Web Worker Daily

I spend a lot of time each day communicating with colleagues and clients, by phone, email, on social networks, and via the occasional fax. But when I need to have a short conversation and get an answer right away, instant messaging is hard to beat. Unfortunately, there are several IM protocols, and most of them don’t talk to each other. That’s why I use the multi-protocol IM software Adium on the Mac and Pidgin on the PC. I can also use a web-based alternative like Meebo or the new Imo.im.

VoxOx wants to take multi-system communication several steps further. In addition to the various IM protocols, it supports social networks (Facebook, MySpace and Twitter); SMS texting; faxing; private email; file sharing; video conversations; and voice connections. VoxOx also supports Skype messaging, although you have to have the Skype software running, which sort of defeats its purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

As my virtual social media marketing firm Conversify grows, my business partner Monique Elwell and I are forced to assess and implement technologies to help us do our work better and faster. Both Monique and I are committed to keeping our company virtual and flexible.

While exploring solutions for a phone system that could help our company appear more cohesive and communicate more effectively, Monique started looking at VoIP switching systems or “virtual PBXs.” She focused specifically on RingCentral and Virtual PBX. We’re sharing some of our findings here because we know that many of you may be in the same situation as us: tying together dispersed teams under one phone system to have a more unified corporate presence.

Monique put the following list of questions together that we had to ask ourselves while researching phone systems for our company.

1. How many lines do we need? Here we mean the number of phone lines that you expect to be speaking on simultaneously.
2. How many extensions do we need? An extension rings to an individual, or to a department (such as sales).
3. How much time do we spend on the phone? While we use a lot of email, we decided to go with unlimited minutes to avoid any surprise costs at the end of the month.
4. Do we need a system that is incoming calling only, or one allowing us to transfer to other coworkers? We would prefer being able to transfer calls for convenience.
5. Do we have to purchase a special phone or use the ones we have? Some virtual PBXs and phone systems do come with hardware while others are entirely online.

RingCentral and Virtual PBX are systems that allow your team members to be in multiple locations and are priced similarly so we’ll talk about those first.

For our team, we each have either a cell phone, a home or work landline or a Skype number that we use as our work numbers. But we lack the consistency of a common greeting messaging tree that instructs, “Thank you for calling Conversify. Press 1 for Aliza, press 2 for Monique, etc.”. While traditional offline PBXs offering this functionality can cost in the tens of thousands dollar range, there are dozens of services offering virtual PBXs and their costs are within reach of even a small startup company,

Ring Central and Virtual PBX use VoIP which these days is nearly indistinguishable from a regular landline, and the quality is far superior to cell phones.

Both Ring Central and Virtual PBX — and many other similar services — offer some standard features:

• Auto attendant. This is the voice that answers company calls and automatically routes them based on caller input.
• Call rules. This allows, for example, “Press 1 for Sales; Press 2 for Marketing.”
• Follow me services. This feature gives you the ability to have your calls forward to the phone number where you’re available.
• Custom greetings. This is the ability to record your own greetings for each person or department.
• Web-based system management. Being able to manage your phone system online means you can handle issues and changes from any Internet-connected computer.
• Virtual fax. This feature is nice for us because we are currently using a virtual fax system, so this can save some monthly fees.
• Dial by name directories. This allows callers to enter the first three letters of a team member’s name to find them easily.

Some virtual PBX systems offer the following options with or without additional costs:

• Integrated conferencing
• Vanity, virtual or toll-free numbers

The big difference between Virtual PBX or Ring Central and some other systems is that these two allow you to transfer calls to internal lines. Both also allow you to purchase a phone from them or use your own phone. Some systems even have a robust set of features to handle call centers but we weren’t looking for that kind of functionality.

Both Ring Central and Virtual PBX were easy to set up. For Ring Central, all we had to do was plug in the pre-programmed Linksys IP phone they sent to us to test. We’d have to buy the phone if we decided to use it along with their service. The phone looks like a regular office phone and includes a power cord and Ethernet cable.

For Virtual PBX, we chose to use our own phone so the set up was slightly more complicated but with this option, we would not have to buy a phone. We inputted our individual local phone numbers into our account on the Virtual PBX’s web site and took a two-minute tutorial on how to use the system.

International Routing

Monique identified a challenge we are struggling with while exploring virtual PBX systems is that we have a UK presence and don’t want it to appear separate from our U.S.-based team. Every service we spoke with charges by the minute for calls to the UK. “For a small company likes ours, that could double our phone expenses,” Monique explained.

We also want a “local” virtual number to be used in the UK although this is less of a priority. We have considered giving our UK guy a US softphone but that means that when calls come from the UK, they are first sent to the PBX and then directed back to the UK so that would most likely degrade the quality of the call. So haven’t forked over any cash to a virtual PBX service just yet. Until we can figure out whether a virtual PBX can solve this international issue, we’re still using a Skype number.

What virtual PBX system do you use — if you use one — and what do you like about it?

Image credit: RingCentral.com

My cell phone number is on my business card. It’s the only number I ever give out. It makes sense, because I’m routinely not in my home office when someone calls me; if I want a client to be able to reach me, my cell phone is the best bet.

Many web workers rely on their cell phones for work these days and some have even moved to handling their phone calls entirely through their computers, with services like Skype. There are plenty of ways to do without a landline at this point, which leads us to the question of whether it’s even necessary to pay for a telephone line anymore. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been using Google Voice since it was GrandCentral, and have been quite impressed. But it’s still in beta, and while invitations to the beta are finally becoming available, I understand that they’re still hard to come by.

3jam is billing itself as an alternative to Google Voice, and it’s available today, so I’ve given it a quick spin. This is not a complete review, as there are some of 3jam’s features that I haven’t tried, such as SMS messaging, forwarding to Skype, an API that lets you write your own applications to interact with their service, and “group” numbers that allow multiple users to share voice mail and messaging. Read the rest of this entry »

James over at our sister site jkOnTheRun has been trying the latest version of Skype (version 4.1 on Windows, 2.8 on Mac). This new version includes screen-sharing features that allow you to share your desktop with other Skype users. James tested it out while collaborating on a document editing session with co-writer Kevin and was extremely impressed with its simplicity and the way that it allowed real-time collaboration with very little lag. He says that using it enables “true collaboration; it is just like looking over the host’s shoulder to see what they are doing.”

Earlier today, I had a Skype call with James. Initiating a screen-sharing session during the call was as simple as pressing the “share” button and selecting whether to share the whole screen, or just a portion of it. It worked very well; James was able to see every detail on my screen with minimal lag, even though I am in the UK and he’s in Houston. Here’s a screenshot of my desktop he took during the call:

This new version of Skype provides a very easy (and free) way to share a screen with a colleague for collaboration or tech support. Check out James’ post for more detail.

Note: You might need to go to the Skype web site to grab the latest version; clicking “Check for Updates…” didn’t work for me.

Have you tried Skype screen sharing for collaboration? Let us know how it went in the comments.

Web workers do pretty much everything else online, so why not use Internet phone service, too? Besides our natural technology addiction, there are actually compelling financial reasons for why using VoIP (voice over IP) services can be a good idea.

The cost savings can be significant over traditional landline phone services, depending on the needs of your business and whether you make a lot of long-distance or international calls. Here’s a look at the top four ways to cut your web worker budget by using a VoIP service.

Get a business phone number at a fraction of a landline’s cost. Using VoIP can save money on a business line in both service and installation costs. Service for a landline into my home office from our phone company would cost around $30 per month for local service, with long-distance calls additional. Read the rest of this entry »

Screensharing application Yuuguu is an old favorite of WebWorkerDaily. Today, the company launched support for Skype users, bringing its screensharing expertise to one of the largest communication platforms in the world. We caught up with CEO Anish Kapoor to learn a little about the features announced today and the company’s future plans.

Imran: Could you outline the new features announced in the latest edition of Yuuguu?

Anish: This new edition was all about making it really easy for Skype users to instantly screenshare and collaborate in real time with anyone, on any major IM network, not just Skype. Read the rest of this entry »

If, like me, you’re a reasonably heavy user of Skype, Om reported some good news yesterday: for a short time Skype is offering a 25 percent discount on 12-month subscriptions to its unlimited plans. This cuts the cost of an Unlimited World plan, offering calls to anywhere in the world, to just $9.71 per month.