Telephone Equipment ???

Edwards Finance > Phones

Q. I have a need for a telephone answering device that will greet the caller, play a short generic menu message, and then route calls to specific handsets or to voicemail, depending on what the caller inputs. You've heard the system... "press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounting, etc." Who are some of the providers of such equipment? I'd do a google search...except I don't even know what to call the dang thing...

A. I believe your local provider can set you up with that service. It's more of a service than a device. You can do it with Supervoc on your PC with a modem. Mine came as a freebie from US Robotics with a modem. Is it a piece of equipment that the user has? You can do it with software if your computer has a voice-line modem. Symantec WinFaxPro has something called Talkworks that lets you set up routing by DTMF tonee or whatever you call it. I'm sure there's other products available. It is a "system" like that which my neighbors use, so calls are routed to their proper location whether it is in the same building or a different city. I called Granger the other day, and all the lines were busy so the call was automatically routed to a granger office in the next closest city. If the lady hadn't mentioned she was not where I called, I never would of known. OF course, I was calling to find out where they were, and I knew I was in for some fun when she said " right here!" I do it all via a program on my computer, but almost any of todays phones have built in digital voicemail capability, with multiple malboxes. Check out Ebay. If you're a do-it-yourself kind, you can set up an asterisk http://www.asterisk.org box that can handle just about anything you want. I use mine for my house with one incoming PSTN line (uses an FXO card) and multiple extensions (use FXS's). You need a PC running linux (though I've heard someone has ported it to Windows) and as many cards/modules as you want extensions/incoming lines. If your business is big you can even go to PRI/T1 lines if you want. For a 1 phone line, 3 extension system you'd need 1 PC running linux $500 or less 1 TDM400P with 1 FXO module and 3 FXS modules $313 1 Acquisition, installation, configuration of asterisk $0/your time I use mine mostly to talk with relatives who use softphones on their PCs (which are free and free to use) and for those who don't I use a VOIP provider (currently I'm using nuphone.com and iconnecthere.com).

Ask Edwards a Finance Question

Other Questions:

CHP study finds cell phone use risky business ?

the groundbreaking CHP review -- the first to compare the rate of California accidents caused by cell phone yakking with other risky driving habits -- has a state lawmaker saying cell phones are a big enough danger to justify legislation requir...

"While many Americans agree it is bad manners if your cell phone rings during a movie, a Broadway play or a concert, should it be against the law, with offenders paying a $50 fine for each infraction? Politicians in New York City think so, an...

An IT friend of mine gave me the cover disk from a magazine he received, and on it is 3CX Phone System 3, which claims to be "Complete phone PBX in software!". Does anybody - preferably with experience of this piece of software - know if th...

Our local phone service is provided by Verizon, and I make all my long distance calls using my cell phone. Do I have to sign on with a long distance (land-line) phone service provider?SBC used to charge a fee (penalty) for not using any long dist...

None that I'm aware of. If your system is newer than 10 years old it has built in circuit protection. Lightning strikes are another issue. At the worst a blown C.O. line card depending on the system. I would suspect something else if the system...

Edwards Finance Menu

Ask a Question
About Us / Me
Contact Me
Privacy Policy

Sitemap

My Favorite Sites

PFBlog
Google Finance
Yahoo Finance
Motley Fool
Nveille's Financial Blog
AllFinanceMatters
Free Money Finance
2MillionBlog
The Terror Finance blog

Q&A Subjects