Posted by Cloud Net on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 02:55 AM
We have a new business customer sign up last week who told us
an interesting story that we wanted to share.
“The first time our MD went overseas we called our mobile provider to enquire about international connection plans. For just £6 a month, they told us, he could get "discounted" calls to wherever he went.
Some £200 in "discounted" calling charges later — which added up to less than two hours of phone time — we’d realised that what we’d bought was an expensive lesson on international dialling. We've since learned that keeping in touch with customers and colleagues overseas can be cheap — sometimes even free —all you need is a reliable internet connection.”
If you're under 20, you probably know about something called VoIP as you’ll be using it to chat to friends and family for free or very cheaply wherever they are. But for users over that age who are still paying for expensive international calls….read on…this is a beginner's guide to making business phone calls using Voice over Internet Protocol.
Voice over Internet converts the sound of your voice into a digital signal that travels over the Internet and is received just like an ordinary phone call. You make these calls using a pre-programmed phone that looks and feels just like the phone you're used to but in actual fact has some pretty clever electronics.
Why would you want to learn about anything that sounds as intimidating as that? If you want to keep in touch with customers or colleagues in foreign lands, it can save you a fortune.
That's because calling internationally from an ordinary land line or mobile can cost a lot, even after buying the discounted calling plan. For example Vodafone charges £5.99 a month plus 3p per minute on top of your plan charges.
Besides, despite the incomprehensible name, VoIP is actually simple, as long as you have the proper equipment.
You simply need a Cloud Net IP01 phone — and a high-speed Internet connection to make it work. If your Internet connection is slow, your phone calls can freeze up and make communication difficult, if not impossible.
Assuming you're signing up to keep in touch with a particular company (or people) as cheaply as possible, you should encourage those individuals to also sign up. Cloud Net-to-Cloud Net calls are free, no matter the distance.
To sign up call Cloud Net on 01922 213456 and we will talk you through the sign up. You choose a landline telephone number (which can be the one you always use – you simply transfer it and stop paying your existing provider) and a couple of days later your free phone arrives by courier. There are a couple of plans – the most popular costs £8.50 a month for an 18 month contract and you get the phone for free.
Once you get your phone simply plug it into the Internet and away you go. You make calls just like an ordinary phone and you receive calls like an ordinary phone.
If you want to get clever then the system has all the features of an advanced pbx and much more. You can implement them using a computer or phone Cloud Net and ask for them.
For example you can have call recording, and answering services. You can transfer calls and you can have voice prompts. There is no additional cost for these services.
There is no prepayment for calls or buying of credits. You simply get a bill every month for services used and pay it by direct debit.
So if it’s simplicity and cost reduction you need Cloud Net VoIP has it all.
Written by David Hill, Chairman - Cloud Net