How do I get cheaper phone service for a small business? [more inside]
posted by Carius on Aug 30, 2012 - 9 answers

Where should I look and what should I look at for replacing our old Norstar/Meridian PBX? Should we replace the hardware or switch to a hosted solution? [more inside]
posted by MrBobaFett on Feb 1, 2012 - 15 answers

Is it important to be in the Yellow Pages anymore? [more inside]
posted by rikschell on Aug 18, 2010 - 55 answers

Do phone companies, and other companies, "forget" on purpose to give you a promised discount? And is this legal? [more inside]
posted by escabeche on Jul 27, 2010 - 17 answers

What is the best provider for telephone service for a small office? We are looking for a VOIP solution that allows forwarding of 800 numbers, allows everyone to have their own VM box, and call holding, forwarding, everyone to have their own extensions, etc.? [more inside]
posted by banished on May 26, 2010 - 7 answers

Please provide your wisdom on how to deal with a phone number problem. Story inside. [more inside]
posted by st starseed on Feb 25, 2010 - 10 answers

Should I ditch my business land phone line? [more inside]
posted by imjustsaying on Jan 15, 2009 - 18 answers

I need to have a local US number that redirects to an international number. It doesn't have to be toll free. It should be able to redirect to a landline or a mobile phone. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by carofowler on Sep 22, 2008 - 13 answers

How can my friend market and sell his small phone business so that he can finally retire? [more inside]
posted by maelanchai on Aug 16, 2007 - 12 answers

Can installing a multi-line phone system be a DIY project? [more inside]
posted by Doofus Magoo on May 4, 2007 - 10 answers

I have one question which has three related parts: Q1. What companies are out there which provide the technology to operate a phone sex business where I can concentrate on marketing and they take care of all the backend processing allowing the individual phone sex operators to dial in from their own home and talk with their clients who are charged per minute ? I do not want to personally keep or maintain the software myself. I want to outsource this. So the sex operators would "clock in" at will and recieve calls at any phone they like. This software should also use some sort of accounting to keep track of time spent for each operator. Q2. Also, how are the phone sex operators paid ? by cashiers checks mailed out to them by Fedex ? This may not be practical especially if there are many operators. Q3. Finally since this business does not involve any pornographic images are there any laws I need to abide by like having to keep records and making sure everyone is over 18 years of age ?
posted by lc037 on Mar 15, 2007 - 9 answers

Is there a way to tell clients I want them to communicate with me through email instead of the phone that doesn't make me sound weird? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jan 31, 2007 - 39 answers

Tech/Business: Say I were to conduct a feasibility study for social networking via mobile phones. I would like the service to enable people to define their relationships and be alerted when a specified contact is nearby (e.g., within 30m/100ft) - provided that contact has set themselves to be "findable" to that person. Is this already being done? If so, where can I find more information? If not, is this viable? Do we have the technology? How do I turn it into a profitable venture? [more inside]
posted by Lush on Mar 11, 2005 - 8 answers

My consulting business has gotten busy enough (knock on wood) to warrant not using my personal cell phone number as the first line of communication. What I need is a service that creates a local phone number, has a customizable voicemail system that can fwd to my cell, office, whereever.

Is there such a thing, or should I just get a second cell phone?
posted by omidius on Dec 6, 2004 - 10 answers