Phone line vs Digital Fax?

[Couch Potato]

If you think redundancy for the purposes of conducting your business is a 20th century ideal then there is nothing I can do to convince you otherwise. Having been in IT I know better than to rely on a single line of communications. But, be happy.....at least until you run into problems.

I never suggested relying on a single line of communication. My comment about CupAJoe being my backup was 100% serious. I spent most of two days there the week before last. I'm considering making it my primary service. In most areas there are a multitude of free internet connections to serve as backup.

Electronic fax services have redundant systems that far exceed anything one could achieve in their office. With multiple email addresses for reception, faxes are never missed and available anywhere.

 

[CGgonnabee]

Our home phone has dsl (lower rate than business) and distinctive ring for faxes. We also have cable tv with highspeed...again residential svc is cheaper than business (office is on the other side of the driveway - ran cable in conduit, under the driveway). The kids use the high-speed cable and the grownups use DSL, therefore we always have web access (We have found that DSL is more reliable than cable). Business phone is through Vocalocity. Faxing is toll-free, web-based through "Ureach" service which includes e-mail, voice messaging, etc. ..and I can check on things from anywhere. Someone answers the phone from 8:30 to 4:30 even if the phone has to be forwarded to my cell...I think this fact brings us more business than anything...you get to talk to a person!!! This may seem like a lot, but if any one of these extras gets me one more assignment per month, everything just got paid for (except me!).

***I prefer the digital faxes...I can always reprint if they get misplaced or if I spill coffee on them...not to mention, Ureach allows them to be converted to pdf format which makes them easy to insert into reports.

A really long answer to a short question...the southern version (yes, I talk funny and slooooooowwwwwwwwww!!:icon_biggrin::icon_biggrin:

 

[xmmcsmielr]

Vonage?

I'm on the brink of replacing hard wired phone service with a 'Net service.

An article in Wired magazine said Vonage is, or at least was, on the ropes financially with major judgments for copyright infringement. A couple of blogs criticized Vonage severly.

And yet, tonight, as I watched Arizona State University crush Texas A&M in softball (11 to zero), Vonage had some pretty catchy ads during the breaks.

The list of Vonage benefits seems to top the other services.

Complicating my decision, is that my daughter and her partner in Omaha just went with Skypes, both fixed and mobile telephones.

Before the negative Wired article and blog posts , as well as my daughters selection, I had decided to sign up with Vonage.

Any advice about Vonage?

 

[Couch Potato]

I used Vonage for years. It is good service, but MagicJack is much, much cheaper.

 

[truk1]

If you go with MagicJack can you roll over your phone numbers?

 

[xmmcsmielr]

MagicJack = New Phone Number, but not Vonage

MagicJack does not include porting your existing number. And, you have to leave your computer "ON" to receive calls.

During the several weeks that I've had MagicJack, there have been four out of ~15 calls dropped. I had to redial to complete my conversations.

However, the surprisingly low price for MagicJack makes up for the glitches I've experienced, so far.

At the same time I purchased MagicJack, I signed up for Vonage to have a system that does not require computers to be "ON" 24/7 and to keep my existing phone numbers.

After several weeks of frustration, I now have my former telephone number up and and cookin' with Vonage. I had to switch from Sprint Broadband to Qwest Broadband to obtain fast enough down and up load speeds to handle conversations. With Sprint the first ten days or so of Vonage were terrible with static and fade outs during conversations. But that was all due to Sprint's relatively slow up and down load speeds. Now, with Qwest there have not been any significant problems with three times faster downs and, get this: eight times faster upload speeds!

The only remaining issue with Vonage is that my fax line has not been transferred over. It's been almost three weeks since Vonage says they submitted the request to Qwest, while my main number went through in less than ten days. I've emailed Vonage twice in the past several days, and have had no response so far. It's not a big deal, since I no longer receive very many appraisal orders via fax, and I have had all the work I want right now from non lender clients.

Would I switch from Qwest to Vonage and MagicJack again?

Yes, because I expect the cost savings to average ~$70 per month, compared to what Qwest was charging me, including long distance. That's more than a few six packs of beer every month!

Thanks to alamode's Brian Hedges' column in the Appraisal Press (Cost Cutting) for suggesting the conversion to Internet telephone service, and thanks to the posters in this thread for valuable information.

I wonder if ACI ever makes such cost cutting suggestions?

 

[Walter Kirk]

My Fax line costs me over $350. per year, fax supplies another $25. and I haven't received a business fax in weeks. When I first set the system up about 20 years ago a fax machine was necessary but not anymore. I would love to switch to e-fax but I have had this phone number for a long time and the change ( new statonary, notifying clients etc) would cost me more that the first year's savings. If I could figure out a way to keep my fax number but use e-fax I would.

 

[rbrienza]

I use a dedicated fax/phone line to my computer that way I use no paper... and I can easily delete the crap faxes..

 

[Couch Potato]

Walter, you sound like a prime candidate for using Vonage as you business phone company. Vonage will port your numbers, and can give you a voice and fax line for as little as $480 a year. Another thing you could do is just time the change to occur with your next stationary order to eliminate waste in that area. Plan ahead for the client notification and run both numbers for a few months (forward the old one to the electronic fax to save on supplies.)

 

[tomryan]

If you're highly mobile, a e-fax solution may be helpfull as you can recieve fax's on the fly and donot have to dedicate a line to the activity.