Adding and managing a second VOIP number for business purposes?

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jonathan18

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#191612 10-Feb-2016 14:29

We intend to move our current phone number to 2Talk when we move ISPs; I've been advised that porting over the number as cloud PBX line attached to a free 2Talk account is the cheapest option, so I'd planned on doing that.

Anyway, we are also looking at establishing a second local number to provide a no-cost option for those needing to contact my wife for business purposes (ie, so they don't have to call a mobile number).

My questions in regards to this are:

1. What's the most efficient way of doing this? Can I purchase a local number from 2Talk, and just have this another cloud PBX line attached to the same account? (Or does it get more complex and costly requiring a local number?)

2. Can we manage the way calls to this number are dealt with? Essentially, the ideal would be for calls to this second number to be diverted to and only ring on my wife's cellphone, not to ring at home. If this is possible, I'm assuming she'd need to be connected to mobile data and be running a SIP app on her phone at all times?

3. Are we just making this too complex, all in an attempt to provide a free-call number? A few years ago I would have thought providing only a mobile for contacting a business would be a no-no, but today not so much?

Thanks for any advice on offer...

achieveitinfo

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#1489795 10-Feb-2016 15:29

I am fairly certain 2talk can provide the divert option for you.

From previous experience with 2talk, they have had a lot of issues and getting support from their team has been rather time consuming in our experience with them. We have shifted a few services away from them. (call centre with 40 phones down to 3 phone environments),

jnimmo

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#1489803 10-Feb-2016 15:37

1 - I think it is $6/month for a local number without a plan, otherwise the plans starting from $10 include a local number

2 - Yes it is possible, she can use an app like Acrobits and use their SIP push service (so the phone doesn't have to keep the app running the whole time) or there is a 2talk app. But I can't vouch for the reliability of answering VoIP calls like this

3- Possibly, how much is her current mobile plan? 2degrees Business plan includes 'Free landline on your mobile' which would mean you can avoid the VoIP over 3G reliability issues.

https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/business/mobile/

Alternatively, if she wasn't going to be receiving many calls you could just set the 2talk number to redirect to the mobile number @ 20c/minute if the VoIP calling didn't work so well.

jonathan18

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#1489812 10-Feb-2016 16:07

Thanks for the replies.

jnimmo:

1 - I think it is $6/month for a local number without a plan, otherwise the plans starting from $10 include a local number

2 - Yes it is possible, she can use an app like Acrobits and use their SIP push service (so the phone doesn't have to keep the app running the whole time) or there is a 2talk app. But I can't vouch for the reliability of answering VoIP calls like this

3- Possibly, how much is her current mobile plan? 2degrees Business plan includes 'Free landline on your mobile' which would mean you can avoid the VoIP over 3G reliability issues.

https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/business/mobile/

Alternatively, if she wasn't going to be receiving many calls you could just set the 2talk number to redirect to the mobile number @ 20c/minute if the VoIP calling didn't work so well.

That's fantastic; thanks for the heads-up on this. I hadn't come across this plan, but it does sound like a perfect alternative to my initial idea, plus it would be more reliable given it avoids VOIP and uses a single company and single solution. She'd been planning on starting out with the Skinny $46 plan; however, 2Degrees' $49.95 plan (incl. GST) offers all the same features (unlimited NZ/AU minutes and texts; 2.5GB carry-over data; free voicemail), but for only $4 more includes the free landline on the mobile, which also makes it cheaper!

Big advantage is also that it'll use a single voicemail service, I presume, which wouldn't have been the case if she went with a mobile plus VOIP local line solution.

Am I right in assuming that the 'land line' on this can be virtual, ie function solely as a method to provide free local calling to the mobile, as opposed to needing an actual land line?

Cheers

Jonathan

DarkShadow

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#1489915 10-Feb-2016 19:25

jonathan18:

Am I right in assuming that the 'land line' on this can be virtual, ie function solely as a method to provide free local calling to the mobile, as opposed to needing an actual land line?

It's not "can be virtual", it's "must be virtual". There's no way to get a physical landline for this service. It's just an additional number that will ring your mobile phone.

jnimmo

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#1489945 10-Feb-2016 20:44

Spark also offer it but only on plans over $59.
Also you would get $10 off 2degrees broadband if using them for mobile