Just connect your home phone, broadband and landline to the phone adapter and enjoy the freedom of making Skype calls anywhere around the house from your home phone. You can also receive Skype to Skype calls from other Skype users on your landline phone using the Connect•Me Home Phone Adapter.

• FREETALK Connect•Me + more than 60 minutes** of complimentary calls to landlines and mobiles via Skype ($39.99)
• FREETALK Connect•Me + 12 months of calls to landlines and mobile phones in the U.S. and Canada and 200 minutes**of calls to international landlines and mobiles ($59.99)
• FREETALK Connect•Me + a 3-month Unlimited*World subscription to the US and Canada plus landlines in 40 other countries ($59.99)

These new ATAs, similar to the popular MagicJack adapters, are made by SpanishHong Kong-based Freetalk and are embedded with SkypeKit; the services and APIs that consumer electronic devices use to plug-in to Skype.

I think the ability to receive Skype-to-Skype calls on the landline helps Skype toward its ambition of becoming the new phone network. That’s why I feel Skype should be giving these ATAs away, just as it gives away its mobile apps. The easier it is for people to use the Skype network, the more likely they are to spend money buying minutes for calling people on non-Skype phones. And that can’t be a bad thing for Skype.

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• NewNet Q2: Google closes the quarter with a bang

j2 has been offering Onebox, which it calls a “unified communications” system, for some time. And while Onebox offers a comprehensive feature set, its price point, which begins at $49 per month per user, is higher than some organizations will want to pay.

For users who do not need Onebox’s fax, email and web conferencing tools, j2 offers eVoice, which competes with the likes of 8×8 Virtual Office Solo and Google Voice. I asked eVoice’s Greg Smith how he differentiates eVoice from Onebox and from competitors’ offerings. According to Smith, eVoice stands out because it offers a free trial for up to six months, 1,000 minutes or 60 voicemail transcriptions. Smith says that eVoice recognizes how central telecommunications is to businesses, and it wants to ensure that customers are comfortable with its service. eVoice also offers a large discount (23 percent) to those who sign up before the trial period ends.

Some plans also include:

• 24/7 support, and a free service to set up eVoice for customers.
• The choice to port existing numbers, or to provide sophisticated call management with existing phone services.
• Call recording. This new service allows users to record one-on-one calls and conferences from any phone. The other party is notified that recording is happening, and the recording is available in MP3 or WAV file formats. The recording service is priced at an additional $5.95 per month for unlimited recordings.

The eVoice service includes features that are familiar to those who have tried similar products, including: auto attendant; conference calling; iPhone, Android, BlackBerry apps; sequential or simultaneous ringing; dial by name directory; call forwarding; multiple extensions; call screening; speed dial; call transfers; caller announce; hold music; and caller ID and blocking.

Pricing for the basic eVoice service begins at $12.95 per month, and includes 2 extensions and 300 minutes of calling. Other plans are available with more minutes, extensions and options.

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• The Future of Workplaces
• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview

VoIP/Phone service

• Google Voice. Voice is Google’s phone service, which launched to much fanfare in March 2009. It provides free PC-to-PC voice and video calls, free PC-to-phone calls within the U.S. and cheap calls elsewhere (for users in the U.S. only). One of Google Voice’s most useful features (again, only available to U.S. residents) is that it enables users to have one number that they can use anywhere — any calls placed to that number will ring all of the users’ configured phones. The service also provides a range of useful additional features, such as voicemail, SMS, conference calling, call screening and transcription of voicemail messages.
• Vbuzzer. A VoIP and IM service that, unlike Skype, is based on open protocols like XMPP and SIP. It offers free PC-to-PC calls, as well as paid-for PC-to-phone calls, with typically cheaper rates than Skype. It also features voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID, web conferencing and fax service.
• VoxOx. VoxOx is trying to be an “all-in-one” messaging app for both the desktop and mobile devices. It combines phone calls, IM, SMS, video chat, conference calling and even fax. It also provides similar “one number anywhere” functionality to Google Voice, and outgoing calls can be placed at competitive rates. While Charlie didn’t particularly like the Mac client when he reviewed it back in January, finding some shortcomings, it’s worth a look. The iPhone app is interesting because rather than relying on VoIP, it uses callbacks — the service can ring you on any convenient nearby phone line.
• Viber. iPhone users looking for a way to make free VoIP calls should take a look at Viber, a VoIP app that allows iPhone-to-iPhone calling over 3G and Wi-Fi connections. The app is free, runs in the background, doesn’t have any ads and won’t charge you anything to make calls. Android and BlackBerry apps are apparently in the works, which would extend the app’s reach significantly.
• Grasshopper. Looking for a step up from Skype to a more business-oriented virtual phone system? Grasshopper provides many of the features found in expensive office PBX systems for a fraction of the cost, including support for multiple users, each with their own extension, individual greetings, voicemail, web access and notifications by email or text message, as well as the ability to have local or toll-free numbers for people to call you on. Charlie was impressed by the product and its slick web interface when he reviewed it back in 2009. The type of advanced functionality you get comes at a higher cost than consumer-focused offering like Google Voice and Skype, however, with a range of plans available.
• 8×8 Virtual Office Pro/Solo.  8×8 provides another useful VoIP-based virtual business phone system. It’s available in two editions, Virtual Office Pro for businesses requiring multiple extensions, and Solo for individuals (see Charlie’s recent review). The system includes business numbers, voicemail, call waiting, music on hold, caller ID, three-way calling and the ability to record calls for storage as digital audio files. It costs $49.99 per extension per month for the Pro Edition or $7.99 per month for the Solo edition.

