What is a good low cost autoattendant phone service for a small business?

Question

I am trying to find a good system, most likely a model of phone someone has some information on, that is capable of the "press 1 for sales, press two for service" etc. interactive menu for a small business (no more than 4 phone lines). IVR equipment all seems to be $7000 and up, but just an autoattendant is fine. $7K is way more than I'll be able to spend, I am more looking for equipment around $1000 or less. There are also some "subscription services", which I would like to avoid. If the phone will transfer to a vonage line, that would be a great thing. Anyone who has had to set up this kind of system for a small business, please let me know what you chose, and why! Thanks...

Answer 1

Yes - you have lots of options here. Don't toss away the subscription service! I've used a subscription service (this is called a "Virtual PBX", or "Virtual Phone System" for my girlfriend's housecleaning business and it's been very reliable.

If you want a true "phone system" (with auto attendant, extensions, call forwarding, a local or toll free number, etc.), you should try RingCentral. (You can read my review of their service here: http://small-business-phone.com/?p=4)...... I have used RingCentral ($9.95/mo) for over a year and it's been awesome. You can get a free trial (30 days), too. (and, as you probably guessed - you don't buy any equipment).

Yes, you can use it with your Vonage Line.

If you want to go "Free", you can use GrandCentral (just acquired by Google). You will get a local number (not toll-free), but there's NO auto attendant, extensions etc. When someone dials your GrandCentral number, it forwards to you cell phone (or other phone) (there's some more bells and whistles in there, it's really neat).

Good luck! My Blog continues to review free/low cost voice solutions for the small business/individual professional. Please bookmark it.

-Jordan