T101.2 - Telecom Services |
Rumor has it Indigenous cultures used some type of mirror to communicate via visual Morse code in a network that stretched thousands of miles. And then came the Pony Express, the telegraph, the telephone and the fax machine.
Once the telephone and fax machine became a staple in offices, most serious small business people had a phone line for voice and a separate phone line for fax. With the advent of cell phones and the internet, everything has changed. The sections below are broad and short in an attempt to convey basic information as some see it today.
This is where the roots of tech trauma and tech stress started. Folks in the early to mid 90s who thought managing this stuff and setting it all up for efficiency was stressful were in for a rude awakening as the Digital Age rolled out...
.
Once the telephone and fax machine became a staple in offices, most serious small business people had a phone line for voice and a separate phone line for fax. With the advent of cell phones and the internet, everything has changed. The sections below are broad and short in an attempt to convey basic information as some see it today.
This is where the roots of tech trauma and tech stress started. Folks in the early to mid 90s who thought managing this stuff and setting it all up for efficiency was stressful were in for a rude awakening as the Digital Age rolled out...
.
- Telephone -- Land Lines -- For Voice
- Telephone -- Land Lines -- For Fax (and cloud fax services)
- Telephone -- Cellular Service -- For Voice
- Internet Service
- Cable TV Service
- Comcast Commercial Services
- Bundling Services
1) Telephone Land Line -- For Voice
If you don't really "need" a land telephone line for voice, go without it. Reasons to need a land telephone line might include:
I recently reviewed phone options with two different health care providers (Sole Proprietors). After a little dialogue both realized if they wanted a dedicated line for their business, separate from their personal phone, a second mobile phone with a separate phone number on a shared plan was the way to go. They also realized if the wanted to have office support, they could always leave the business phone (a mobile phone) at work AND there are docking system to tie that phone into hand held sets if desired.
Switching one wellness practitioner over to a mobile device for his office not only dramatically cleaned up his office phone situation, but it dramatically simplified all aspects of phone forwarding and it made it easy when he decided he wanted to open a satellite office.
=== If you want/need a land line for voice avoid VOIP ===
Voice over IP (VOIP) is a system which allows you to make phone calls using the internet bandwidth with a connection through an internet router in your work space.
In general, I find VOIP to be annoying enough as a listener on either end to discourage it's use, even if it works well 90% of the time. A phone expense is not huge. Don't add to your headaches by try to save a few pennies with quality sacrifice. I realize others may have had a different experience or opinion on this.
- Crappy cell coverage in your office
- A monitored alarm system that you prefer to have hard wired to dispatch for cost or performance reasons
- An office assistant who will be using your office phone as much or more than you
- A large enough office with or without extensions that makes it make sense
I recently reviewed phone options with two different health care providers (Sole Proprietors). After a little dialogue both realized if they wanted a dedicated line for their business, separate from their personal phone, a second mobile phone with a separate phone number on a shared plan was the way to go. They also realized if the wanted to have office support, they could always leave the business phone (a mobile phone) at work AND there are docking system to tie that phone into hand held sets if desired.
Switching one wellness practitioner over to a mobile device for his office not only dramatically cleaned up his office phone situation, but it dramatically simplified all aspects of phone forwarding and it made it easy when he decided he wanted to open a satellite office.
=== If you want/need a land line for voice avoid VOIP ===
Voice over IP (VOIP) is a system which allows you to make phone calls using the internet bandwidth with a connection through an internet router in your work space.
In general, I find VOIP to be annoying enough as a listener on either end to discourage it's use, even if it works well 90% of the time. A phone expense is not huge. Don't add to your headaches by try to save a few pennies with quality sacrifice. I realize others may have had a different experience or opinion on this.
2) Telephone Land Lines -- For Fax -- (and cloud fax services)
With a good, high speed scanner (like a Fujitsu Scansnap) you really have no need for a physical fax machine nor a fax telephone line. Zero. Zip. Nada.
For inbound faxes, a fax server is a dream. You can get your faxes instantly no matter where you are in the world. It really rocks. There are ZERO draw backs for inbound faxes, and only benefits.
For outbound faxes it's a different story. In the olden days, anyone with 2-3 minutes of training could send a fax. Put it in the machine, dial the number and hit send. With this you have to put it in an auto-feeder and hit scan (similar), but then you have to be able to save the document to your file system and retrieve it from your file system. Saving it in a suitable pdf size may require one time settings on the scanner that you may tweek as you use it for other scans.
