I noticed some email traffic going about within the Seattle start-up community last week regarding outsourced PBX phone systems that might be appropriate for start-ups. Having struggled with Asterisk ourselves at Imagekind for well over a year, I knew this discussion was going to be very valuable for someone. Here’s the summary of that thread from last week.
http://www.asterisk.org/
Generally too complicated to bother with.
http://www.accessline.com/
Comments about being unhappy with this service.
http://angel.com/
“Point and click interface for everything. Angel does everything…”
http://gotvmail.com
Generally good feedback.
http://ringcentral.com
“It does everything we need and it is very cost effective.”
http://www.switchvox.com/
Generally good feedback.
That must have been an interesting email thread, don’t mind if I add my own note. The PBX topic is hot right now with a lot of advanced 1-800 (not to even mention VOIP) providers cropping up; one thing very few people address, though, is that these companies ARE different and cater to their own markets, even if they aren’t entirely mutually exclusive. For example, Gotvmail stands out for me in the bunch since they’re really an entrepreneur voicemail: the emphasis is on professional client interaction for small businesses and functionality for traveling managers (ie Play it on Mobile). I went with them on a referral from another small business owner and their features jibe perfectly with my needs at present.
But, companies like Angel, on the other hand, are aimed towards a larger company market, and are priced accordingly. So it depends on what kind of a company you are, too. Thanks, btw, for the testimony on asterisk and accessline, I’ll bear that in mind.