VOIP newbie question

[paulears]

I saw mention in the current topic on blocking international VOIP calls about people with offices in multiple countries. Knowing we’ve got to change soon to VOIP anyway, I now have a question.

I work from home but also have an office and store about five minutes away and I go from building yo building, sometimes many times a day. The office has a broadband line and a phone number, but although I dial out, I don’t use it for incoming calls. With VOIP does this mean that I could set it up so when people call my number, both premises phones ring, and making a call on either would give people the main phone number on caller display?

if it does that would be great. I have call divert but forget to press the buttons so many times!

 

[kulture]

If both premises have broadband then yes. Both can have extensions from one VOIP number. Both can be configured to ring as a group ring. Both can ring out and it will be routed as if it was from the specific VoIP number.

 

[WaveJumper]

I assume you could have it all diverted out to a mobile if you never wanted to miss a call

 

[paulears]

I wish I'd known that before! Cheers Kulture - Is the configuration something done on the phones, or via a third party or on-line app. The home business line is BT, and way too expensive. I've migrated all the services to other providers, so I can change and take the number to another provider, if necessary - and save a few quid too I suspect, as I pay less for the office broadband with Talktalk Business with phone line than I pay BT after being a customer for over 30 years.

I have to say it never occurred to me to transfer the incoming calls to my mobile! Doh!

 

[KM-Tiger]

I have to say it never occurred to me to transfer the incoming calls to my mobile! Doh!

You can do even better than that!

Some VOIP providers will give you a phone app with find me/follow me functionality. So if you are in the office your office phone will ring, but if you go out calls are automatically diverted to your mobile.

 

[Ozzy]

Some VOIP providers will give you a phone app with find me/follow me functionality.

This is what we have. We use Microsoft365 with Teams Voice; so I have the Teams app on my mobile which I can use to make and receive calls through our "business line". No need to "divert" a call, it rings on your phone just like a WhatsApp or similar call would. When making outbound calls I choose to either call out via my mobile number or the office number.
The same app is installed on staff laptops/desktops to make a receive calls, and several choose to install the app on the mobiles for convenience. Can't believe we didn't do this years ago, so much easier.

 

[Fagin2021]

You can do even better than that!

Some VOIP providers will give you a phone app with find me/follow me functionality. So if you are in the office your office phone will ring, but if you go out calls are automatically diverted to your mobile.

I've been trying to get my head around this!

Presumably the phone app tracks the physical location of the mobile and diverts calls when it is a certain distance from the office ?

There may be occasions when you don't want this to happen - when driving, in a meeting, at 3am or just if you've accidentally left your mobile at home. So you have to remember to turn the app' off when you don't want it rather than remember to turn it on when you do ?

 

[kulture]

I wish I'd known that before! Cheers Kulture - Is the configuration something done on the phones, or via a third party or on-line app. The home business line is BT, and way too expensive. I've migrated all the services to other providers, so I can change and take the number to another provider, if necessary - and save a few quid too I suspect, as I pay less for the office broadband with Talktalk Business with phone line than I pay BT after being a customer for over 30 years.

I have to say it never occurred to me to transfer the incoming calls to my mobile! Doh!

The configuration is done by the VoIP provider. Typically you have a user account which you log into and have numerous options to play with. I use Voipfone. If you buy the hardware from them, they will configure the phones to work with their service. I suspect that most VoIP providers do the same.

 

[Yay.com]

I work from home but also have an office and store about five minutes away and I go from building yo building, sometimes many times a day. The office has a broadband line and a phone number, but although I dial out, I don’t use it for incoming calls. With VOIP does this mean that I could set it up so when people call my number, both premises phones ring, and making a call on either would give people the main phone number on caller display?

if it does that would be great. I have call divert but forget to press the buttons so many times!

A VoIP service and softphone app should allow you to utilise an Internet or data connection to make or receive calls via your smartphone. You can set things up to ring a desktop VoIP phone at the same time too, so calls can be taken by someone in the office as well as on the go. Features like Time of Day routing will also allow for call handling out of business hours. Most VoIP services will offer a free trial, so if in doubt, try them out beforehand so you can get an idea of the service and apps that are on offer.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

If I may, i'll tag a question on this thread...

We've used VOIP for a number of years but our main landline is connected to a BT phone so that we can hear answerphone messages as they are being left and decide whether to pick up or not.
This was not possible using VOIP, is it now?

 

[Steven Ayrshire]

If I may, i'll tag a question on this thread...

We've used VOIP for a number of years but our main landline is connected to a BT phone so that we can hear answerphone messages as they are being left and decide whether to pick up or not.
This was not possible using VOIP, is it now?

If you use a voip adapter rather than phone you can still use your existing BT phone and answerphone on the service and it will just work as before.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

If you use a voip adapter rather than phone you can still use your existing BT phone and answerphone on the service and it will just work as before.

On reflection this may be what we do. Technically minded I ain't!
We don't get the clearest of messages and often have to listen to them several times though.

 

[Yay.com]

We don't get the clearest of messages and often have to listen to them several times though.

If you're not picking up the calls in real-time and decided to move the landline to VoIP, could a Voicemail to Email feature potentially help with that? As soon as a voicemail is left, you would receive an email with a copy of the voicemail and a voicemail transcription attached. Arguably (dependant on network connection) the clarity of the call should be better on VoIP too.

 

[DavidWH]

We switched to VOIP a few years back, mainly because I was sick of the cordless phones not being where you needed one, they all seemed to make their way onto a desk.

Best things we did, 4 extensions (ones in my living room for when I skive off early), I answer the call and as far as anyone knows I'm in the workshop, can transfer it to any other extension as if I was in the same building. It was a life saver during the pandemic.

Depending on the hardware, or network set up, you should be able to have a phone in both locations with relative ease.

Not sure about the voicemail, and being able to screen calls, but as above you'll get a recording emailed or in the customer portal.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

If you're not picking up the calls in real-time and decided to move the landline to VoIP, could a Voicemail to Email feature potentially help with that?

We have that facility on another line but it doesn't work for us.

If we're on the bench packing a job for a waiting customer, in a meeting with a rep etc., voicemails that come in with general enquiries, the missus calling to see what I want for tea, or the urgent call from a courier i've been waiting for to give me an update on a missing parcel, it's the latter one I need to intercept and answer.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I use voyage app I dial out on 4g and receive via call transfer to my mobile
I can switch the app to just office handsets when in the office

 

[Karimbo]

I have voipfone for my business, but thinking of an additional free voip number to use as home landline.

I'm switched to communityfibre - new breed of internet without a conventional landline. Trouble is often our children are playing with out mobiles and relatives can't get through to us when they call. So want a fixed line style voip phone

 

[Steven Ayrshire]

You can get an adapter that works with conventional phones or indeed a stand alone voip phone connected to your router.

Voipfone sell them preconfigured so it is plug and go. I am sure if you speak to them they will give you the best advice.