The benefit of sending with a fax server is a built in log of sent faxes, BUT when 1) the scanner is acting up or 2) the computer is acting up or 3) email is acting up or 4) your internet connection is acting up or 5) the email fax service is acting up there can be problems. See how many moving pieces just got introduced to the send side of this??
I will be the first to admit, there have been times when I was forced to send a fax in the last decade when I wished I just had a stupid land phone line and a simple fax machine, due to technology burps and farts that over-complicated the task, but those were few and far between. The benefits out weigh the costs and the costs for service are typically far cheaper than the cost for a landline and separate piece of hardware.
If you really think you need a physical fax machine, my opinion is you need a dedicated phone line and a dedicated fax machine, not a multi-function printer.
=== If you really think you need a physical fax machine -- dedicated line ===
The concept of using a single phone line for voice and fax has always annoyed the heck out of me as the sender of faxes to people who only had one phone line for voice and fax. And as the one who tried to get away with it from time to time. If you have the need for a physical fax machine for incoming faxes, pay the money and get a second, dedicated phone line.
=== If you really think you need a physical fax machine -- dedicated machine ===
I have grown to despise these multi-function printers for anything more than printing and copying. It seems a case where too many greedy and controlling companies are putting out sub-par systems to get into your pocket for residual ink sales. By now, these things should be flawless, but they aren't. The menu design can be challenging or other small issues can consume energy and time. A good dedicated machine could last many many years and once you get it working it should just work.
We were using Fax87.com until September 2017 at which point they got consumed by eFax. it looks like they may have been forced out of business or forced to sell due to a lawsuit ( https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/11946064 ). Efax is notoriously pricey, greedy and controlling. The original founder of efax is known as one of the most powerful technology guys you've never met. In generally try to avoid any and all business he is or has been associated with.
We aren't the only ones wanting to avoid efax...
We landed with www.srfax.com and have been very pleased (as of 7/14/2019). They offer a range of plans and they offer HIPAA compliant services too.
- Inbound Faxes -- With a cloud based fax service, inbound faxes come to you via email. The fax is attached in pdf form to the email. Inbound fax processing with an internet fax service is a communication dream.
- Outbound Faxes -- Sending faxes does not feel natural at first. I still miss the sounds and the confidence of an outbound connection (although some may have no clue what I"m talking about). First you need to digitally scan your document and then save it in a good spot on your computer where you can store it and retrieve it. Open your email. Create a new message. Attach the scanned document. Address email to [email protected] (where xxxyyyzzzz represents the fax number of your recipient and the email is being sent from an account that has fax sending permissions). The body of the email may or may not go out as a cover page to the fax based on fax service settings. My suggestion is to allow that be the cover page, but it's your choice.
For inbound faxes, a fax server is a dream. You can get your faxes instantly no matter where you are in the world. It really rocks. There are ZERO draw backs for inbound faxes, and only benefits.
For outbound faxes it's a different story. In the olden days, anyone with 2-3 minutes of training could send a fax. Put it in the machine, dial the number and hit send. With this you have to put it in an auto-feeder and hit scan (similar), but then you have to be able to save the document to your file system and retrieve it from your file system. Saving it in a suitable pdf size may require one time settings on the scanner that you may tweek as you use it for other scans.
The benefit of sending with a fax server is a built in log of sent faxes, BUT when 1) the scanner is acting up or 2) the computer is acting up or 3) email is acting up or 4) your internet connection is acting up or 5) the email fax service is acting up there can be problems. See how many moving pieces just got introduced to the send side of this??
I will be the first to admit, there have been times when I was forced to send a fax in the last decade when I wished I just had a stupid land phone line and a simple fax machine, due to technology burps and farts that over-complicated the task, but those were few and far between. The benefits out weigh the costs and the costs for service are typically far cheaper than the cost for a landline and separate piece of hardware.
If you really think you need a physical fax machine, my opinion is you need a dedicated phone line and a dedicated fax machine, not a multi-function printer.
=== If you really think you need a physical fax machine -- dedicated line ===
The concept of using a single phone line for voice and fax has always annoyed the heck out of me as the sender of faxes to people who only had one phone line for voice and fax. And as the one who tried to get away with it from time to time. If you have the need for a physical fax machine for incoming faxes, pay the money and get a second, dedicated phone line.
