BEST Virtual Phone Systems for Telecommuting Workers

Ring Central prides itself on flexibility, which is why they categorize Ring Central works hard to make it so that your telecommuting staff don’t have to jump through hoops just to stay connected. You can add virtual numbers, extensions and even use softphone apps to communicate with employees working “off the grid” so to speak.

Your telecommuting workers can still access all of the great features that come with Ring Central plans and because they are mobile-app ready, your telecommuting workers can use their own smartphone to accept business calls too.

A Few Details about this Plan:

For telecommunicating purposes, you will want to stick with the Office plans from Ring Central. There are three to choose from and these will depend on how many minutes you need for all of your telecommuting workers. You can choose from the Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans – allowing you up to as many as 10000 minutes and each comes with unlimited local and long distance calling. Prices will range from $24.99 per month, per user to as high as $44.90 per month, per user.

Unlimited Minutes Plans(per user):	Cost for Additional Local #’s: $4.99/month
Included Domestic Minutes: Unlimited	Cost for Additional Toll Free #’s: $4.99/month
Included Toll Free Minutes: 1,000	Cost for Vanity #’s: $30
Phone #’s: 2	Cost for Virtual International #’s: $15/month
Overage Minutes for Toll Free: 3.9¢	Cost to Transfer a Number: Free

Virtual PBX was created with telecommuting workers and companies in mind. Because they cater to small businesses that often work from home, they created the AnyWhere set of plans to help businesses keep their telecommuting workers in the loop.

AnyWhere plans do not have unlimited minutes, so telecommuting workers will need to be careful about how much they use each month. These plans come with conference minutes – so that your telecommuting workers can join monthly meetings and conference calls too. Also, you can use a smartphone as a softphone with Virtual PBX – so you don’t have to purchase your telecommuting workers any additional equipment.

A Few Details about this Plan:

The AnyWhere Plans from Virtual PBX range from $9.99 per month (Startup) to $19.99 per month (Pro) to $24.99 per month (Premium). Each have minute restrictions ranging from 300 to 2000 local and toll-free minutes and 100 to 500 monthly conference call minutes. You get unlimited extensions with these plans, so you can add as many virtual employees as you need.

They offer a 30 day Free Trial with their AnyWhere Plans, so you can test them out before committing.

Shared Minutes Plans:	Cost for Additional Local #’s: $5/month
Available Minutes: 300, 1000	Cost for Additional Toll Free #’s: $5/month
Extensions: Unlimited	Cost for Vanity #’s: $30
Phone #’s: 1	Cost for Virtual International #’s: Varies
Per Minute Charge for Overage Minutes: 3.9¢, 4.4¢, 4.9¢	Cost to Transfer a Number: $25
Cost Additional Minutes Packages:	.

Grasshopper is the professional solution to your telecommuting worker needs. They offer plans with hearty amounts of minutes that are shared amongst all of your staff. With unlimited virtual extensions you can add as many employees as you need without additional charges. If you go over your monthly allotted minutes you are charged 6¢ per minute.

They offer no contracts so you can cancel at any time, they also feature toll-free numbers, voice studio, hold music and conference calling and customized messages for a more unique phone experience. They also have 24/7 customer support via a toll-free phone number.

A Few Details about this Plan:

Grasshopper’s best deal is their Pay as You Grow Plan which starts at $12 per month – however the catch is that you don’t get any shared minutes, but instead pay the standard for six cents per minute for all calls. The first plan to offer shared minutes is their Ramp plan for $24 per month and gives you 500 shared minutes. Their Grow plan is $49 per month for 2000 minutes and two numbers. With all their plans you get one free local or toll-free number.

Shared Minutes Plans:	Cost for Additional Local #’s: $5/month
Available Minutes: unlimited	Cost for Additional Toll Free #’s: $5/month
Extensions: 3, 6, Unlimited	Cost for Vanity #’s: $30
Phone #’s: 1, 3, 5	Cost for Virtual International #’s: Not Offered
Per Minute Charge for Overage Minutes: 6¢	Cost to Transfer a Number: $30
Cost Additional Minutes Packages:	.

RingByName offers innovative virtual phone systms for companies that have telecommuting workers. While they focus on small to medium-sized businesses, those that have employees working out of the office can benefit from the services of RingByName.

One thing RingByName offers that other virtual phone system providers do not is their innovative caller ID. This service not only tells you who is calling, but shows their photos and you can even add details about that client so that you can answer with a personalized touch. Also, you can program the RingByCentral dashboard to automatically forward calls based on which client is calling – so that they always deal with the same representative.

A Few Details about this Plan:

RingByName is one of the more expensive virtual phone systems out there, but companies can enjoy unlimited calling and a free IP desk phone per user. Also, there is a three-year contract required with RingByName. For 2 to 4 employees, companies will pay $38 per user, per month. For the higher level plans with 50 or more users, the fee is $35 per user, per month.

Unlimited Minutes Plans(per user):	Cost for Additional Local #’s: $4.95/month
Included Domestic Minutes: Unlimited	Cost for Additional Toll Free #’s: $4.95/month
Included Toll Free Minutes: None	Cost for Vanity #’s: Unclear
Phone #’s: 1	Cost for Virtual International #’s: Unclear
Overage Minutes for Toll Free: Unclear	Cost to Transfer a Number: Unclear