Home Office Tech

Home Office Tech: Virtual Phone Services

This article is part of our series: “Home Office Technology” in which we examine the various technology pieces you’ll need in place to successfully manage your home-based career.

The telephone.  We’ve already discussed the different phone line options in a previous article, but there’s an entire other set of options for phone service that you may want to consider.  Virtual office phone systems, local ring-to numbers, toll free receptionist systems, and more are all part of what we consider “Virtual Phone Services.”

Here’s three of what we consider to be at the top of these services:

Google Voice

One of the newest entrants in the virtual phone service industry is Google.  At the time of this writing, their new Google Voice service was only available “by invitation only.”  However, our experience was pretty good… we received a new Google Voice account only a couple days after requesting our invitation.

Like all Google services, this is a free service, which is its first big advantage.  Basically, you get a local telephone number that can ring you on any of your current phones.  If you’re not available, the system takes a voicemail message and emails you a transcription of the caller’s message.  Other features include low cost international calls, custom greetings, SMS messaging, and blocking unwanted callers.  Check out Google Voice.

RingCentral

RingCentral is a feature-rich, professional level phone system that works for home-business professionals and larger organizations alike.  You receive a toll-free number with an online back office that allows you to setup extensions, ring-to numbers, recordings and other functions.

You can control incoming calls from your computer as well, choosing to send the caller to voicemail or to one of your phones.  You can also choose to have a message played for your caller, letting them know you’ll return their call, or asking them to hold for you.  If you need a flexible system that gives you a big-business image, check out RingCentral.

AccessLine

Another of the big player professional systems is AccessLine.  Their “Follow-me Number” provides you with a local or toll-free number that allows you to setup a schedule that determines where your calls are sent.  You also have a voice mail system that allows you to listen to messages over the phone or online.  Your AccessLine number also accepts faxes.

A more feature-rich service is their Auto Attendant, which turns your Accesline number into a virtual office.  You can setup extensions that ring to different members of your organization, each with its own voicemail box.

If you have a Costco membership, they offer a discount on the Accessline services, making it an even bigger value.

Check out Accessline.

Home Office Tech: The Phone

This article is part of our series: “Home Office Technology” in which we examine the various technology pieces you’ll need in place to successfully manage your home-based career.

The telephone.  Once upon a time this was a pretty simple solution — just using your local phone company to provide you with a land-line.  Today, while this may still ultimately be your choice, you have many, many other options to sort through.  There are so many options that you can now tailor-fit a solution that takes into account the needs of your job and the limits of your budget.

Types of phone lines

A land-line is of course your first option here.  Still considered to be the highest quality option for phone service, the traditional land-line may very well fit your needs.  Less affected by weather conditions, electrical issues or other problems that can wreak havoc on VOIP or digital lines, a land-line may in fact be required for your job.  With a home office, you needn’t get a full-fledged business phone unless you have a need to be listed in the yellow pages, perhaps for a home based business.  A simple residential 2nd line will work fine.

If a land-line isn’t required for your job, you might want to consider a VOIP line.  VOIP lines use your high-speed internet connection to provide you with phone service for less then traditional phone company lines.  VOIP services line Vonage work pretty seamlessly, allowing you to use all your regular phone equipment.  You have a standard phone number, and often you can even transfer your existing number if you choose.  Unlimited long distance, lots of user features and internet access to your voicemail are all great reasons to choose a VOIP line.

Another option may be a digital phone line through your cable company.  These tend to be more expensive then the VOIP lines, but offer similar features.  Plus, you can often get a great discounted rate on a cable digital line for the first 6-months or even a year.  Just keep an eye out for promotions.

Features you need

These days there are lots of features that come with phone lines, some are trivial while others are essential for a successful home office.  Here’s a few top features you will want to look for:

Voicemail.  This can be important to your home office, and there are a few different systems.  A lot of services have website access to your voicemail, so you can choose to listen to messages either over your phone or on your computer.  Website access may also allow you to email a voicemail message to someone, or download and save it to your computer.

Forwarding.  There are various forwarding options that can be helpful, including allowing you to forward calls to a mobile phone, set do-not-disturb hours, or route calls to a variety of phones in order or randomly.  You may also be able to setup special answering rules based on caller id, allowing you to provide priority service to important clients.