Video Chat

While some of the options listed above, like Google Voice,  provide video calling as part of the services they offer, there are also some dedicated video chat apps:

• Tinychat. For multiuser video chats, Tinychat is great. It’s dead simple to use, requires no login, and has a clean interface. It’s Flash-based, so it should work in most browsers and up to 12 people can join a video chat simultaneously. The basic service is free.
• ooVoo. ooVoo also provides free multiuser (up to six people simultaneously) video chat, and has clients available for Mac, PC and a wide range of mobile devices. It even allows for high-quality video calling over 3G wireless networks.
• FaceTime. Apple’s video chat application is no longer just for iPhone users. With the launch of FaceTime for Mac in February, it works on Macs and any iOS device with a forward-facing camera, it makes it possible to place Mac-to-Mac, Mac-to-iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, and iPhone/iPod touch/iPad -to-iPhone/iPod touch/iPad calls. Video quality is high, supporting up to 720p resolution on more recent Macs.

What are your favorite alternatives to Skype?

Photo courtesy Flickr user DanBrady

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• The Future of Workplaces
• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• Report: Google’s Voice Possibilities

As with its Pro cousin, Virtual Office Solo includes a dedicated business phone number (or you can port your existing number). Calls may be sent and received through any Windows or Mac web browser with Java 10.0 or higher; no additional software downloads or added plug-ins are required. Existing contacts can be imported from Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter.

When you’re away from your desk, or at certain times of day, calls can be forwarded to a mobile or home phone. The system includes voicemail, call waiting, music on hold, caller ID, three-way calling and the ability to record calls for storage as digital audio files.

Virtual Office Solo also includes some features that go beyond services like Google Voice, including unlimited calling in the U.S. and Canada, web conferencing with video for up to 15 simultaneous participants, and Internet faxing. The system also includes free mobile apps that enable users to place and receive calls through iOS and Android devices while displaying their Virtual Office Solo phone number as the Caller ID.

What Solo doesn’t have is extensions and the “phone tree” or auto-attendant features of a full PBX, so it isn’t suited for multi-person enterprises. It also doesn’t have voice-to-text message transcriptions, and is not compatible with VoIP desk phones; you’ll need the more expensive Pro version to get all of these features.

Virtual Office Solo is similar in many ways to other phone services, like Google Voice, VoxOx and Grasshopper. Its feature set is perhaps closest to Grasshopper’s, but at $7.99 per month, 8×8′s service has more options and is less expensive. The product can be ordered online from the 8×8 website and activated immediately.

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• The Future of Workplaces
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Sure, there are web conferencing services, such as GoToMeeting, where you can share your desktop, present audio over phone or VoIP, and even push out polls, but what if you want to produce a more media-rich presentation that you can share with your virtual team for training purposes? And archive it? And repurpose it?

Knoodle offers a training solution that provides a presentation with a split screen; you can have text or PowerPoint slides on one side of the screen and video on the other, then sync the video and audio with the slides so they automatically advance at the right time. The Knoodle presentations are more engaging than screencasts or audio slideshows.

You can combine multiple assets — PowerPoint slideshows, video, images and text — and also add also add test quizzes or surveys into your presentations to allow viewers to become active participants in the information exchange. You can capture video as you produce your presentation with your web cam, or opt not to use the video component and just sync up audio.

