Anyone use net talk or magic jack for their dedicated business line??

I can't justify paying the rates ATT wants for one.

If you use VOIP line, is there a way to record missed call messages to listen to them from a computer or cell phone online, or just forward to your cell voicemail??

Currently using my cell as a business line, but want to have a line dedicated to the business without having to carry 2 phones around.

Got a nettalk line several years ago; service is spotty, but there was only a one-time charge of $100. All incoming calls roll over to my cellphone. We hardly ever use it anymore, cuz our new cell service (Straighttalk/tracfone from WallyWorld) gives us unlimited phone use.
Try Google Voice. You can get a phony phone # that will go straight to your cellphone. You get to see caller ID, too.
Hope this helps

ok so how has the straight talk / wally world service been?? Are you on CDMA towers or GSM?

Howard My Detroit Office 855-699-4535 Extension 316 Complete Animal Solutions uses Magic jack and has been 3+ years call . Call her.

firedawg,

I started my company using Google Voice, then switched to another more sophisticated VOIP, and now back to a dedicated mobile at the office. Here are my thoughts as I put a lot of time and frustration figuring this out the hard way:

Google Voice "GV":
Pros- Free, Discrete # for your business, vmail to text/email transfer, offers multiple phone forwarding to ring several phones at once
Cons- Call forwarding isnt what you'd think it is. With the technology these days, you would think that it would be rather instantaneous- DEFINETELY not the case. I had it forward our office # to me and our office lady, and it would be delayed almost everytime by 3-7 rings, if at all. We found that we were actually losing out on business as some people are inpatient and would hang up, or our phones wouldnt ring at all.


At this point i figured it was just a GV thing, so i like the idea of ringing multiple phones, even your techs if needed, so i would try a more sophisticated VOIP such as RingCentral

Ring Central "RC"
Pros- Call forwarding,Very nice apps for smart phones, automated assistant if you want to have it give caller options, after hours receptionist if you dont like getting the 2am pointless calls
Cons- Cost ~$50/mo, same issue with delayed call forwarding "must be a VOIP thing", so in the end i was stilling losing out on calls

Finally i just bought the office lady a Samsung Note3 with Verizon mobile service and did a phone number transfer to her line only.

Verizon

Pros- We are not missing any calls, she can use the apps and scheduler to send to all of our techs for appt reminders and contact info
Cons- Cost ~ Phone was $200, another $50/mo with added data plan, no call forwarding

Conclusion

In the end after all the hassle figuring this nightmare out, i would just opt for the 2nd mobile phone until VOIP is more reliable. I thought that me and techs missing out on the call forwarded calls would be a bad thing, but now 6 months later, it is working great. Now the office lady doesnt have to wonder if someone else answered the call, as she knows it's on her to get to the phone.

Hope this helps

Jacob

Nice post Jacob, great info thanks for sharing! We use only cell, have two and though I feel it costs more than it needs to if you watch your usage
and seasonally adjust if you have high and low times in use, you can shave some down if need be.

Good post again!

Justin

One of my favorite subjects! My hearing is so bad that I think everyone should "sign". The proper way to deal with cell phones is to grasp two of them at a time and toss them firmly into the air. You then take your .410 over/under and with the modified barrel, you take out the closest phone. With your full choke barrel, you calmly blow the second cellphone to kingdom come.

Now you can go back into the house and talk on your landlines which not only are much clearer and louder, but cost a whole lot less. So far we have had Nextel, Sprint, ATT, and Verizon. Our next purchase will be Cellular One which has had the highest rating in our area for a decade. I will still keep the .410 loaded; My luck never changes.

We set up a business line when we started and that was the only phone we had for some 30 years. Only one we needed. Got a cell when they became common and portable years later but it was just used to let me check in from time to time. After that many years with the same number we really did not want to change so we had it moved to the new office when I retired.

'Dawg, the Straighttalk service is quite good with an AT&T phone. The Verizon service had huge black holes in our neck of the woods. Walmart lady was quite understanding and gave me a refund on the Verizon phone, even tho it was beyond the exchange period.

We have a land line AT&T and use call forwarding to our cell phone. We have two different companies Cell One and Sprint. In this area we are covered with that. After 5pm sharp the cell with forwarding is shut off and back on at 7am. M-F only.
The cost as far as I am concerned is small for what you are getting. Its a business and is a tax write off.
My 2 cents
Don LaFountin

Thanks guys. Dave I have seriously been looking at straightalk. I currently have page plus now for my cell, but i have to get something dedicated strictly to the business. VOIP is definately cheaper, but may not be the best solution unless you can have someone there to answer all the time.

Tried VOIP, hated it and so did my customers who said I kept fading in and out while missing parts of the conversation. Strictly cell phone now.

Cell phone only here