=== If you really think you need a physical fax machine -- dedicated machine ===
I have grown to despise these multi-function printers for anything more than printing and copying. It seems a case where too many greedy and controlling companies are putting out sub-par systems to get into your pocket for residual ink sales. By now, these things should be flawless, but they aren't. The menu design can be challenging or other small issues can consume energy and time. A good dedicated machine could last many many years and once you get it working it should just work.
We were using Fax87.com until September 2017 at which point they got consumed by eFax. it looks like they may have been forced out of business or forced to sell due to a lawsuit ( https://insight.rpxcorp.com/litigation_documents/11946064 ). Efax is notoriously pricey, greedy and controlling. The original founder of efax is known as one of the most powerful technology guys you've never met. In generally try to avoid any and all business he is or has been associated with.
We aren't the only ones wanting to avoid efax...
- https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-good-alternative-to-eFax
- do a search for "efax sucks" never a shortage of abused and traumatized consumers...
We landed with www.srfax.com and have been very pleased (as of 7/14/2019). They offer a range of plans and they offer HIPAA compliant services too.
3) Cellular Service -- Voice
I got rid of my land lines for home and office around 2005. My cell phone is my business phone and my personal phone. Keeping phone systems simple is critical. I realize there are virtual phone numbers and virtual services like Google Voice. I have experimented with a few. Having a single phone and a single phone number has simplified my life, as has the push to do as much relevant communication as possible via email.
I currently use an Iphone with Verizon Service. I have experience and opinions about phones and service providers.
=== Iphone vs Android ===
IF YOU CAN BE SATISFIED WITH AN ANDROID PHONE, CHECK OUT GOOGLE FI CELLAR SERVICE. MORE ON THAT IN ANOTHER SECTION SPECIFIC TO GOOGLE FI.
I currently use an Iphone (my only Mac product) after having tried several windows phones in the mid 2000s. I chose Iphone because I felt there was safety in numbers (if they screwed it up, there were so many Mac users that would scream, they'd fix it fast). There are also so many Iphone users, if I have a question of how to do something, chances are I will be surrounded by others who may be able to help me.
I struggled like hell believing a phone with one button could ever handle navigation well, and turns out, it was/is brilliant from a reduced confusion perspective (and younger folks will not have any clue there ever was anything but that). I also struggled like hell believing a keyboard without buttons was something I'd like. I still don't like it, but I like the safety in numbers and all else about the Iphone.
I don't know enough about Android to have a conversation, other than to say for this type of product, safety in numbers has numerous benefits. It's easier to get support from family and friends and those you don't know for an iphone than an android, but you pay for that benefit.
=== Verizon, AT&T, others... ===
IF YOU CAN BE SATISFIED WITH AN ANDROID PHONE, CHECK OUT GOOGLE FI CELLAR SERVICE. MORE ON THAT IN ANOTHER SECTION SPECIFIC TO GOOGLE FI.
My first cell phone was a company phone issued in the mid 1990's. My phone bills ranged from $200-1000/month (and I got in trouble when they got above $500/month).
I was with Cingular in the mid 2000's. AT&T bought them out and I was with AT&T for a decade or so. I bought my first Iphone while with AT&T. I moved to California and decided a switch to Verizon was in order because they were the dominant carrier out here by retail location. It was mistake.
=== A local support person is key (IMO) ===
Since the mid 2000's I've discovered it is critical to try to befriend a sales person at a local store who seems very knowledgeable about their work and who seems to be in the business as a career or for a profession. This has worked very well for me over the years. If my primary contact at the Verizon Store in Santa Cruz CA left his job, that would be enough to encourage me to reshop all carriers until I found both a carrier and a local sales person I felt I could use as a good resource.
=== AT&T (and Verizon's) Asinine Pricing ===
Around 2015, I got so frustrated with my Verizon service I considering giving up my exceptional retail 'support person with Verizon for my old AT&T service. I went into a Verizon store and the sales clerks were outfitted with a modified tool belt with small pads of paper and pencils. When I asked about pricing options, the guy pulled the pad out and started going into so much math, my eyes rolled back in my head. As a guy who loves math and finance, that was nauseating. I walked out. On my next trip to Verizon it seemed they had also started a modified version of insanity. I stuck with the simple plan where I could do the math without vertigo. This is a classic example of corporate lunatics run amok with commerce without enough balances to keep things healthy long term.
I currently use an Iphone with Verizon Service. I have experience and opinions about phones and service providers.
