I've just subscribed to Speechphone...anyone else tried it?

[TonyRush]

I just subscribed to Speechphone and am setting it up.

It's basically a service that will allow me to route all my business prospects, vendors, business partners, etc. to ONE phone number. While the system CAN locate me at my home, office or cell, I'm going to use that sparingly....the main advantage is that it will prompt the caller to say their name and then tell me who's calling BEFORE I answer (and without having to rely on figuring out the Caller ID). Then, based on who it is, I can take the call or send it to VM.

I think this is perfectly in line with what Timothy was talking about. My goal is to get to the point where I'm only spending time on phone calls that are income-producing....and routing the rest to VM so that I can respond via EMAIL.

Love it! Thank you Timothy for outlining how to do this so simply in your book!

Tony Rush

[Zenboy]

I use a system called One Box @ www.onebox.com and the system works great and has been very reliable for me. Sounds like the same features as the other post so I just thought I would put in a good word for OneBox as well.:)

[read]

I use Grandcentral.com, which is free, actually -- and so great. It doesn't have fax capability, but it has more than enough for my phone needs - especially since I don't use the phone unless I really need to. My favorite feature is the ability to email someone in response to a voicemail.

[Danzilla]

I'm also using GrandCentral, and have been for about 6 months. I now have only 1 phone number, and I route it to my landline, cell and Skype accounts (they work with Gizmo too). When I'm visiting relatives, I can route it to their phone during my stay.

It allows for pre-screening, and can automatically direct specific numbers to voicemail (or spam) based on your choices.

The feature I like the most is when you take a call on one phone, you can transfer it to the other phones in your list while you are on the call. This is very handy when you have to take a call on your cell. When you get home, you can transfer it to your landline and save your cell minutes.

And as of today (5/14/07), it's still free (they're in beta). And no, I don't work for them, nor is this a paid ad. I just thought it was a pretty cool idea and I wanted to share it with everyone here.

- Dan

[PerceptionsMatter]

Apparently Google has just purchased grandcentral. It does look like a great service - i have signed up for a phone number when available under the beta. I'm really glad the resources of Google will be behind this.

[cartoonfan1983]

I got a Grandcentral account the other week, but I have yet to use it. It seems a bit difficult to tell people I have yet another number.

[wildsoul]

Cartoonfan1983:
You just need to explain it as a convenience to THEM. Explain that you think it's a lot of work to have to remember all your phone #'s, especially as they change now and then. So you found a GREAT solution, where they only have to remember ONE now.

==> So sell 'em on it, and make the switch.

I switched to a virtual pbx, a RingCentral.com 800# for my company about 6-months ago. It's great in that my clients call me for appointments, but now I'm not tethered to being at a certain phone number.

Also, I wanted all my associates & my VA to be hooked into my ONE company number. So they all have their own extensions, and if our relationship should go south for whatever reason, I'm still in control of the incoming phones.

I'm very happy with RingCentral, btw. My overhead went up a little bit, but we're all super happy with the features, such as very customizable "office hours" rules. Fax is included, but forget about trying to get faxes sorted to individual extensions. Most people sending can't do that. So we have them go to my VA, and she forwards to the team.

[echoboomer]

I really wish Grandcentral would open up. I'm sick of waiting.