Posted by Mary Pierce on 2/20/06 8:07am
Msg #98350

Vonage for business

Right now I am thinking about getting Vonage for my business. I can't transfer my regular number so I will probably keep that number and just pay the basic charge. Apparently they don't cover the exchanges in my area. Anyway, has anyone used this service and what do you think about it? I figured w/o it I am spending $125.00 a mo. With it I'm spending $80 a month. I'm also thinking about switching my personal line over, however they can't transfer my personal line either so I will have to get a toll free number for friends in family in my area because they would have to give me a Harrisburg, PA exchange (which is 2 hours from me) and that would be long distance for them to call me. I'm currently paying $25 a mo. just for the personal line w/o voice mail, caller id, etc. Vonage says it is $24.99 a mo. + $4.99 for the toll free number.

Reply by John_NorCal on 2/20/06 8:44am
Msg #98354

Mary, I have Vonage that I use for business. Like you, my personal number can't be transferred and I'm no9t comfortable with the way 911 calls are handled through a call center so I'm keeping my personal number. Besides I've had that number for over 30 years and don't want to give it up.
Vonage is great, I don't have the unlimited plan as I don't see a need for it just yet. You can get local numbers where ever you want them so that people can dial a local number when calling you. When you make a call there is a slight lag of maybe 10-30 seconds before the actual voice transmission will be heard. But other than that it's a great service. For an $80.00 set up fee and $14.95 a month (in my case) you just can't beat it.

Reply by Mary Pierce on 2/20/06 9:04am
Msg #98358

Well apparently they don't have exchanges for my local calling area so I would need to get a toll free number. My family who lives in my local calling area would have to use the toll free number. Anyone else calling me I'm not too concerned about. For me to have what vonage offers with the long distance w/o the toll free number would cost me about $60 a month. Using the vonage with the toll free number would cost me about $30 a month. My business line I'm going to keep my incoming line at $25-$30 a mo. until I get my number changed w/all my clients, etc. but I will be able to get a business line w/o dedicated fax number for $49.99 a month including all the bells and whistles that my local phone company would charge me about $100 a mo. for. Only bad thing is I won't have my phone book listing which quite honestly I have not done much with basic notarizing anyway.

Reply by Clay Mason on 2/20/06 9:08am
Msg #98359

I too was using Vonage for one of my business lines, but found the "lag" that John refers to very annoying. We switched to VoicePulse (www.voicepulse.com) and haven't had any problems. Prices are similar. You may also want to check out some of the other services offering VOIP and how their customers are rating them. Check out this site: http://www.dslreports.com/gbu.

Reply by TheresaCA on 2/20/06 9:36am
Msg #98364

I have my business line with Vonage with dedicated fax line for over six months already. No problem so far.

Reply by Dave_CA on 2/20/06 12:31pm
Msg #98397

I have used Vonage for over 6 months for all my outgoing calls with good results.
I use my cell phone for my business # and, with Cingular, they have a fast forward device that automatically transfers my cell to my home phones when I put it in their cradle. I'm not charged for air time on these calls.
The only problem I've had is using it for sending a fax. There seems to be a problem with Vonage and my HP fax. I just use my normal line for sending a fax. Al incoming faxes go to my efax (MaxEmail) number.