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    At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX

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    voip pbx telephony
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    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
      last edited by

      @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

      5 way conference call functionality, I'm assuming that means from the phone its self you can conference 5 telephone numbers.

      This is outside of any conference service you may have. That's pretty nice.

      That's not very interesting. That's a "for companies so small that they don't have a PBX" feature. If you have a PBX, you get unlimited conference calling capacity from that. No need for the phone to do it.

      But in terms of a basic feature it's nice to have. "Oh I'll just conference everyone in" granted it's for the SOHO and MP businesses.

      Even a SOHO should have a PBX. Once you are up to two or three people...

      I would very much question this logic. An office of 2 or 3 people should have a PBX? Really? 2 or 3 people seems on the meh... use your cell phone scale. ..

      Cell phones beyond a single user doesn't look like a business to outside callers. PBX gives you that professional appearance. If you don't use phones at all, of course that's a different matter, but if that were the case you'd not need a conference phone for the PSTN, you'd just use Skype or whatever. Once you are in this space, a PBX is needed.

      Think about it, at what size do you stop telling people to just use their Yahoo Email accounts? One user.

      Why most people can't tell the difference between a cellular number and a SIP or Pots number. It would simply appear to be a DID.

      I get the argument, but I don't think at such a tiny scale do you go out and setup a PBX.

      They can tell when each person in the company has an unrelated DID from a different city and that they take it with them when they quit 😉

      True, but why purchase DID's and go through the hassle when you're a SOHO or Mom and Pop shop?

      For the reasons that I listed. What's your alternative in a realistic business? You really want a business that runs completely off of one person's cell phone? If you are a one person business and have zero intention to grow, okay. But once you grow to mom and pop status, it's too late and that's a problem.

      DustinB3403D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DustinB3403D
        DustinB3403 @scottalanmiller
        last edited by

        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

        5 way conference call functionality, I'm assuming that means from the phone its self you can conference 5 telephone numbers.

        This is outside of any conference service you may have. That's pretty nice.

        That's not very interesting. That's a "for companies so small that they don't have a PBX" feature. If you have a PBX, you get unlimited conference calling capacity from that. No need for the phone to do it.

        But in terms of a basic feature it's nice to have. "Oh I'll just conference everyone in" granted it's for the SOHO and MP businesses.

        Even a SOHO should have a PBX. Once you are up to two or three people...

        I would very much question this logic. An office of 2 or 3 people should have a PBX? Really? 2 or 3 people seems on the meh... use your cell phone scale. ..

        Cell phones beyond a single user doesn't look like a business to outside callers. PBX gives you that professional appearance. If you don't use phones at all, of course that's a different matter, but if that were the case you'd not need a conference phone for the PSTN, you'd just use Skype or whatever. Once you are in this space, a PBX is needed.

        Think about it, at what size do you stop telling people to just use their Yahoo Email accounts? One user.

        Why most people can't tell the difference between a cellular number and a SIP or Pots number. It would simply appear to be a DID.

        I get the argument, but I don't think at such a tiny scale do you go out and setup a PBX.

        They can tell when each person in the company has an unrelated DID from a different city and that they take it with them when they quit 😉

        True, but why purchase DID's and go through the hassle when you're a SOHO or Mom and Pop shop?

        For the reasons that I listed. What's your alternative in a realistic business? You really want a business that runs completely off of one person's cell phone? If you are a one person business and have zero intention to grow, okay. But once you grow to mom and pop status, it's too late and that's a problem.

        How is a mom and pop or SOHO business not able to use a "home" phone or cell for business uses? It makes sense that they could use a PBX, but I don't see it has they "should".

        scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • scottalanmillerS
          scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
          last edited by

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

          5 way conference call functionality, I'm assuming that means from the phone its self you can conference 5 telephone numbers.

          This is outside of any conference service you may have. That's pretty nice.

          That's not very interesting. That's a "for companies so small that they don't have a PBX" feature. If you have a PBX, you get unlimited conference calling capacity from that. No need for the phone to do it.

          But in terms of a basic feature it's nice to have. "Oh I'll just conference everyone in" granted it's for the SOHO and MP businesses.