Once your rich-media presentation is complete, you can share a link to it, export it as an MP4 file and email it, or embed it on your site, your blog, or within your intranet. You can also reuse and repurpose assets you’ve uploaded to create new presentations quickly and easily. As an admin, you can create and manage groups, invite group members,and manage and track who has viewed the presentation you’ve created. You can share the presentations internally (for training your team, for example) or externally (for providing publicly accessible training, demos and educational tools).

Knoodle offers a 30-day free trial. Pricing ranges from $14.99/month to $149.99/month, based on usage and the number of people watching the presentations. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time.

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• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• A Town Hall Talk on the Future of Work

netTALK has introduced the Duo, which is a hardware-plus-service option that’s somewhere in the middle. The hardware is a little box that’s about as simple to set up as anything I’ve seen. Plug it into an Ethernet connection, power and a phone, then go to the netTALK website to activate it, and you’ve got unlimited calling to the U.S. and Canada, and cheap rates to the rest of the world.

During the activation process, you can choose your area code and exchange, although you can’t select an exact number. You’ll also need to provide your street address so that the service can give you accurate 911 service. netTALK doesn’t yet offer a way to port existing numbers, although that’s apparently in the works.

If you want to, you can connect the Duo to your network and use the company’s software to make calls. There’s even beta videophone software, although I haven’t tried it, as the software and drivers are Windows-only. And there are smartphone apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, although it’s not currently possible to link your Duo account to the mobile apps.

The netTALK service includes all the basic services we’ve come to expect from VoIP, such as call forwarding, caller ID, three-way calling, and call waiting. But you won’t find extensions, conditional forwarding, or any of the other advanced features that more business-oriented services offer. Voicemails are sent to your email box as a WAV file; netTALK doesn’t offer transcriptions like Google Talk and some other services do.

The netTALK Duo is priced at $69.95, which includes one year of service. Subsequent years are apparently $29.95. If you need cheap incoming and outgoing calls, can do without sophisticated call management features, and don’t want to be connected to a computer all the time, netTALK’s Duo may be a reasonable option.

Have you used the netTALK Duo? What VoIP solutions do you prefer?

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• Report: Google’s Voice Possibilities
• Could Skype in Your Pocket Beat the iPod Touch?

Now, AT&T has worked with VoIP cloud-based phone system provider RingCentral to develop a mobile app that allows users to manage their company phone system directly from their iPhone. The free app is part of AT&T’s Office@Hand system, which includes a comprehensive set of business-oriented features, such as:

• Toll-free or local voice and fax numbers (faxes can be forwarded by email)
• Cloud-based PBX, with extensions for individuals and up to eight departments
• Auto-receptionist
• Ability to transfer calls between mobile numbers and landlines
• Flexible answering rules
• Advanced call forwarding
• Call queues
• Voicemail with email delivery

The iPhone app can be used by managers to reconfigure the flow of an organization’s voice calls, change recorded greetings, and even purchase more capacity if needed — the additional services will be available immediately, and the charges will appear on the manager’s AT&T Wireless bill. The same iPhone app (and a more-limited BlackBerry app) can be used by non-managers to check their messages, configure call screening and voicemail, and make outgoing calls that will show the company’s phone number as the caller ID rather than their own.

While the manager needs to have an AT&T iPhone to use the iPhone app, other workers in the organization can be connected via other types of phones. I haven’t been able to try out the app myself, since I don’t have an AT&T iPhone, but the Office@Hand functions can also be managed using a standard web browser.

AT&T’s Office@Hand service is priced on a per-user basis, with costs starting at $16/user/month on top of whatever you are already paying for phone service. There are no setup fees, but you’ll need a mobile phone with a voice and data plan to use the service, and your carrier may charge voice minutes for forwarded calls. There’s a minimum of two users, and it works with up to 100 users. You may try the service for 30 days, and there are no long-term contracts.

How do you manage your company’s phone system while you’re on the road?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub. req.):

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• Could Skype in Your Pocket Beat the iPod Touch?

Just about every business-oriented VoIP phone, and even many cellphones, come with a speakerphone these days. But such speakers are often poor, and using a poor-sounding speakerphone doesn’t reflect well on our business. Since I spend most of my time typing on a computer, I prefer to use a speakerphone or a headset. Many VoIP services can be used with a softphone and a computer’s speakers and mic, or with an ATA (an adapter that allows one to connect standard phones to the Internet). But I wanted to see how much difference a really good phone could make.

