Packet8 Virtual Office - Hosted VoIP PBX Service

Lower Your Total Cost of Ownership with Virtual Office VoIP while Adding Flexibility for Small and Medium-sized Businesses

Packet8 Virtual Office is a hosted VoIP PBX service, small business phone system alternative that allows small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) anywhere in the world to employ an unlimited number of extension options and enjoy geographic independence and flexibility. Virtual Office extension options include an unlimited extension, a metered extension or a virtual extension.

Personally I would recommend the unlimited calling plan because most managers do not want to micromanage the call minutes by user.

With a feature-rich telephone and options that include a unique direct inbound dial (DID) telephone number for every extension for staff located in the same building or spread around the world, Packet8 Virtual Office lowers most SMBs total cost of ownership (TCO) for phone services.

Packet8 Virtual Office cuts the typical private branch exchange (PBX) system start up costs up to 90% through the delivery of a VoIP PBX while reducing monthly phone bills by 50%. Packet8 VoIP service is designed with simple self-service tools for complete system and extension control. For organizations that require a full-service configuration and change contract, these features are included in Packet8's VoIP service for the same price.

In addition to enjoying benefits from the Virtual Office solution such as unlimited calls to the United States and Canada for a low, flat monthly fee, companies subscribing to Packet8 Virtual Office VoIP PBX can eliminate the overhead cost associated with brick and mortar buildings with the use of this VoIP PBX system by operating out of different locations without losing any powerful PBX functionality or having to pay premium local and long distance charges for inter-office calling.

A few of the many impressive Virtual Office VoIP PBX features are:

Unlimited Calling - using the Internet backbone for routing telephone calls substantially reduces phone bills

• to any telephone number in the United States and Canada (on unlimited extensions)
• extension-to-extension anywhere in the world
• from any telephone anywhere worldwide
• to and from any other Packet8 subscriber anywhere worldwide

Auto-Attendant - a powerful automated system that can replace the need for a receptionist

• available to callers 24-hours-a-day with multiple schedules and greeting
• transfers calls (dial by extension, name, company directory, or workgroup)
• if call is not answered or the line is busy, automatically will send the caller to defined destination
• customizable with pre-recorded prompts for several regularly used recordings such as sales, support, tech support, billing, account, etc.
• optional Virtual Attendant allows an existing Virtual Office subscriber to add a second auto-attendant while using the same Virtual Office unlimited or metered extensions.

Full Featured Conference Bridge - an audio conferencing system that provides a way to hold meetings involving participants at multiple sites

• saves travel time and expense for meetings
• use with Virtual Office extensions and outside callers
• up to 20 sites can participate
• administrator mode allows for making outbound calls and dropping parties
• unlimited conference calls can be scheduled and in session concurrently
• password protected for creation and admission
• automatic email and voice prompt confirmations of conference bridge reservation

Business-class Voicemail - a powerful tool when you cannot answer the phone

• up to 8 pre-recorded greeting options (full name, internal, external, after-hours, lunch, meeting, weekend, vacation)
• password protected
• voicemail to email
• listen to voicemails via attached email, through supplied phone or remotely
• one number access allowing follow me search
• dialing out of voicemail

Administrative Controls:

• Virtual Office VoIP PBX includes an administration web portal for all PBX, auto-attendant, ring groups and complete extension control
• Extension Manager allowing users the ability to control all extension settings including busy, ring-no-answer, and Internet outage handling ring duration and forwarding destinations. Other settings in Extension Manager including forwarding rules, one number access, caller ID blocking, call waiting disable and other unique settings.
• Switchboard is a great live answer application that runs on a PC and works in conjunction with the Virtual Office phone to assist operators and secretaries in seeing extension status indicators and provide quick and accurate call answering and distribution controls.

On average the start-up cost for the Packet8 Virtual Office VoIP PBX is $157 per phone plus an ongoing monthly cost of $39.95 per phone.

An office requiring twenty five phone would require an initial start-up of $4,990 which includes equipment cost, shipping, and activation. Also included is the first month of unlimited local and long-distance calling with many features, plus business-class voicemail. The monthly service costs for 25 phones would be approximately $1,066 (including fees and taxes)--not including international calls.

To learn more about the Packet8 virtual office VoIP PBX features and pricing visit their web site Packet8 VoIP PBX - Virtual Office

Advanced telephony is without a doubt essential in today’s business. Even without a on premise centralized office or PBX. Flexibility, instant configuration and the ability to avoid any hardware costs in favor of a hosted service provide small companies with a phone service only big companies could afford in the past.

Thanks to Packet8 and competitors like GotVMail, the telecom playing field no longer tilts away from small companies and now looks just about level.