Lately I’ve been thinking about phone service for the home office. I’ve had a custom ring number (an extra phone number that runs over my home phone line but rings differently) ever since I started freelancing. At the time, Internet telephony was not a well-developed option and I didn’t want to switch exclusively to a cell phone for work. Here’s a look at the various home office phone options I’ve found, along with a few pros and cons for each.
- A plain old land line is the most straightforward option. If you live alone or don’t have small children, you can probably get away with one line for work and personal use. However, if you need to have a second land line installed, the process can be expensive especially if you have to have additional phone jacks put in.
- The aforementioned custom ring number is great in that it’s inexpensive ($5 per month through our local phone company), doesn’t require an additional physical phone line and gives you a way to distinguish between business and personal calls. But there are a few downsides, which are becoming more of an issue for me now that I work for more direct clients. The custom ring number and the main number have to share an outgoing voice mail message, so either my clients get to listen to the “you’ve reached the home of…and the home office of…” message, or I have to put an office-only message on the home line. Also, only the main number is displayed on the caller ID when I phone someone, so my clients have occasionally redialed that number. Then when I answer, I think it’s a personal call when it’s actually a work call (awkward if one happens to be cooking dinner with a group of friends when a client calls!). In addition, it is not possible to forward the custom ring number to another phone without forwarding the main number at the same time.
- A business cell phone is another option, and not a bad option if you need or want a smartphone for work. Keeping the cell phone for business use should allow you to tax-deduct the bill, and you don’t have to worry about how to handle your phone calls when you’re out of the office. Two issues keep me from switching to a business cell phone: I would need one with an international calling plan (expensive) and as much as I try to be adaptable, I just hate talking on cell phones for long periods of time. I do have a cell phone that I use to check my work messages when I’m not home, but I wouldn’t want to use it as my exclusive work phone.
- Because of these issues (largely the separation of voice mail and forwardability), I’m thinking of switching to Internet phone service. Due to issues with emergency calling, I wouldn’t switch my main phone to an Internet-based system, but it’s not an issue for my work phone. In addition, most of the main Internet phone services do enable call forwarding, so if I want to answer work calls when I’m not in the office, I can forward the work line to my cell phone. I’ve been looking at a few plans such as Vonage Lite, some of which are around $10 per month.
Any other thoughts on the pros and cons of the various home office phone options?
Vonage features seem good but living with it has been largely unpleasant. When our electricity goes out or our cable internet provider’s local node “blinks” and we lose our internet connection (minimum once a day), the Vonage router frequently requires 30+ minutes to reset.
Electricity going out, well yes, this will understandably interrupt any business operation. But the reset/recovery time for our Vonage router (and it’s not the Lite one, it’s the expensive one) is too long to be acceptable.
If I were setting up a home office now, I’d look into Skype.
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/#t_home_office
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/business/download/
Apparently you can get your own “net” phone number and your clients can call you at local rates.
In the end, our family has become suspicious of any service provider that requires its own proprietary hardware to operate. Try Vonage but to simulate the worst possible case, my advice is to try performing internet connection recovery procedures before you make a final decision to go with Vonage. (=Remove your ethernet/cat-5 cable to the modem and then turn off the electricity to that part of the house.)
This may be a negligible issue for you but for me, an avid video gamer, having to rely on the cable wireless *modem* instead of a wireless router as the wireless hub prevents me from connecting to Xbox Live or Playstation Network wirelessly. Perhaps a better modem would fix the problem but we’re stuck with this one from the cable internet provider.
Good luck!
This is an interesting subject for freelancers, both for financial and for branding reasons.
I ditched my landline two years ago and I would never look back. I run all my incoming and most outgoing calls through VoIP. I pay $2.50 per month for all calls to numbers in the U.S. and Canada. Since I make a lot of overseas phone calls, the VoIP rates really help save a lot of money.
You are right that you cannot make emergency calls with VoIP. But because I make cell phone calls from home via the Internet through a wireless router (my provider calls it UMA), T-Mobile allows me to register an address with them which will be displayed with emergency calls (if that isn’t another reason for fighting the T-Mobile/AT&T merger). So I feel I’m covered there.
Which solution is the best? It depends what is important for you. For me, I want to make reasonably prices overseas calls and have several “virtual” numbers; I want to be able to access the reasonable overseas rates from my cell phone; and I want to be able to forward calls to numbers world-wide when I’m traveling.
