Home Office: Better, cheaper telephony

Amazingly, studies show that 87% of home office users are reliant on their home and cellular telephones for all their voice communication needs*.

The proliferation of broadband into the home, and out and about with 3G services, has transformed the potential for home office users to not just use broadband for their internet access, but for all their communication needs. Dedicated business telephone numbers help to differentiate your offering, and avoid the embarrassing mishaps of having your 5 year old take a message from a valued client.

We’ve all heard of Skype, with its ubiquitous presence. But Skype is just one option available. Companies like Callcentric and Sipgate offer high quality VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephone lines with incoming calls to real telephone numbers and all the features (and then some) that you would expect form your regular provider – combined with cheap long distance and international calling plans. Their plans allow you to project a presence that belies reality, including office numbers in multiple locations – even international.

Most of these providers will supply a ‘soft phone’ client that allows you to make and receive calls from your PC. This is useful, however the real benefits come when you start using dedicated hardware to make SIP calls. When you start reading about SIP calls it can make your head spin – in reality, when you sign up with a provider they make it just about as straightforward as setting up an email client. If you’ve experienced patchy call quality using computer based systems you may be amazed at the quality available. Providers will also allow you to handle your calls from multiple locations, giving you the flexibility to manage your calls in a way that best fits your work patterns – a laptop and headset when you’re on the road, or your home or office networks.

Many providers, including Grandstream, provide Analogue Telephone Adaptors that allow you to connect existing telephone equipment via your router to make best use of SIP providers. In Europe the quirkily named Fritz!Box provides a mind blowing amount of technology packed into one small box, including a wireless router, cordless telephone base station, ports for analogue & ISDN telephones, USB sharing facilities, answering machines, and the facility for up to 10 separate telephone accounts with rules to determine which telephone extensions to ring.

Combine all this with Google Voice and you’ve got some killer capabilities – without the unnecessary monthly expense of additional fixed telephone lines.

*Caution: fictional statistic