The folks at 8×8, whose Virtual Office Pro system I reviewed recently, kindly lent me a Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 conference phone, and a Polycom SoundPoint IP 550 desk phone.

The IP 550 is a slightly larger version of the IP 450 that I’ve been using with OnSIP. The 550′s sound quality, both in handset and speaker mode, is very good, but its multiplicity of features means that it has too many buttons to suit me. I’m sure that I’d get used to its layout eventually, but it’s a bit overwhelming at first.

Polycom’s triangular speakerphones are a feature of many conference rooms. The IP 6000 is intended for conferencing, and doesn’t even have a handset, although I was surprised to discover that it doesn’t take much more room on a desk than the 550 does. The manufacturer claims that it can pick up conversations from up to 12 feet away; I wasn’t able to test this, but it certainly has a large range. It can get operating power from Ethernet (meaning there’s one less wire on one’s desk), or it can use an optional AC adapter.

The IP 6000 automatically adjusts microphone sensitivity as needed, and its speaker quality is outstanding. All in all, it’s a phone that I could cheerfully leave on my desk for daily use, then take it with me for conferences.

8×8 sells both phones pre-configured for their service; it’s just a matter of plug and play. The phones interact well with 8×8′s web-based software, or can be used on their own. Both have excellent sound quality, better than the Konnect phone I looked at recently, or the Cisco/Linksys SPA942 that I tried with the RingCentral service.

8×8 sells the IP 6000 for $729.99, and the IP 550 goes for $259.99. If you and your colleagues regularly participate in conference calls, or just spend a lot of time on the phone, the expense is well worth it.

What systems do you use for conference calls?

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The phones come in a couple of versions: one type is intended for use with a PBX or Asterisk server, while the version I tried doesn’t require a server.

Physically, the phone is similar in size to the Polycom SoundPoint IP 450 that I’ve been using. You can program the buttons on the right of the phone to meet your needs, and Konnect provides a template so that you can print your own labels for the buttons.

The phone has a speakerphone, which generally sounded pretty good to me, but sometimes callers complained that I didn’t sound as good as I do when speaking on the Polycom. If you prefer to use a headset, the phone includes an RJ-10 headset jack.

One feature that I really like, which I haven’t seen elsewhere, is that the phone includes an RJ-11 jack that can be used to connect a standard landline, in addition to the VoIP connections.

Konnect provides a couple of videos to get you started, one for basic setup, and one for programming the phone. If (like me) you don’t like video instructions, there’s also well-written documentation available.

The Konnect web portal lets you manage your account and set up some simple forwarding rules, but doesn’t provide for the sorts of fancy forwarding, grouping and answering rules offered by some of the VoIP services we’ve looked at in the past, including OnSIP and RingCentral.

You can buy outgoing call minutes directly from Konnect (rates vary; its service is currently priced at 3.9 cents/minute to the U.S. and Canada). But the phone can also be set up to use many different VoIP providers.

We found the phone to work very well as an intercom between colleagues. The quality of outside calls, however, varied significantly: sometimes calls were very clear, but at other times there was a lot of breakup in the connection. We tried two different VoIP providers, and had similar issues, but I couldn’t really figure out whether the problems were due to the phone, my Internet connection, or to the VoIP services we were using.

Konnect phones are sold through distributors, or you can request to get connected with a local reseller at Konnect’s website.

Have you used Konnect phones? What equipment do you use for VoIP calling?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub. req.):

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• Could Skype in Your Pocket Beat the iPod Touch?

VO Pro’s Flash-based web interface allows direct sending and receiving of calls through a softphone, as well as access to functions that are standard with many VoIP systems, such as call forwarding and three-way calling. Users can also record and archive calls, and can see live video of callers and co-workers. 8×8 has jumped on the social media bandwagon, too: and users can post status messages to Twitter and Facebook directly from the VO Pro dashboard. In addition, the service includes unlimited sending and receiving of faxes.

The core functions of the suite are available on the road through VO Pro’s mobile application for iOS.

VO Pro’s interface and feature set is similar to Ribbit Mobile‘s, although VO Pro feels more like a finished product than Ribbit’s did when I tried it a few months back.

8×8 Virtual Office Pro 2.0 is available as part of several plans, including an “unlimited” plan for a price of $49.99 per extension per month, plus a $40 setup fee. It is possible to port existing telephone numbers to the service.

