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DirtyDigz

VOIP - what do I need to telecommute?

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I'm going to start working from home in the near future.  My job requires that I'm readily accessible by phone, and that I attend conference calls (*lots* of conference calls).

Work doesn't provide a cell phone, and I don't want to mix my personal cell # up with work.

Is this a job for VOIP?  I have good internet service (FIOS) at home.  Ideally, I'd like a service/device with a constant phone #, great call quality, doesn't have to be tied to a specific computer, and that I can use common telephone headsets with.

What should I be looking at? Vonage?

 

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Vonage would work, but there are much better VOIP providers out there.

I am a bit biased as I own a company that is a VOIP provider, but we service healthcare clients.

For a single user, I would look into OnSip and a Polycom or Yealink handset.

There are many options for a softphone that you can use on your desktop as well as apps on your smartphone.

Let me know if you want any more info or need some guidance with this and I would be happy to help.

Alex

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In my experience, nothing beats a cell phone in terms of reliability, call quality, mobility and availability.  Depending on on your cell phone provider and plan, it may actually be cheaper to have a cell phone than a VOIP. 

 

After a while, sitting home all day for conf calls gets really boring, old and frustrating. You may want to sit in Starbucks or Panera or work from Cherry Ridge Range... and you will thank your separate cell phone. 

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Get a Google Voice number first of all.   That way you keep a single number across devices.  

Go with VOIP.  I use VZ fios triple play because I got a good deal on the gigabit package, but I've used Ooma before which works out to about $4 a month after you buy the equipment (I got mine used on eBay)

I'm on conf calls all day too.  Stick with a voip landline and keep your cell phone free to do other things.

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12 minutes ago, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot said:

Get a Google Voice number first of all.   That way you keep a single number across devices.  

Go with VOIP.  I use VZ fios triple play because I got a good deal on the gigabit package, but I've used Ooma before which works out to about $4 a month after you buy the equipment (I got mine used on eBay)

I'm on conf calls all day too.  Stick with a voip landline and keep your cell phone free to do other things.

+1 I was typing up a very similar reply.

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26 minutes ago, WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot said:

Get a Google Voice number first of all.   That way you keep a single number across devices.  

Go with VOIP.  I use VZ fios triple play because I got a good deal on the gigabit package, but I've used Ooma before which works out to about $4 a month after you buy the equipment (I got mine used on eBay)

I'm on conf calls all day too.  Stick with a voip landline and keep your cell phone free to do other things.

 

I was just looking into this myself. There are a couple of alternatives to Google Voice, one of which is free (if you can deal with the ads).  These are apps that allow you to add a 2nd Phone number to your existing cell phone without involving the carrier.

 

The first is Line2.  The second is Sideline.  I chose Sideline because it's free for single use, but it does allow you do some very cheap upgrades (remove ads for $2.99/mo) etc.  If you get the business package, you can manage a block of numbers and assign them to employees to load on their cell phones, etc. etc.   And no, I don't own stock in either.. :D

I think Sideline is your best bet in this case. Your personal number (assigned to the phone by the carier) stays hidden and doesn't appear on caller ID, etc. (if you place your calls through the app). If you have the free version, you must use the number at least once every 30 days, or they'll take it away and recycle it. No problem for me, as I call people at least weekly if not more frequently.

 

OP, Give it a try.

 

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Thanks for the responses all.

"Free" services make me nervous, because the terms of the service can change abruptly at any time.  I'm willing to pay for something that will work every time, all the time.

Another cell phone - no thanks.  Maybe there's just lots of bad cell phones in my organization, but every time there's a conference call with a large set of participants, who are the ones having trouble staying connected/can't hear the call/the call can't hear them?: The people on the cell phones.

Does just any old IP phone work with any VOIP service?  Are there any "standards" or "formats" I should be aware of?

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4 minutes ago, DirtyDigz said:

Thanks for the responses all.