As a result, I am using Skype. One of the problems with normal Skype usage is that you are tethered to your computer, which has to be up and running. I avoid this by using one of the cordless Skype phones that have Skype firmware built in and that work even when the computer is powered down (but your Internet connection has to be up and running). There are two manufacturers, Philips and GE. Both phone systems let you mix and match Skype with a landline, if you so desire. I use mine just like a regular cordless phone, and if somebody Skypes me instead of using the dial-in number, the call is free. Additional cost for the Skype solution is the dial-in number, if you want one. You can have dial-in numbers not only in the U.S. but in many other countries as well. So if your clients are in Hong Kong, for example, you can get a Skype dial-in number in Hong Kong and you are just a local call away for your clients.
There are drawbacks. When the Internet is down, your VoIP system doesn’t work. It does not happen often, but more often than landline outages. There are times and destinations with bottlenecks in transmission bandwidth, and then calls can be of poor quality. Inside the U.S. it hardly ever happens. To Europe, it happens rarely. Australia has a lot of problems, in my experience.
I use Skype and I have a cell phone. I bought a Skype Out number when they first became available many years ago and, just like Michael, I also got the hands-free Phillips device sold by Skype. Eventually, I started traveling a lot and, just not to confuse or scare my clients, I decided to keep my Skype number and just forward the calls to my cell phone. Even nowadays, back in the U.S., I keep the same system. Plus, now with built-in Skype to any phones (except the new Windows HTC HD7 phone, which I ended up returning for this reason). Having the Skype app in your cell phone allows clients to call you directly from their own Skype, a fact that makes it inexpensive to both parties if you have a data plan. Moreover, some people think that the big issue about having Skype in your cell phone in the U.S. is that the service doesn’t allow international calls. Well, there’s a way around it: Skype To Go numbers. This Skype features allows you to assign a local number to your international contacts. So, when you call them, is like calling a local number + the per/cent normal rate charged by Skype. I call my family, friends and colleagues all the time from my cell phone, to a local number 🙂
Hope this helps.
Corinne-
An excellent post, thank you!
I was listening to a podcast the other day, and the speaker (admittedly of a younger generation), actually used the word “landline” with a derisive sneer in her voice!
Our story: While planning for a year overseas, I stripped my landline down to just call forwarding, and purchased a Skype phone number with unlimited world calling (€60/yr.). I forwarded all calls to the phone to Skype, which had its own voicemail.
Now that we’re back, I chucked the landline altogether (Verizon dumped me on Frontier anyway). I ported my number of 20 years to my cell phone (which is unlocked GSM, so I can use it overseas: I will miss T-mo’s liberal unlock policy). T-mo let me register an address for the phone number, so it displays if I need to call 911; I also registered it for reverse 911 through a city website.
To keep from running around the house or riffling through pockets trying to find the ringing phone, I purchased an Xlink. It’s a bluetooth device that pulls the signal from the cellphone and powers the landline handsets in our house, including the speakerphone on my desk. It meant literally cutting the wires from the outside of our house, but it passes through the caller ID, so I know who’s calling when I’m cooking (with a glass of wine in hand). The bluetooth connects and disconnects automatically when I’m in range, so I can leave it in my purse.
Next up will be a new car with bluetooth. At this rate, I won’t ever need to actually use the cell phone itself!
In a nutshell: Outgoing calls use Skype (caller ID can be set to whatever I want); incoming on cell & house phones. Easy-peasy, and I save about 50% over the landline cost!
Wow, Silvina, Caitline and Michael – I thought I knew a lot about phones, but you guys put me to shame! What creative solutions. I had a business cell phone (with my number of 12+ years) for a few months, but absolutely hated it. Calls were dropped often (three times once, with one client!) and it had a lot of problems. That was probably related to my carrier in this area (I should have checked coverage maps first!).
So, I went back to a landline for the work number at the end of last year. But, you all have given me hope that I can get away from that (expensive) option soon.
Corinne, you can make cheap international calls from a cell phone using a third party provider, not your cell phone provider, to make the call. We have done that for years and pay under 6 cents a minute to call France, for example. (Unless it is a French cell phone, then, of course, all bets are off from ANY phone.)
For example, Pioneer or AFN (which just got bought and I can’t recall the new company’s name). We use both. You simply plug in their 800 access number into your phone, then, once it prompts you, dial the international number from there, and it connects you cheaply, bypassing your actual cell phone provider’s international calling plan (which is always obscenely expensive).