If you’ve tried Virtual Office Pro, share your comments below.

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Many people like the open source VoIP software Asterisk, but it’s tricky to set up, even for tech-savvy folks. Aretta has developed a hosted version of Asterisk called NetPBX PRO, and given it a friendly setup. The company has been in operation since 2006, and is now offering a “white-label” service to resellers.

Because Aretta is based on Asterisk, it offers a full range of sophisticated features, including support for softphones and mobile applications, as well as conference bridging. Aretta can port numbers in most locations in the US and Canada, and offers local numbers in 43 countries. Aretta offers phone support during business hours, and 24/7 emergency service.

Aretta prices its services based on how many simultaneous calls you need to make or receive. Each simultaneous call takes what Aretta calls a “channel” (think in terms of number of “lines” rather than “extensions.”) Aretta offers an online system that will generate a quote, but in general, you can either pay $20 per channel per month plus 1.9 cents per minute for incoming and outgoing calls, or you can opt for a flat $40 per channel per month. It’s a flexible system: you can delete or add channels online in seconds if your needs change.

While Aretta claims excellent reliability, you can choose to purchase a system under which your phone service will automatically be moved to a backup data center if needed. This service is offered for $5 per channel per month (minimum $25).

If you like, Aretta will also sell you pre-configured VoIP phones, too. I didn’t try them, but getting plug-and-play equipment is one of the things I liked about RingCentral.

Aretta is offering a demo account which is fully functional for 30 days. WebWorkerDaily readers may go here and enter demo code WWD2010. It only takes a couple of minutes for the system you request to become available.

Photo by Flickr user kozumel, licensed under Creative Commons.

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The developers call Ringio a “new approach for call collaboration.” Borrowing from call center technology, when a call comes in, users are presented with a real-time popup showing data about the caller, so that one can decide whether to take the call, redirect the caller to voicemail, or to another team member. The information presented goes far beyond caller ID, however, and includes details such as who the caller last spoke to, what previous calls were missed, and notes about the caller from colleagues. The desktop app uses an Adobe AIR interface, which I generally don’t like, but Ringio’s app is quite attractive.

Ringio includes several team collaboration tools, including a shared corporate address book, the ability to easily share contact information and call history among team members. Ringio also includes systems for showing the availability of team members, share call-handling responsibilities, and send instant messages between team members.

Ringio also offers an Android application (which I haven’t tried) that allows users to hold, transfer, redirect and deflect calls while on the road. The app offers access to calls, voicemails, contacts, notes and other team members, and it synchronizes in real time with the desktop app. iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and mobile web apps are on the way.

Administrators can customize Ringio through a web app that allows creation of sophisticated call routing. If desired, one can get rid of the “phone tree” and substitute something like “I see you talked to Charlie when you called us last; would you like to speak with him again?” I suspect that some of my customers would find this creepy; others would appreciate the time savings.

Ringio has some other nice features. It can be used together with an existing PBX system and, next month, it will be possible to terminate calls on VoIP systems using URIs (the phone equivalent of an email address). It also seamlessly syncs with Google Contacts (something that Ribbit Mobile — the closest competitor to Ringio that I’ve seen — still can’t do), and with Zoho CRM, Salesforce.com, Highrise, and SugarCRM. Ringio also offers features that are pretty standard among VoIP phone systems, including voicemail; call rejection and blocking; a “Find Me” redirect system; Caller ID that always shows your office number, even when on the road; availability of local and toll-free numbers; and number porting.

Pricing starts at $99 per month for four users, plus $25 per month for each additional user. The basic plan includes a pool of 2,000 incoming and outgoing minutes; with each additional user, the company pool increases by 500 minutes. Additional minutes are billed at 5 cents each. A free trial is available.

Have you used Ringio? Let us know your thoughts on the service.

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As always, Google is rolling out the new service gradually. It hasn’t become active on all of my Gmail accounts yet. Also, Google says that it will be available for Google Apps, but doesn’t specify a timeline.

So you’ll want to log into your Gmail account and see if there’s a new option that says “Call Phone.” It will appear under Chat in the navigation menu on the left. If you see this option, your account is ready for phoning!

It’s pretty simple to set up. You’ll need to:

• Install the voice and video plugin, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
• Select a Google Voice phone number. If you don’t already have one, you’ll be prompted to do this. Numbers are available only in the continental U.S., but you can select many different area codes and locations.
• If you want to receive incoming calls in the Gmail web interface, you’ll also need to go to the “Phones” tab of your Google Voice settings and check the option to forward calls to Google Chat.