=== Iphone vs Android ===
IF YOU CAN BE SATISFIED WITH AN ANDROID PHONE, CHECK OUT GOOGLE FI CELLAR SERVICE. MORE ON THAT IN ANOTHER SECTION SPECIFIC TO GOOGLE FI.
I currently use an Iphone (my only Mac product) after having tried several windows phones in the mid 2000s. I chose Iphone because I felt there was safety in numbers (if they screwed it up, there were so many Mac users that would scream, they'd fix it fast). There are also so many Iphone users, if I have a question of how to do something, chances are I will be surrounded by others who may be able to help me.
I struggled like hell believing a phone with one button could ever handle navigation well, and turns out, it was/is brilliant from a reduced confusion perspective (and younger folks will not have any clue there ever was anything but that). I also struggled like hell believing a keyboard without buttons was something I'd like. I still don't like it, but I like the safety in numbers and all else about the Iphone.
I don't know enough about Android to have a conversation, other than to say for this type of product, safety in numbers has numerous benefits. It's easier to get support from family and friends and those you don't know for an iphone than an android, but you pay for that benefit.
=== Verizon, AT&T, others... ===
IF YOU CAN BE SATISFIED WITH AN ANDROID PHONE, CHECK OUT GOOGLE FI CELLAR SERVICE. MORE ON THAT IN ANOTHER SECTION SPECIFIC TO GOOGLE FI.
My first cell phone was a company phone issued in the mid 1990's. My phone bills ranged from $200-1000/month (and I got in trouble when they got above $500/month).
I was with Cingular in the mid 2000's. AT&T bought them out and I was with AT&T for a decade or so. I bought my first Iphone while with AT&T. I moved to California and decided a switch to Verizon was in order because they were the dominant carrier out here by retail location. It was mistake.
- Customer Website -- AT&T's customer website for management of your account blows away Verizon by a million miles. It was just simpler to handle everything online and with tech support. This view is supported by my current Verizon sales guy who also worked at AT&T years ago.
- Call Connectivity -- I had always heard call quality and connectivity on Verizon were better becuase of the CDMA stuff. While I'll agree the CDMA stuff with a CDMA only phone beat the digital stuff, that was not the case with the mixed service Iphone. I gained nothign there and in fact lost call connectivity and quality, IMO.
- Call Waiting -- I have no clue what it is, but call waiting on my Verizon Iphone sucks. It just sucks. i don't know if it is a networking thing, or the phone itself, but it just sucks.
- Talk and Data -- The inability to do talk and data when not in some correct area is in fact annoying on the rare events I want/need it.
- Tethering -- The inability to tether by default for short email work is annoying, but becoming way less relevant as time goes on.
=== A local support person is key (IMO) ===
Since the mid 2000's I've discovered it is critical to try to befriend a sales person at a local store who seems very knowledgeable about their work and who seems to be in the business as a career or for a profession. This has worked very well for me over the years. If my primary contact at the Verizon Store in Santa Cruz CA left his job, that would be enough to encourage me to reshop all carriers until I found both a carrier and a local sales person I felt I could use as a good resource.
=== AT&T (and Verizon's) Asinine Pricing ===
Around 2015, I got so frustrated with my Verizon service I considering giving up my exceptional retail 'support person with Verizon for my old AT&T service. I went into a Verizon store and the sales clerks were outfitted with a modified tool belt with small pads of paper and pencils. When I asked about pricing options, the guy pulled the pad out and started going into so much math, my eyes rolled back in my head. As a guy who loves math and finance, that was nauseating. I walked out. On my next trip to Verizon it seemed they had also started a modified version of insanity. I stuck with the simple plan where I could do the math without vertigo. This is a classic example of corporate lunatics run amok with commerce without enough balances to keep things healthy long term.
4) Internet Service
Current service providers in big cities tought 100mb service and more. You only need about 1.5mb to stream videos one at a time. With 3-5mb, you can stream for a house of 3 or so. The concept that says Comcast is offering 50 and 100mb streaming is great, but few have that need right now (I don't know anything about gaming demands, I'd imagine this is relevant to gamers).
=== Land Based Service ===
Get land based service if at all possible.
=== Wireless Service - Radios -- Not Cell Tower Phone Related ===
I've had four wireless internet service providers that used radios because of geographic issues. Three were a wi-fi type setup and one was satellite.