What is also great about cell and VOIP is that you can get transcriptions emailed to you (through a third party) when you receive a voice message. Landline with Qwest does not offer this (well, it is possible via 3rd party, I guess, but a harder workaround). I miss voice mail messages often because, whoever looks at that blinking light anymore? I need a text or an email to let me know!
I only have a land *work* line, and a cell otherwise (no land personal phone – the taxes in that case are really a burden to old fashioned phone companies – prevents them from being competitive). Also, land line does have down time too, which is highly annoying. But, up till now, had been fearful of seemingly high amount of down time with Internet phone solutions. Seems that the three of you (Silvina, Michael, Caitline) think that INternet telephony deals with that on an acceptable level at this point in time, so I am encouraged.
A while back, I was also interested in Google Voice and use it for various things, but feel it still has too much down time for professional use (and I also think that about Gmail, but that is another story).
Thanks again for your great ideas! I will use this info to revamp my phone set up soon, yet again.
Eve
Corinne – one more thing…can you transfer your custom ring number to Vonage Lite? That would also be key. If you are my guinea pig, I may go with that later, if you like it. I must be able to keep my longstanding number, but would love to dumpy my $40+ monthly bill!
I had one mobile number which i bought long back and and distributed to all personal and professional, but after a some i found it difficult to handle which is personal call and which one are professional so bought another number which i use only for professional purpose. Keeping two phones not a problem, Moreover bought handset with dual SIM card, this also helps me a lot.
Too bad about needing that international calling plan because I think the cell phone solution is the best. I must admit though that I am also a Blackberry fan and find it super practical to read any business related mails at any time and anywhere like that. I generally correspond more with email anyway so that fits the bill for me.
Interesting solutions. I have always used my cell phone as my office number, since I did not want a situation where my children were answering a business call. I also use my cell phone for all outgoing business calls within the US, and Skype for the rest. I have been very satisfied with this solution and never considered other alternatives. In fact, Skype was our English-Swedish certification group’s “meeting room” for a year when we were going through 16 texts for the test. The combination of audio and text in Skype was perfect for that purpose. PS! Did you know that Skype was invented by Swedes. 😉
Very cool Tess! And I had no idea that Skype was invented by Swedes, but I’m not surprised 🙂 A while ago someone told me that Swedes also invented the over-the-shoulder seatbelt and the zipper (seriously)! Thanks for your comment.
I have a skype phone number and it’s great because I have a US number now, even though I live overseas. It’s 60$ a year or 18$/3 months. So you could also potentially get numbers for the countries where you tend to do a lot of business in, even if you live somewhere else.
I keep my ipod touch signed into skype and use it as a phone.
Thanks for the Voange Lite tip. I use Vonage for a fax/office line. The “Lite” plan wasn’t available when I signed up. I just downgraded to it and will save $8 a month.
As for VOIP itself, here the service is not reliable enough to make me switch to it completely. Quality is not always great, and sometimes the line isn’t available (“Try again later”). My impression is that it is entirely location dependent so I’d only pay attention to referrals from people who live close to you.
Thanks Karen! Glad to help save you a few dollars! How often do you have failure to connect issues with Vonage?
Great conversation! I have a business cell phone/Blackberry (with online access disabled for now) with plenty of minutes that I use for all business calls. I have a home landline through Vonage (though not Lite, let me switch, thanks!) that I don’t use much. I make long-distance calls through JaJah.com (started by Austrians) very cheap, and now that we are traveling for a month, I’ve become more partial to Skype, which actually works very well from South America. I do prefer to make business calls through my T-Mobile cell (for now), which has excellent quality. When I work from Europe, I can send calls from my cell phone through JaJah.com, which is convenient and lets the client see my Las Vegas number.
I’ve always used my mobile phone as the work phone, not only because I do not want my kins to answer customer calls (some of them in languages they don’t even speak), but also because I move around a lot, including international travel.
When the customer calls, I’m always “in the office”, even if I am in a different country.
Add to that the fact that I have mail access from my mobile phone, and I never miss an assignment…
Thanks for this discussion. This is just the kind of info I was looking for – and it is local as well. (I’m in Boulder, Colorado.) As I’m starting up my business and about to print business cards and put my website live, I need a good solution. I think I’ll invest in a Skype number given the comments here. It makes a lot of sense and will work well with the Skype App on my cell phone wherever I happen to be in the world. Thanks!