Phone.com Classes Up Small Business

By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor

The virtual office is a boon for small businesses. The credibility gap between small and large businesses is cut down by virtual office services that level the playing field and let customers judge a firm by its product, not its brick and mortar location or its phone system. One virtual office solution that levels the playing field is the cloud-based PBX (News - Alert) system offered by Phone.com.

Fran Tarkenton, who runs small business advocacy and education site, OneMoreCustomer.com, is particularly enthusiastic about what phone.com can do for small businesses.

“What they do is so unique,” said Tarkenton in a YouTube video about phone.com. “Great value, great functions that serve the small business customers so well.”

Phone.com (News - Alert) helps businesses project large by effectively purchasing a business-class phone system on the cheap. Plans start as low as $10 a month, according to phone.com CEO Ari Rabban (News - Alert) in the video with Fran Tarkenton, and it lets small businesses create an automated company greeting and extensions that seamlessly forward to any cellular or landline phone.

“You can go into your control panel on the Phone.com web site and record a welcome greeting such as ‘Welcome to XYZ business, press one for marketing, two for sales, if you know your party’s extension then dial it now.’ You look a lot bigger, a lot more professional,” said Rabban.

Another benefit in addition to cost and improved professional image is creating a wall between home life and work life, something missing far too often with small business owners.

“The beauty is that you can still use your cell phone, you just don’t need that phone number anymore,” said Rabban. “Keep it private. Keep it for only your friends and family use. Now you have a real business phone number. If somebody presses one, they reach you. If somebody presses two, they can reach your partner, and you can answer on your home phone or your cell phone.”

Businesses that want to take advantage of the revolution in internet phone service can also purchase a plan through Phone.com that will give them unlimited U.S. calling for about $25 per month. If they want, they can even purchase an IP-based phone through Phone.com that hooks directly up to their internet router and serves as a landline for the business, noted Rabban.

These features make Phone.com a winner for Tarkenton, a former football great and now a small business consultant. He likes Phone.com so much that he uses it for his own business.

“The reason we chose phone.com is because of the functionality,” he said in the video on YouTube (News - Alert), as well as because of the cost and the customer service.

For Tarkenton, another reason he likes is the free conference calling that comes with Phone.com. “Small businesses don’t even use conference calling because it is too expensive,” he noted. “It is free with phone.com.”

He added, “This is a good company, wonderful people, caring people, and the service behind the product is unbelievable.”

Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli