and requests in one call rather than 25-30 scattered emails.
Packet8 is great because the hardware is free for your use, and seems so easy to use that it is practically self-installable. On the business side another plus is that they offer music on hold. Right now, using my cellphone, when I want to place a call on “hold” it means laying the phone down and leaving the room! Not the safest choice when you have two toddlers running around the house who love to talk on the phone. Just what I need – my customer hearing my 3-yr-old son asking about “Yo Gabba Gabba.”
The prices certainly seem reasonable for the various plans available – not just in business but also the residential side. And the ability to make free international calls or at the very least extremely cheap international calls (Ireland is as low as 3 cents a minute), is a bonus. My friend Mary has family out of the country and I’m sure having that access to free international long distance would have her talking to her mom every day opposed to once a week.
Going with VOIP is a good option. VOIP is reliable, cost-effective and has so many added features that regular phone companies just can’t offer.