- Consumer-style services like Google Voice or Skype?<p>- Small business hardware solutions like Avaya Partner ACS?<p>- Enterprisey hardware/software combos like Cisco CallManager?<p>- Hosted VOIP vs. in-house hardware?<p>What are your likes, dislikes, pros, cons, etc.?<p>What would you recommend to a company of about 10-15 employees that has low call volume (about 60-70 calls/day).<p>Thanks for any suggestions and ideas.
I've just been through this.<p>1) Skype for business isn't. They have less-than-zero customer service. One example: <a href="http://bit.ly/4fYnwz" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/4fYnwz</a>. They don't have any support option apart from their forums. And Google Voice is limited to windows PCs. No OS X, Linux, mobile or hardware options.<p>2) Expensive<p>3) Damned expensive<p>4) Hosted VOIP has won for us. We use voipfone.co.uk and I can't say enough good things about them or their services. They have every feature imaginable - including things like voice-mail-to-email and 'Press 1 for Sales'. They use SIP protocols so your hardware and software choices are hardly limited. They use astericks so you can get free trunking to other businesses/locations using astericks. Hosting your own astericks server would be very good too, but I suspect for the scale you're considering, voipfone.co.uk or something similar in your part of the world is the cost-effective way forward.<p>good luck!
I used to maintain PABXs for small businesses. Pre-VoIP PABXs are expensive, inflexible and expansion often traumatic. Enterprisey VoIP systems from major vendors are over-priced and they get you on the extras. I recommend hosted VoIP for those who don't want to administer their own phone system and in-house VoIP for those who want a bit more control. FreeSwitch is very good solution as well. Don't get any POTS lines, use the money you save to get a fatter IP pipe into your office. Most VoIP handsets are fine, I don't think CISCO being worth the premium.
We have been using Ringcentral with a total head count of 6 people. It was a breeze to setup (web interface) and you can route calls and extensions to different numbers, etc. I've suggested their service to my friends.<p>Pros: Easy setup: allocate extensions, routing, voice mail boxes, etc. Cost effective, in other words, cheap!<p>Cons: None that have caught my attention so far. We needed something quick that would work and give us a more professional identity when we received calls and this has worked for us.
Take a look at trixbox (asterisk) <a href="http://www.trixbox.org/downloads" rel="nofollow">http://www.trixbox.org/downloads</a> , it's easy to install has all the basic functionality you need. You can also setup the IVR to route calls to specific people. I replaced a windows t1 voice system with this for 25 people, 8 were remotely connecting to it over SIP. If you don't feel like managing your own setup go with a hosted service.
Talkswitch.<p>Terrible. Big mistake. Low quality. Bad enough that explaining why would be traumatic enough that I won't do it. I'd still be grinding my teeth hours later.
Asterisk. Most of the SMB-targeted VOIP systems are hellishly awful. Asterisk won't be any easier, or less stupid, but at least you can work around the brain damage.
"Avaya Partner ACS?"<p>This is what we like at Seliger + Associates (see www.seliger.com ). It's a) not overly expensive and b) incredibly reliable. I went through the phone process this summer and came out with Avaya because a) we'd already used it and b) it's really, really reliable.<p>At some point I'm going to write a publish a blog post on the subject. Drop me a line at seligerj (at) gmail (dot) com if you'd like a link to it.
I use Asterisk, managed via FreePBX. It works pretty well if you don't have that many users. I use a SIP trunking service with a DID. Siphon (SIP client) for my iPhone, Telephone on OS X, and also forwarding to my normal cell.<p>I've heard really good things about Shoretel, but I know its very expensive.