1-800 READ THIS: Cost effective phone solutions for small biz

You are researching to start a business or perhaps already have a business up and running. Either way, you are looking to better serve your customers by telephone and add an extra level of professional service. Finding the best deal on toll free numbers can be a time consuming task and cost you a lot of money in the long run if you don’t do your homework correctly. I’ve been in the same position and researched several companies.

Check out some of the information I have gathered:

1. AT&T.
They offer a toll free number for $2.95/month. You can choose whatever vanity number you want, as long as it’s available. AT&T connects this number to your pre-existing line, provided you already have their long distance plan (or you have to upgrade). The rates for incoming calls: 10¢/minute from the US and 50¢/minute from Canada. If someone calls you from a phone booth: 60¢ fee plus 10¢/minute. The calls will ring on your home phone line, but the caller id won’t let know if they are calling you from the toll free number or your home phone. Outgoing calls are charged just as they would be on your long distance plan.

AT&T seems like an okay option for friends and family to call long-distance for free, but it does not seem like a viable business option that will meet the needs of my growing business. I want a separate voicemail and menu system for customers. I don’t want customers leaving messages on my home voicemail. I also don’t want to spend the money to upgrade to a long-distance plan because I use my cell phone for long distance calls.

2. Toll Free Forwarding.
This company offers you a toll free number forwarded to your telephone for $10/month. This includes 127 minutes when calls are forwarded to a phone in the US. They charge 7.9¢/minute for additional call time. Toll Free Forwarding also offers a free 10-day trial, so it wouldn’t hurt to try and see what they have to offer.

Toll Free Forwarding is essentially the same price as Ring Central, but for the same price you will get 27 minutes more per month here. It does not appear as though they have upgraded packages beyond $10/month. This means that if my company continues to grow, I’ll be paying almost 8¢ minute for every minute over 127. I think I’d rather have the option of upgrading.

3. Ring Central.
Ring Central offers a lot for $10/month compared with the other two companies listed above. What does $10/month get you at Ring Central?

-100 minutes (6.7¢/minute for additional minutes)
-Virtual PBX with 5 extentions (create your own departments such as sales or customer services to send calls)
-Toll free or local number (you can get vanity numbers!)
-Internet fax
-Voicemail
-Music/Messages on hold
-Call forwarding
-Call screening
-Real time call controller
-Message alerts
-RingMe: click-to-call me
-RingOut: click-to-call out
-Answering rules (This is basically the control board. You decide how, when, and what calls to take.

With Ring Central, you don’t necessarily have to be working from your computer all the time because they allow you to forward calls to your home phone or cell phone. Faxes can also go directly to your inbox or PDA.

Ring Central allows you to try their services for free. The real downside to the company is that they charge $14.99/month if you don’t want to sign a contract. Toll Free Forwarding is better in this aspect. If you are not sure about a year-long commitment, you have to go month-by-month for $14.99 and that’s not very nice of them.

After searching far and wide, a friend recommended this company and promised they have the best deal around. She was right, as a small business owner, Ring Central meets and exceeds my needs for the bargain price of ten dollars a month. It’s professional and I like the fact that nobody has to know you are a one-woman business. By now, you are probably thinking: how much is Ring Central paying her for this review? They are not paying me a penny. I just think the Ring Central setup and price is so great (except the $14.99 with no contract), I had to share! With a free trial and no long-term commitments necessary, it is worth a try. Ring Central gives you more control of everything and other companies could not offer the same amount of flexibility and services.

Let me know if you know of any other great companies out there offering excellent services.

Best of luck,
Entrepreneur Goddess