The VoIP Solution: Cheaper Phone Calls for Small Business

It may be time for your small business to cancel its old-fashioned landline. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) offers online phone services, often for a fraction of the cost of landlines or cellular phones.

How the VoIP Solution Works

VoIP allows you to make and receive phone calls via an online connection. Your phone will be fitted with a router or adapter that is connected to the Internet, and the calls are routed through broadband or DSL lines instead of traditional phone lines.

You will have a phone number, and some providers let you keep your current one.

VOIP Benefits for Small Business

VoIP providers are targeting small businesses with VoIp solutions of bundles of services and lower rates than landlines and mobiles. VoIP is expected to be used by almost half of all small U.S. organizations by 2010, according to Infonetics Research, a market-research and consulting firm.

Some VoIP solutions providers offer three-way calling, voice mail, call routing and multiple phone lines especially for small businesses. Most have flat-rate fees for unlimited, anytime calls to the U.S. and Canada that are less expensive than those offered by phone and mobile companies.

VOIP Drawbacks

Internet traffic can interfere with your VoIP phone calls. This largely depends on the speed and quality of your Internet connection. Some VoIP providers still don't offer 911 emergency calls. You should ask your provider about call security and privacy. Sound quality can also be an issue, although strides have been made in that area.

VoIP Providers and Costs

Price wars are bringing down the cost of VoIP solutions services, and there are many corporate and small ventures that offer services. Most offer small-business VoIP packages. Ask about month-to-month contracts so that you can try out the service.

Vonage offers a basic plan that gives small businesses 1,500 minutes a month, plus a fax line, for $39.99. Vonage also offers a small-business VoIP unlimited plan for $49.99 a month, including a fax line and free calls to some European countries.

Voilà IP offers small businesses several packages that include desktop fax, three-way calling, call forwarding and other services. Its most popular small-business VoIP service, the ExpressIP, costs $29.95 per month.

Aptela is offering a promotion at $24.50 per month, and a free demo. Unlimited long distance (U.S. and Canada) VoIP services are priced at $39 per month.

Verizon offers its VoiceWing service for a competitive price of $24.95 per month, but this plan may work best for the self-employed. Verizon warns that using more than 5,000 minutes per month is considered "beyond normal use" and may be investigated, which probably won't work for small businesses that have heavy call volume or employees.

AT&T offers its CallVantage for $50 per month for one line or $65 per month for two lines.

Skype is an Internet telephony service. You connect a headset to your computer to place and receive calls. (Think instant messaging, but you can talk.) Or you can get a $50 device that lets you use any phone, including your cell phone. Skype-to-Skype calls are free. A phone number with voice mail and unlimited calls in the U.S. and Canada costs about $110 per year, combining the SkypeIn and SkypeOut services.