Do you use VOIP?

[Helmuts]

Morning business chaps,

I am considering doing lots of outreach over telephone for reaching companies in the dn industry (getting them to the Summit).

And, thinking of getting a standard IP phone (cisco or something similar), and 1 or more numbers that allow me making international calls.

My current solution for making calls: 2 mobile phones: EE (the best UK coverage, speeds and reliability, by my opinion) and Lebara, which allows making free calls to 42 countries + includes EU and India roaming in all their plans at no extra cost.

The question is: what are the modern solutions for voip calls? .. and using desktop voip phones?

do you use one?

.. would love to hear real experience.

yes, I'm currently out of 'prospects' for the Summit .. and, as we all know, prospecting is the very basis of every sales procedure.

Thank you for sharing your experience,
Helmuts

....

List of Lebara's '42 free' countries (if you didn't know): Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine (Kyivstar), USA

 

[Helmuts]

.. currently thinking of Cisco 8851 voip phones.. on ebay the prices range from £14-40 for used ones..

I have to admit that I've never had VoIP phones before. Not even sure where to start. I kinda understand how they work, but still, I haven't made the plunge for several years.

And yes, a landline number always looks professional, doesn't it?

 

[diablo]

After December 2025, landlines in the UK will disappear and all calls will be VoIP so something we will all have to consider.

Full fibre broadband has just rolled out in my area. It offers a call plan that replaces the landline with VoIP and you keep your phone number.

A landline number looks more professional than a mobile number, but there is no reason to lose your "landline" number just because you move to VoIP. My understanding is most people will be able to keep the same phone number.

For years now, I have used Skype for some calls and pay £2.40 a month for a "landline" number so clients can call me on it. You can choose your area code and it can be in the UK or even abroad.

So many possibilities. I'm not an expert, but I assume the phones you are looking at are replacements for "landline" phones.

Looking forward to learning more from this thread.

 

[Helmuts]

Its hard to beat free.

For a UK Landline we use Gradwell - £8pm

For physical phone we use SNOM

For softphone we use Bria

one of these plans?

 

[Helmuts]

After December 2025, landlines in the UK will disappear and all calls will be VoIP so something we will all have to consider.

Full fibre broadband has just rolled out in my area. It offers a call plan that replaces the landline with VoIP and you keep your phone number.

A landline number looks more professional than a mobile number, but there is no reason to lose your "landline" number just because you move to VoIP. My understanding is most people will be able to keep the same phone number.

For years now, I have used Skype for some calls and pay £2.40 a month for a "landline" number so clients can call me on it. You can choose your area code and it can be in the UK or even abroad.

So many possibilities. I'm not an expert, but I assume the phones you are looking at are replacements for "landline" phones.

Looking forward to learning more from this thread.

Yes, I am also curious about Skype phones.. I remember years ago they even had their physical phones (I think).

.. just checked their offering for businesses:

Skype number is available in 25 countries/regions with even more country codes. If you need more numbers in one place, your account can hold up to 10 Skype numbers.

10 different regional numbers would me businesses from those countries easy to reach me.. interesting idea to think about as well..

 

[Helmuts]

I think I will be making "a plunge" into the voip this Feb.. and definitely wish to learn more about Google Voice prior to this.. Google's services are always reliable, well priced (not too expensive), and should go very far..

 

[diablo]

Y

10 different regional numbers would me businesses from those countries easy to reach me.. interesting idea to think about as well..

Yes, we use a San Diego Skype number for one of our businesses that solely targets the USA. It's not used very often tbh but it give customers a familiar number to call if need be.

 

[Breakline]

We use Dial9

 

[stevelook2]

I have used Voipfone for my business from home for a few years now and I am very pleased with it, I use a Grandstream adapter plugged into my Panasonic cordless phones so it looks like and feels like a normal landline.

I also have a Grandstream desktop Voip phone unit which has up to 3 lines on it if you wish, you can also programme it across different providers.

You can set business hours and also forwarding at certain times of the day, virtual receptionist and call recording among other features.
There is also a smartphone app that can act as an extension as well, so the need for physical phones is not always needed.

They have call packages or just pay as you go which costs £3 a month for a UK landline number.

This is a referral link (which I could get some minimal calling credit - which I wouldn't use as I have a package) but gives you a 30 day trial rather than the minimal trial so I hope you don't mind me posting.

https://www.voipfone.co.uk/free.php?free=308808