          Even a SOHO should have a PBX. Once you are up to two or three people...

          I would very much question this logic. An office of 2 or 3 people should have a PBX? Really? 2 or 3 people seems on the meh... use your cell phone scale. ..

          Cell phones beyond a single user doesn't look like a business to outside callers. PBX gives you that professional appearance. If you don't use phones at all, of course that's a different matter, but if that were the case you'd not need a conference phone for the PSTN, you'd just use Skype or whatever. Once you are in this space, a PBX is needed.

          Think about it, at what size do you stop telling people to just use their Yahoo Email accounts? One user.

          Why most people can't tell the difference between a cellular number and a SIP or Pots number. It would simply appear to be a DID.

          I get the argument, but I don't think at such a tiny scale do you go out and setup a PBX.

          They can tell when each person in the company has an unrelated DID from a different city and that they take it with them when they quit 😉

          True, but why purchase DID's and go through the hassle when you're a SOHO or Mom and Pop shop?

          For the reasons that I listed. What's your alternative in a realistic business? You really want a business that runs completely off of one person's cell phone? If you are a one person business and have zero intention to grow, okay. But once you grow to mom and pop status, it's too late and that's a problem.

          How is a mom and pop or SOHO business not able to use a "home" phone or cell for business uses? It makes sense that they could use a PBX, but I don't see it has they "should".

          So, I'm trying to follow this, you have your staff (mom and pop businesses have staff) and you give up your cell phone and leave it with whoever is working correctly? You are assuming that the owner(s) don't keep a cell phone with them?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • scottalanmillerS
            scottalanmiller
            last edited by

            Or all calls, around the clock, go to the owner's published cell phone and they never travel or don't have their phone with them and deal with the calls themselves at all hours of the day and night? They put their cell phone numbers on their website or whatever?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • DustinB3403D
              DustinB3403
              last edited by

              No I'm making the assumption that a Mom and Pop are literally the entire business. Both of whom work for the business.

              Mom takes the calls, Pops does the work.

              scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                last edited by

                @dustinb3403 said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                No I'm making the assumption that a Mom and Pop are literally the entire business. Both of whom work for the business.

                Mom takes the calls, Pops does the work.

                Even two people, you'd likely not want to be dealing with a cell phone that is also your personal phone, for the business and a cell phone is more costly than corporate VoIP. So even in the "two person business" a cell phone would almost never make sense. But a real mom and pop, would certainly need a real business phone system. Mom and pop does not refer to a two person business, but to family owners.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller
                  last edited by

                  Even most one person businesses would want to reconsider making their person phone the business phone as well. Email, maybe, but phone, almost never. You don't want customers having the same access that your wife does.

                  DustinB3403D QuixoticJeremyQ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • DustinB3403D
                    DustinB3403 @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by DustinB3403

                    @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                    You don't want customers having the same access that your wife does.

                    That's sexist scott!

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • QuixoticJeremyQ
                      QuixoticJeremy @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                      Even most one person businesses would want to reconsider making their person phone the business phone as well. Email, maybe, but phone, almost never. You don't want customers having the same access that your wife does.

                      I don't even want my wife having the access my wife has..... lol j/k

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                      • DashrenderD
                        Dashrender
                        last edited by

                        @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                        m and deal with the calls themselves at all hours of the day and night? They put their cell phone numbers on their website or

                        I tend to agree with Scott - the business should have it's own phone number, pretty much no matter what. So you could be super cheap and get a SIP trunk from voip.ms and connect it to a SIP app on your cellphone, and all of your employees could do the same, etc.

                        Or you can get a hosted phone solution that uses voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP clients from cell phones or VOIP phones to the PBX.

                        Or you can get your own PBX, put it wherever you want and again, use voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP client on cellphone or VOIP phones.

                        But simply skipping having a dedicated business phone number? that seems kinda crazy.

                        JaredBuschJ coliverC 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
                        • JaredBuschJ
                          JaredBusch @Dashrender
                          last edited by

                          As @dashrender just said, there is no realistic reason not to have a business number.

