When I started, there were fewer option to give that big office feel to my spare bedroom. Thankfully, things have changed. My biggest hurdle has always been finding the right telecom solution for my needs. I knew there were a few absolutes...
- Transparency - I needed something that made me sound BIG! And for me that meant call screening. Ok, so we all know bigger isn't always better but depending on the client there can be a certain stigma attached to working from home. And nothing screams "I am working out of the corner of my living room" like a first ring pick up from the CEO herself with a whining daughter in the background having a meltdown because her video is stuck in the player. That call forward had to be transparent to the caller and I needed the ability to make a split second decision on whether I was taking that call.
- Flexibility - Being the one (wo)man show that I am, I had to figure out how to divide myself in two. There is no way I want to miss a call, my calls mean money. So I knew I needed a system that could allow me to capitalize on every minute whether at "the office" or out and about.
- Affordability - I still have to write that check every month. I need that as painless as possible. The means my solutions had to allow me to make and receive the calls I needed to without nickle and diming me to death. I have clients nationwide and need to be able to call long distance inexpensively.
- Simplicity - I got the best gift for my 40th birthday...I gave myself permission to state in my outside voice that I have limitations. A recurring theme in this blog will probably be "I just don't want to do that...". Why? Because I have learned that my mere survival (and that of the children that depend on me to eat their three square meals a day) requires me to let some things go. On the top of the "let it go list" is technology. I can do anything I set me mind to. I just choose not to set my mind to programming, uplinks, code, yadda, yadda, yadda. The phone has to be idiot-proof or I will gladly pay more for the idiot-proof version.
- Ring Central - They are my all-time favorites! I love the fact that they are very simple to use. Their pricing is straight forward and you get lots of extras like a dedicated fax line (depending upon the plan you choose), hold music (not too cheesy I must say) and the ability to interrupt the hold music with your brief commercials. It also grows with you and let's you make extensions for your other remoties that can allow transfers seamlessly. You can get a local number which let's you bypass the local phone company which is always a nice touch. Major drawback for me...no 411 listing availability which is a BIG deal when you are just starting out.
- Call Nation - Like Ring Central, Call Nation gives you loads of flexibility. It even has a few features that Ring Central can stand to steal. I am currently testing it out so my personal knowledge is limited but I like what I have seen so far and my friend Tamara swears by it. Biggest plus...they DO have the ability to get listed in the directories for $30 which is practically free compared to the benefits of having that listing. Kudos to Call Nation.
- Vumber - By far the least flexible to me but if your needs are limited to a local number that will ring where you tell it to Vumber is a great place to start. Not much personal experience but I know people that love them when they need the ability to have a variety of local numbers fast and affordably.
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