The wi-fi setups were in Baltimore and California. One was with Clear Wireless, a national company that specialized in wireless service with month to month options. Unfortunately, it was bought out and shut down in 2015 to continue the monopoly of Xfinity and others. There is nothing like this offered anymore in the US that I'm aware of.
Two others were with local companies that specialized in the wireless services. Wireless services are "OK". If it is your only option, it will work fine, but there are more issues with them than land based services. Ironically, the service I got from Clear Wireless was more support free than that with the local companies, and it was a perfect solution for me as it was at my Baltimore shop which was intermittently operational and I could order service by the month.
The satellite service I have experience with was in 2012 in California. The speeds were not good for any major work, clouds were an issue, and it was expensive.
=== Wireless Service -- Cellular Phone Related ===
With the shuttering of Clear Wireless, I had to invest in a hot spot for my Verizon Phone/Account. The service is good. The ability to track data use is good. It is good for moderate to heavy email use. It can get pricy quick for any video streaming or social media.
They do sell house mounted antennas to use their service as a primary land based service. It is expensive compared to other non-cellular related wireless service (or at least it was as of 2015).
If you have a phone that tethers and don't need it on when you aren't there, and it can handle talk and data at the same time, this is that too.
=== Land Based Service ===
Get land based service if at all possible.
=== Wireless Service - Radios -- Not Cell Tower Phone Related ===
I've had four wireless internet service providers that used radios because of geographic issues. Three were a wi-fi type setup and one was satellite.
The wi-fi setups were in Baltimore and California. One was with Clear Wireless, a national company that specialized in wireless service with month to month options. Unfortunately, it was bought out and shut down in 2015 to continue the monopoly of Xfinity and others. There is nothing like this offered anymore in the US that I'm aware of.
Two others were with local companies that specialized in the wireless services. Wireless services are "OK". If it is your only option, it will work fine, but there are more issues with them than land based services. Ironically, the service I got from Clear Wireless was more support free than that with the local companies, and it was a perfect solution for me as it was at my Baltimore shop which was intermittently operational and I could order service by the month.
The satellite service I have experience with was in 2012 in California. The speeds were not good for any major work, clouds were an issue, and it was expensive.
=== Wireless Service -- Cellular Phone Related ===
With the shuttering of Clear Wireless, I had to invest in a hot spot for my Verizon Phone/Account. The service is good. The ability to track data use is good. It is good for moderate to heavy email use. It can get pricy quick for any video streaming or social media.
They do sell house mounted antennas to use their service as a primary land based service. It is expensive compared to other non-cellular related wireless service (or at least it was as of 2015).
If you have a phone that tethers and don't need it on when you aren't there, and it can handle talk and data at the same time, this is that too.
5) Cable TV Service and Alternatives
I no longer have Cable TV service of any kind in my primary residence. I've had Comcast and DirecTV. In 2016 I discontinued DirecTV in a switch back to Comcast. There were intermittent dish and receiver card issues that made DirecTV annoying from time to time.
I have comcast (xfiinity) boxes in a vacation rental. We have 5 boxes in that home. We replace at least 1 a year for malfunctions.
I have a flat antenna for over the air reception in my home and office. I have a Roku box which connects to a wifi router and streams content and I have a chromecast puck which does the same as a Roku box, but it streams through a chrome book, which is then connected to a wifi router.
I have comcast (xfiinity) boxes in a vacation rental. We have 5 boxes in that home. We replace at least 1 a year for malfunctions.
I have a flat antenna for over the air reception in my home and office. I have a Roku box which connects to a wifi router and streams content and I have a chromecast puck which does the same as a Roku box, but it streams through a chrome book, which is then connected to a wifi router.
6) Comcast Commercial Services
Many people do not realize that Comcast offers commercial grade service for home offices. When I had it it was limited to internet and phone -- you could not bundle it with a commercial TV service however. I got this for my home office in Baltimore at a time when I wanted to make sure i got top level support if there were internet issues. it was a slight premium over residential service but it was worth the premium to me at the time.
I don't know if this type of thing is needed now. Residential service most places seems to have leveled out and become quite dependable. It was not that way for many of us for many years.
I don't know if this type of thing is needed now. Residential service most places seems to have leveled out and become quite dependable. It was not that way for many of us for many years.
7) Telecom Bundles
In general, I am not a fan of bundling unless I'm getting what I would choose separately together. I have paid small premiums over time to get what I've wanted from vendors who specialize in what it is they sell or provide.