Landline or VOIP

joolsveer

I am setting up a small business from home and I need a business phone line. I already have a residential land line from Eircom. Do I have to convert this to a business line? I have broadband from ntl (mainly because Eircom said my phone line was not suitable for broadband). It is the 6 meg option. Should I get rid of my Eircom line and go with VOIP with Blueface. They have a €34.95 (plus VAT) per month business package. Has anyone tried this?

FSL

I've used Blueface for nearly two years. As I am located in a very rural area I get my broadband from a local wireless provider 1 meg up and down. The only problems I have encountered have been with the wireless provider's ISP. His network has been solid but the ISP has occasionally had problems with speed and latency. If your NTL connection, which presumably is cable, is solid then I would say you are unlikely to encounter problems with Blueface.

joolsveer

Thanks for the information. I would not describe the ntl broadband as solid. It runs at different speeds everytime I test it. Have you used the Blueface business package?

FSL

Hi

No I use unlimited Ireland/UK. My usage is not heavy.

Nuttzz

I use blueface on NTL and I have a colleague how uses it on eircom, neither of us have any issues with it, depending on the amount of calls you make you may bet away with the home user package

melikebanana

The best course of action is to test it with bluefaces pay as you go service. Use a headset connected to your pc and the x-lite download on their website. After a couple of weeks you will know if it works or not with your broadband connection. I use it myself and have perfect quality.

stoneroses

melikebanana wrote:

The best course of action is to test it with bluefaces pay as you go service. Use a headset connected to your pc and the x-lite download on their website. After a couple of weeks you will know if it works or not with your broadband connection. I use it myself and have perfect quality.

Agreed. Do not purchase any Kit until you test the service - as statede above download their softphone software for your trial.

I have been using blueface on NTL broaqdband for two years now and no major problems to report. When I was performing some heavy internet traffic while the phone was in use you may have some phone issues - did experience this.

JohnnieM

I have the Magnet origin service 2 mb down and 256 up and have three blueface accounts one with a my office number (ported to Blueface) I have often been on one line and the wife on the other with no problems.
They seem to require very little band width to operate successfully....
Interesting tip is using their GUI you can have a first normal forward and a second normal forward .. here i enter my mobile number..
So when I'm on the road if someone rings my office after about 5 seconds it also rings my mobile.. If I answer at the office the mobile stops ringing and if I answer the mobile the office stops.. Very handy for a small business on the go..;)

watty

NTL's own built in VOIP is a slightly different system to Blueface and if they are doing it correctly (I don't know if they are), it will do everything the eircom line does. Blueface won't support Fax or modem reliably, nor can Blueface do QOS, NTL can.

JohnnieM

Yor correct they dont support fax over voip but they do have an excellent Virtual fax with a geographic number for €5 per month.. Its brilliant.
I must also say the BLueface support is top notch..always on the phone and reply by mail in minutes... Not sure about NTL's from what I read they sometimes dont answer calls mails etc..