Once you’ve finished the setup, just click the “Call Phone” link and a dialer will be displayed. You can search through your contacts, or enter a number directly.

I’ve made some calls using the internal speakers and microphone of my 13 inch Mac Pro, while connected via a wireless network to a cable connection that generally offers download speeds of 15-20 Mb/s. Sound quality on both ends of the calls was surprisingly good, with just a tiny bit of the delay that seems endemic to VoIP services.

Calls to the U.S. and Canada are currently free, and international calls are billed at the usual Google Voice rates.

If you spend a lot of time in the Gmail web interface, you’ll probably find this new service very useful.

Do you use Google Voice?

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It’s a busy space, Goober competes with desktop multi-IM programs like Pidgin, Adium, Trillian and Digsby; web-based services like Meebo; mobile apps like Fring and Beejive; and programs that add social networks to the mix, like Socialite. It also wants to compete with services that add voice and/or video chat functions, like VoxOx and Nimbuzz. The elephant in the voice and video communication arena, of course, is Skype, which has just rolled out a Windows-only beta of group video chats. Google Talk already offers video chat, and its acquisition of Gizmo5 will certainly result in upgrades to Google Voice. And Goober also gets to compete in the silly name contest.

So why do we need another multi-protocol communication service? Goober claims it has the following advantages over Skype and other VoIP providers:

• Users can call more countries (277), although Goober doesn’t offer incoming landline calls like Skype and Google Voice.
• Users can chat with users of protocols including ICQ, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber,
  AOL, Yahoo and QQ.
• The program integrates with Facebook and Twitter.
• Goober will offer six-way video conferencing on both PC and Mac (during the beta, conferences are limited to four).
• Outgoing call costs are 25-50 percent less, with calls in the US and Canada offered at a “record low” $.01 per minute.

I’ve tried the Mac beta, and while it’s usable, it’s not as elegant as the app from Nimbuzz (although it beats VoxOx’s ugly interface by a mile). The cluttered interface is not enhanced by obtrusive, animated banner ads.

Entering one’s IM and social network accounts is simple enough, although one must provide passwords, as there is no support for oAuth or Facebook Connect. It is possible to enter more than one account from the same service, but I wasn’t able to use Google Apps credentials to add Gtalk accounts.

Its tools for managing contacts are limited. Goober allows users to create groups, but if a contact appears twice (for example,  as a Gtalk and Facebook connection) the entries can’t be merged. One can’t sync or import address books, either.

I’m disappointed that Goober doesn’t support Growl, having opted instead for non-standard on-screen notifications. Goober also has mobile and web versions, but these are really different products with less robust feature sets.

For Mac users, Goober offers video conferencing options not (yet) available on Skype. For daily IMing, though, I’ll probably continue to use Adium.

Goober is offering the first 5,000 people to download the beta of Goober 3.0 a free voucher for $5 in credit. Try it, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Soho OS has some similarities to 5050biz, which I talked about a while back. Soho’s navigation system is more cohesive than I found 5050biz.com’s to be, although it still has its quirks. The main menu consists of three enormous buttons (“Business,” “Networking,” and “Services”) on the left, which then display section submenus at the top. The home page includes widgets that can be moved around, but can’t be edited or removed.

Soho’s business management and development functions include:

• A calendar and to-do system that allows one to share and assign items.
• A CRM system.
• A section for tracking marketing campaigns. Integration with AdWords is lacking, and is definitely needed.
• Fairly sophisticated invoicing and inventory systems, although several of their functions weren’t yet operational as of this writing. There are apparently plans for a full-fledged financial management system.
• Systems for creating and managing trouble tickets and FAQs.
• Tools to create and manage access to Soho. Internal and external users can be assigned to groups, and given different levels of access.

Soho’s contact management and networking tools include:

• A “Social Stream” reminiscent of private microblogging solutions like Flowr.
• An IM function, controlled from a bar that looks very much like Facebook Chat.
• An address book, in which contacts can be shared among group members, and which allows imports and exports of CSV files.

Soho also offers services (free during the beta period, but premium options later):

• Tools for making outgoing VoIP calls; sending SMS, faxes, and mass emailings; processing credit card transactions; and creating voice messaging campaigns.