"Free" services make me nervous, because the terms of the service can change abruptly at any time.  I'm willing to pay for something that will work every time, all the time.

Another cell phone - no thanks.  Maybe there's just lots of bad cell phones in my organization, but every time there's a conference call with a large set of participants, who are the ones having trouble staying connected/can't hear the call/the call can't hear them?: The people on the cell phones.

Does just any old IP phone work with any VOIP service?  Are there any "standards" or "formats" I should be aware of?

In the case of "Sideline" it's free only because you agree to have ads in the display on the app. You can however, pay $2.99/mo to remove the ads.   There are also other upgrade options such as "keeping the number permanent" (i.e. it won't go away after 30 days of inactivity). You can even opt for the "teams" service for roughly $10.00/mo.   And you can manage a block of numbers.  So I wouldn't worry about terms of the agreement changing.

As for VoIP, I think it depends on the service you get.  I have an Ooma Telo.  I ported the old NJ phone number I had locally onto that Ooma Telo, and I now have it in FL.   I can use my old phone gear that I had on the POTS lines in NJ, because the Ooma Telo device has a jack for me to use that gear. So that works. Some of the Ooma manufactured phones do more (i.e. handle 4 phone lines), etc. but I don't need all those bells & whistles. Other VoIP services might be different.  No different formats or standards that I know of.

 

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VOIP is good for large deployment on the business side for companies looking to keep costs down... I run our VOIP services at work.. multiple phones.. server.. etc.. and they work fine.. but they fill a very specific role.. global inexpensive communication.. 

I think you could confirm what kind of conference calls you are having.. we have "conference calls" all day long as well.. but very few are not through something like webx which has the ability to attend via the computer.. 

I agree with the cell phone suggestion.. I am not sure what cell phones constantly have issues.. I have Verizon.. and when I am not in front of my Mac I call in via phone.. and honestly never have an issue.. depending on your provider you might even be able to utilize a dual SIM phone.. and have two different services on one device.. 

 

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I've done this every which way. The way that worked best for me is another cell. I just added a line to my plan, used an older phone so it was just service that I paid for. 

Got a good set if headphones and I'm set. 

 

One thing to to consider is asking the company to provide you with an IP set. They likely may use VoIP and if they do, it's pretty easy. You'll likely vpn into the network as well. 

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I've been working from home, for myself, 100% of the time for 28 years. I've had Lingo, a couple of those "free" buy-once services, and Vonage.

Vonage is far and away better than any of the others. Costs me about $33/month for worldwide coverage. My home has strange antique confusing phone wiring so I had to hire a service to set me up for Vonage, with an extension in the attic where I work and one on the first floor. Cost $150 and Vonage reimbursed me $125. Not sure if they still do that. You probably won't need that kind of custom installation.

Except for power and/or internet outages Vonage is up and running 99+% of the time. Great voice quality. If you go with them PM me. I will refer you and get a prize of some sort. 

I do a lot of phone work, a good deal of it with people in Europe and the UK. I strongly suggest NOT using a cell phone or speaker phone with business calls. The quality of both is still quite poor. 

VOIP in general also gives you the perfect excuse if you're late or forget to schedule a call. "I had to reboot my danged computer." Works like a charm.

 

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I'll throw my 2¢ in...

we have a call center as part of the services we offer. So I've tried multiple platforms and services. We have a custom voip system that does almost everything. The important bit is that I have a crew that is traveling most of the time, and the large American penchant for ridiculous conference calls requires mobile solutions. 

10 years worth of trying all sorts of things ended up very close to where we began. We use Zoiper and Spark. Zoiper is a paid app that can integrate with almost any voip system so we can use our call routing and conference systems on the go. We use spark to text amongst ourselves during conf calls. Mostly to make fun of the clients. The importance of this is that all our calls are recorded  important to us as we can review conference calls.

