I’ve been trying to figure out inexpensive telecommunications for the masses for a while now. I was an early adopter with Packet 8 because of their inexpensive calls to Europe, but was disappointed by call quality to Asia. When Vonage service was getting rave reviews and they seemed to be the leader, I switched there - they also had reasonably poor call quality to asia. In the interest of saving you reading the rest, I’ll skip to the end first! Here is the least expensive, full featured telecommunications package for a small business.
Skype: Skype In number, Skype Out credits, Headset: $50 - $100 + $3 - $15 per month
Grand Central Number: Free
Blackberry 8100: Free (after $50 rebate) + $75 per month
For those that want to know why I chose these, read on!
The Optimal Solution
What I’ve documented is the best bang for your budget buck. You want full featured, but not full price - most of these options give you 95% of the features, at 10% of the cost with a few minor inconveniences. I’ve done extensive research on this topic and am well versed in all available technologies. If you want a specific solution tailored to your start up, send me a comment, and I will be happy to consult for you. Otherwise brave entrepreneurs, read on!
Long distance: Skype
Skype out + Skype in for each person in your office. Spend some money on a good headset (get them wired unless you want to shell out a lot for bluetooth that works) for each of your team members and you’re golden. Skype-in gives everyone as many telephone numbers in as they would like in numerous countries in which you may do business. When you’re travelling, it’s also easy to get a hold of people in the office (providing you can plug in). For offices larger than 10 people, I also have a solution - why not drop me a comment and ask?
I just saved you: At least $30 a month over getting a land line in the US, and a bunch more if you opt for Skype’s unlimited US & Canada calling for $29.99 a year!
Drawbacks:Call quality is sketchy to land lines at times. People will be confused when their caller ID shows your number as +0000000001 or similar numbers.
Incoming calls: Grand Central
Before you start giving out your skype number, get one from grand central. The features are numerous, but grand central fills the role of your virtual secretary - except it’s free! Screen calls so your financiers go straight through, whereas others have to leave you a message. Simultaneously ring your cell phone and office phone so you never miss a call. There’s much more there, and it only takes a few minutes to get a number in the area of your choice. Did I mention it is free?
I just saved you: At least $1000 a month by delaying your need for a secretary to screen your calls! You have work to do, dont you?
Drawbacks:Can’t dial out with your grand central number as your caller ID. Some of the features are buggy at this time.
Cell Phone + Mobile Email
Get yourself a Blackberry 8100 (Pearl) from T-Mobile. I got one from 1shopwireless.com for free after a $50 rebate. There were other deals around, but they required more cash up front, and the phone was not always free after rebate. When you sign up, just get the cheapest unlimited data plan. T-Mobile tries to confuse you, but the cheapest one does everything you need. You can hook it in to up to 10 email accounts. I pay around $75 a month for 1000 anytime minutes + data. T-Mobile is pushing the “fave 5″ option, but be careful because you then lose the free in-network calling.
I just saved you: At least $199 off the retail price of the phone and probably $10 a month on your data plan.
Drawbacks:Data speeds (covered below), but that’s about it!
If you’re planning to travel overseas with the phone, get it unlocked. To do that, you either need to wait until you are a customer for 90 days for T-Mobile to give you the code or go to someone like GSMPhoneSource.com and pay $35 to get them to give you the unlock code. Once your phone is unlocked, you can drop in a sim card from anywhere in the world and use the phone there. (e.g. T-Mobile charges $4.99 a minute for making / receiving calls in Indonesia when international roaming. If I get a sim card there, I can receive incoming calls for free. I will forward my Skype line to my cell phone there and then people can call me on my usual grand central / skype number and reach me at a cost to me of under $0.12 a minute. If I was clever, I would also forward my T-Mobile cell phone number to my skype number and then on to my Indonesian number, but I think about half of you just had your heads explode under the complexity of that set up.
I just saved you: Nothing if you never leave the US. A lot if you do!
Drawbacks:You won’t have your number when you travel. Dialling home will still cost a lot.
Mobile Internet
The next thing you can do with this set up is called “Bluetooth Tethering”. It enables you to use your Blackberry 8100 to act as a Bluetooth Modem. If you’ve got a mac, the instructions are here. This technique works, but it is not a replacement for your broadband connection. T-Mobile’s data network is much slower than both Verizon and Sprint, of which Sprint is the low-cost-provider. Their service is $59.99 per month.
I just saved you: $59.99 per month?
Drawbacks:Speed, Frequent disconnects, Not supported (it is more of a hack than anything else)
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