                          The PBX can anywhere, even part of the provider as illustrated by his point of having the phone talk straight to VoIP.ms.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • coliverC
                            coliver @Dashrender
                            last edited by

                            @dashrender said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                            @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                            m and deal with the calls themselves at all hours of the day and night? They put their cell phone numbers on their website or

                            I tend to agree with Scott - the business should have it's own phone number, pretty much no matter what. So you could be super cheap and get a SIP trunk from voip.ms and connect it to a SIP app on your cellphone, and all of your employees could do the same, etc.

                            Or you can get a hosted phone solution that uses voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP clients from cell phones or VOIP phones to the PBX.

                            Or you can get your own PBX, put it wherever you want and again, use voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP client on cellphone or VOIP phones.

                            But simply skipping having a dedicated business phone number? that seems kinda crazy.

                            You can even setup a Google Voice number with all the trappings that go along with it.

                            There is almost 0 cost to having a business phone today.

                            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @coliver
                              last edited by

                              @coliver said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                              @dashrender said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                              @scottalanmiller said in Yealink CP960 - non-owner review:

                              m and deal with the calls themselves at all hours of the day and night? They put their cell phone numbers on their website or

                              I tend to agree with Scott - the business should have it's own phone number, pretty much no matter what. So you could be super cheap and get a SIP trunk from voip.ms and connect it to a SIP app on your cellphone, and all of your employees could do the same, etc.

                              Or you can get a hosted phone solution that uses voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP clients from cell phones or VOIP phones to the PBX.

                              Or you can get your own PBX, put it wherever you want and again, use voip.ms for PSTN access and SIP client on cellphone or VOIP phones.

                              But simply skipping having a dedicated business phone number? that seems kinda crazy.

                              You can even setup a Google Voice number with all the trappings that go along with it.

                              There is almost 0 cost to having a business phone today.

                              For a single line business, even really high end services like RingCentral are a drop in the bucket. $25/mo for unlimited minutes on a single line? No brainer if that's the high end.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • DustinB3403D
                                DustinB3403
                                last edited by

                                It's additional money on top of what is already in place, be it a home phone, a cell phone or something else entirely.

                                I don't entirely disagree, but if there is added cost for something as trivial as a phone for a tiny 1 or 2 person business, why bother?

                                scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • scottalanmillerS
                                  scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                                  last edited by

                                  @dustinb3403 said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                                  It's additional money on top of what is already in place, be it a home phone, a cell phone or something else entirely.

                                  Sure, but those don't meet the needs of a normal business, even most one person businesses.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • scottalanmillerS
                                    scottalanmiller @DustinB3403
                                    last edited by

                                    @dustinb3403 said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                                    I don't entirely disagree, but if there is added cost for something as trivial as a phone for a tiny 1 or 2 person business, why bother?

                                    But the cost is trivial, but the need is not. It is very rare that publishing a personal cell phone is not a big deal, and rarer still that a company will go sans phone contact all together.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • Minion QueenM
                                      Minion Queen Banned
                                      last edited by

                                      But there is cost involved. A business owner having their cell phone tied to the business and for personal if there is any chance of growing now runs the issue of having to either re-brand their business for phone etc (this is actually a big mistake small businesses make) or give up their personal cell number and have it ported over for a PBX system and then have to deal with the cell phone company to get a new number etc.

                                      The cost is so tiny now for a PBX or google voice number that a business just shows how little they know about running a business and their longevity when they don't take the time to be a fully operational business with real phone lines etc.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                      • Minion QueenM
                                        Minion Queen Banned
                                        last edited by

                                        I spend a lot of time helping small businesses undo all their bad decisions from when they started. Phones are just one of many.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • scottalanmillerS
                                          scottalanmiller
                                          last edited by

                                          That's a big piece. Get this wrong and it haunts you for a long time.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • S
                                            StorageNinja Vendor
                                            last edited by

                                            @minion-queen said in At What Size Should a Business Have a PBX:

                                            business

                                            If I want to buy a business and it emails all to someone's personal email that's going to be a pain in the ass.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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