The two work great on iPhones. The only recent issue is that it seems that 5G systems can cause some issues, mostly due to an encryption model that has yet to be fully implemented. The next version of the iPhone should address that. 

Please droid fanboys, I get it. It made sense to standardize the platform to make deployment easier. 

Look into Zoiper. If you have colleagues in the same boat, spark becomes pretty necessary. 

YMMV.  

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I'll throw my 2¢ in...

we have a call center as part of the services we offer. So I've tried multiple platforms and services. We have a custom voip system that does almost everything. The important bit is that I have a crew that is traveling most of the time, and the large American penchant for ridiculous conference calls requires mobile solutions. 

10 years worth of trying all sorts of things ended up very close to where we began. We use Zoiper and Spark. Zoiper is a paid app that can integrate with almost any voip system so we can use our call routing and conference systems on the go. We use spark to text amongst ourselves during conf calls. Mostly to make fun of the clients. The importance of this is that all our calls are recorded  important to us as we can review conference calls.

The two work great on iPhones. The only recent issue is that it seems that 5G systems can cause some issues, mostly due to an encryption model that has yet to be fully implemented. The next version of the iPhone should address that. 

Please droid fanboys, I get it. It made sense to standardize the platform to make deployment easier. 

Look into Zoiper. If you have colleagues in the same boat, spark becomes pretty necessary. 

YMMV.  

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My opinion: If you're serious about working at home, about the business you do, and you're not living in a cardboard box stay away from those "boxes" that give you lifetime free calling. Depending on the call one screw-up and that's two or three years worth of billing for Vonage. Especially if you're working for yourself. Also think customer service. Don't be a schlemiel and try to save a few bucks.

 

 

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I had net talk and it was fine tolerable until it wasn't and there is absolutely no way to talk to  a human.

I dropped NT and switched to ooma. About the same price, but much better QoS and is very reliable so far and when I needed help I got a human on the phone in about five minutes.

You get what you pay for, but ooma is great for home service to replace POTS. They also have business options at higher price point.

One thing to watch for is limits on call volume. NT limited to 1500 outbound minutes per month! I believe Ooma is 5000, but they say they do not generally enforce it, and it may not apply to their business plans.

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On 6/15/2017 at 6:37 AM, Walt of Destiny said:

I'll throw my 2¢ in...

we have a call center as part of the services we offer. So I've tried multiple platforms and services. We have a custom voip system that does almost everything. The important bit is that I have a crew that is traveling most of the time, and the large American penchant for ridiculous conference calls requires mobile solutions. 

10 years worth of trying all sorts of things ended up very close to where we began. We use Zoiper and Spark. Zoiper is a paid app that can integrate with almost any voip system so we can use our call routing and conference systems on the go. We use spark to text amongst ourselves during conf calls. Mostly to make fun of the clients. The importance of this is that all our calls are recorded  important to us as we can review conference calls.

The two work great on iPhones. The only recent issue is that it seems that 5G systems can cause some issues, mostly due to an encryption model that has yet to be fully implemented. The next version of the iPhone should address that. 

Please droid fanboys, I get it. It made sense to standardize the platform to make deployment easier. 

Look into Zoiper. If you have colleagues in the same boat, spark becomes pretty necessary. 

YMMV.  

 

I actually just configured a new extension in my PBX for my cell phone, to connect to Zoiper, now I can make long distance Voip calls to anywhere in the world any time I want without worrying about paying for them.. I am using my personal cell.. but connecting to my PBX server at work... so for my cell it is just data traffic.. 

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I don't work from home, but my wife does. A few people here mentioned checking with your company to see if they will provide service and that is probably the best bet. 

When my wife switched to working remotely full time her company arranged to have Comcast drop a second line to the house, install a separate modem/router and sent her a phone. The service is dedicated to her work, supplying both VoIP and VPN, they pay the bill and provide support. She's not using bandwidth from our household service and if it goes down it's not our problem.

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