Soho’s strength is its integration, so those who only need certain of its tools will probably be better off using stand-alone apps. Having one customer list that all of its services can access is potentially its most useful feature. But while it has a lot of useful tools, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. And it assumes that business owners are going to be willing and able to entrust a huge amount of business data to single system. Until it offers ways of interacting with the tools that business owners are already using, its usefulness is probably limited to the smallest of companies and those that don’t have a lot of information already stored elsewhere. Soho is still in invite-only beta, and it’s definitely rough around the edges; many features aren’t yet working or are incomplete.

Editor’s note: If you’re interested in working in the cloud, check out our Structure conference in June.

What You Get

OnSIP offers most of the features one would expect from such systems, including call routing, voicemail, business hours rules, and advanced features like on-demand conference bridging and text chat from your browser. The service doesn’t offer faxing, though.

OnSIP doesn’t sell IP phones. Instead, the company web site offers useful reviews of hardware you may wish to purchase, along with detailed instructions on how to set them up. You can also choose to use an analog telephone adapter (ATA) to make an connection between the Internet and a standard phone, or you can use a softphone to connect directly from your computer. Most web workers will find the setup process fairly simple, but OnSIP doesn’t offer pre-configured phones the way RingCentral does.

The folks at OnSIP kindly sent me a Polycom SoundPoint IP 450 to test the service. This is a very nice phone, and worked well with OnSIP. Like a number of other IP phones, it doesn’t include a standard headset jack, opting instead for an RJ-10 connection, meaning that headsets are more expensive than you may be used to. But the speakerphone quality on the Polycom is excellent, and I found that both my callers and I liked the results.

Options and Pricing

OnSIP has chosen to price its services differently than most of its competitors. It offers several plans, all of which offer unlimited users, extensions and users. However, none of the plans include any incoming or outgoing minutes. Customers pay $2.00 per month per incoming phone number, plus 2.9 cents per minute for all incoming and outgoing calls (except calls to other extensions on your company’s system, which are free). Incoming toll-free calls are 3.9 cents per minute in the contiguous US.

With most companies offering bundles of minutes, paying by the minute might raise red flags. But OnSIP justifies its policy this way:

“Most competing VoIP providers charge a high fixed fee for each employee in your company on a monthly basis. Generally, that fixed fee includes unlimited calling minutes and use of a fixed set of features. These services range in price from $49.95 per month and up. Seems attractive right? There is a far better option.

With OnSIP, the average user pays a total monthly bill of $18. That’s about $1 per business day per month; a cost savings of at least 65 percent over competitive services. What is this based on? There is no special pricing, discounts or gimmicks factored in. It’s simply a fact that we charge less than every competitor we know of.”

I used this system to make all my long-distance calls for about three weeks, and made about $10 worth of calls. I calculate that my three-person company would probably pay $60-70 per month, which isn’t bad. So maybe OnSIP is right to structure its packages the way it does. But when you do your calculations, make sure to figure in the other charges that you may have to pay for. If you read the fine print from most other companies, they charge for these items, too, but OnSIP is perhaps more upfront about it.

Ordering

The online signup process is straightforward, and allows you to select the features you need. You can port existing phone numbers through the administrative web site for a one-time charge of $57. OnSIP offers a 30-day trial, requires no contracts, and allows upgrades, downgrades and cancellations at any time.

Managing Your Phone System

OnSIP provides two online portals for customers: an administrative site to manage extensions, groups and account data; and a user portal for individual extensions. The administrative site is a bit wonky, and it helps to know some basic Internet telephony terms, but the OnSIP knowledge base includes helpful step-by-step instructions and videos.

Quality and Reliability

As one would hope from a company catering to business, I found the quality and reliability of OnSIP connections to be excellent, even when I was also using my Internet connection for other purposes. I’m told that OnSIP owner Junction Networks is profitable and has been in business for five years, and serves thousands of customers, including some with over 100 users.

As Aliza wrote recently. you’ll want to consider a number of factors when choosing a phone system. For me, call quality, reliability, ease of use and pricing are paramount.

OnSIP will probably appeal to web workers who like flexibility, and are willing to do their own setup. I can also see OnSIP as being a supplement to a landline, which could be used for incoming calls and outgoing local calls. If you want a solution that takes less setting up, and you don’t want to worry about per-minute charges, you may prefer RingCentral. In any case, if you’re considering a business-grade phone system, you’ll want to do the math and see if OnSIP makes sense for you.

Have you tried OnSIP?

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