I’ve got a phone system in Charlotte and a phone system in Raleigh. Both are terrific systems based on Vertical Televantage. The systems have amazing functionality. Everything is controlled from the users computer desktop. The system allows for pretty much anything you can imagine from a phone. It screens calls, rings in multiple locations, makes conference calls a breeze, has drag and drop call transfer, etc. It’s amazingly easy to administer and requires minimal intervention from the vendor.
I hate it. Well, maybe that’s a little harsh.
Why am I not happy? Because it costs more than I like. We pay for the phone/internet service, we pay for support from the phone vendor, we pay a maintenance contract for the software, we pay our I.T. guys to maintain the servers plus we pay for cell phones for some users.
What I really want is to have all that functionality at a lower price. Isn’t that pretty much what we all want – all the time – from everything?
Here’s what I’m thinking about doing.
I’m considering eliminating the phone system in its entirety. I’ll keep internet service for the offices and make sure all the users have cell phones.
I’ll still need a PBX system for answering the main line and dealing with call transfers, etc. I’m looking at a hosted service called Toktumi (which looks a lot like Google Voice). It sells for $15 per month per user. They offer VOIP service but we won’t likely use it often. I’ll subsidize all employees in the amount of $50 per month so that they can either upgrade their cell phones to an unlimited plan or sign on with a vendor that provides a “friends and family” plan with unlimited, free calls to and from Toktumi.
Toktumi allows the users to place and receive all of their calls through the system. It has all the usual PBX features plus a desktop client.
What do you think? Is it going to work? Do you see issues that I haven’t spotted yet?
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Lee Rosen has practiced family law for more than twenty years. With three offices, 