Call Waiting.  This is another pretty standard feature that’s been around for a long time.  The simple ability to place a current conversation on hold to answer another incoming call is pretty much a must-have.  However, new and enhanced systems now let you conference 2 or more calls together, forward calls to other phones, or even play hold-music while a call is on hold.  Some of these new features may not be necessary for your situation, so don’t be over-sold on a system simply because it has countless features.

Quality equipment

Finally, you’ll need a quality phone for your home office.  The type of phone you need will depend on your needs and your working environment.  You may find a cordless phone allows you the freedom to move your work to the kitchen table or back patio, providing you with freedom to move around.  Don’t skimp though, if you decide to go cordless make sure to purchase a quality phone.  Cheaper phones tend to have interference or short battery-life.

A 2-line phone is handy too.  You can use one line for your home phone line and the other for your business line.  Make sure you can adjust the ringer volume for each line so you can turn your home-line off during business hours.

Its also important to make sure your phone can use a headset.  If you need to be on the phone and typing on your computer simultaneously, a  headset is a must-have.  This is another piece of equipment that you don’t need to break the bank to purchase, but be careful not to settle for low-end merchandise either.  Take some time to look at the options available.

Of course more and more people are switching to using a cell phone exclusively for their home office.  While the cost still remains higher, unlimited plans have made this a more viable solution.  However, if you are working for a company doing customer service or call-center work, you likely will not be able to use a cell phone to take calls.

Home Office Tech: Better Email

This article is part of our series: “Home Office Technology” in which we examine the various technology pieces you’ll need in place to successfully manage your home-based career.

Any review of the technology you’ll need in place to be a successful home-worker would be useless without beginning with your E-mail.  Finding a powerful, flexible, and easy to use solution for your e-mail should be step number one on your to-do checklist.

Why is e-mail so important?  To start with, you’ll need to provide your email to prospective employers.  If you want to be taken seriously, you need a serious email address.  After all, emails that look like “twinkletoes245@mail.com” or “suziesmom@mail.com” or “hotguy27@mail.com” just don’t portray the professional image an employer will be looking for.

Its also important to have a powerful email solution.  Being able to process dozens, eventually hundreds, and likely thousands of emails per day is a requirement for anyone who is actively searching for home employment.  And its likely over 90% of what you get will be “spam” or unsolicited email.  Its vital to have a solution that allows you to quickly identify the important email while removing all the junk.

You’ll also need to consider getting away from using email addresses that identify you as an “amateur” internet user.  Ask anyone who is experienced with making a living on the internet, and they’ll tell you that someone with an AOL address, for example, is someone who hasn’t taken the effort to get out of their comfort zone to move beyond the “starter package” that came with their new computer.  Other freebie email accounts can have similar image building results.

So what’s the answer?  A simple and inexpensive solution can be setting up your own domain.  Its very easy to register a new domain name and host email with companies like Godaddy or Dotster.  In fact, you can do this for under $10.  Simply figure out what domain you (stick to .com or .net if possible) and setup a single email address to check mail.  Remember, make your email professional (example: yourname@yourdomain.com)

That’s a great solution for creating a professional email address, but what about handling all that email you’ll be getting?  Gmail is a terrific solution.  Their powerful email interface provides accurate spam processing that learns what’s important to you.  With filters, you can have the system automatically mark your important emails.  You can have their system check other email addresses, or you can download your Gmail account using a pop email program.

Now using a Gmail email account can still look professional, as long as you choose an appropriate username.  However, they have an option allowing you to host your own domain name with their service, giving you all of the power of Gmail on your domain!  This is a terrific option, and really easy to do.  Simply register your domain, then register at Google Apps for your Domain.  You can even use other Google services, such as documents and websites, with your domain.

Want a quick all-in-one solution?  Dreamhost could be your answer.  Signup for a new hosting account and receive a free domain registration.  Then, they’ll walk you through setting up your domain’s email with Gmail.  Its quick, easy, and powerful.  Loaded with lots of extra easy-install applications, your Dreamhost account will grow with you as you need new internet solutions.