Long-time hosted PBX provider 8×8 has some enticing news today. They’re offering a basic cloud-based phone system, Virtual Office Solo, for $7.99 month.
Solo is meant for tiny startups and entrepreneurs who just need a PSTN line to the outside world along with a few call handling tricks.
Their browser-based softphone lets subscribers click through three-way calling, call forwarding, Internet faxing, call recording, and visual voice mail. There’s also call waiting (with music-on-hold) for juggling multiple incoming callers.
And to get you off the ground quickly, Solo lets you import contacts from Gmail, Exchange, Facebook, and Twitter.
Solo is not a replacement for a PBX: there’s no auto-attendant, extension dialing, or conference bridge. For those extras you’ll need to move to their Virtual Office bundling.
One other tasty feature is an iPhone and Android app that turns a personal smartphone into a business phone—i.e., the outside world will see the caller ID of your 8×8 line. And that app, I have been assured, will ring simultaneously with the browser softphone, so you can field calls to your startup wherever you happen to be.
Did I mention there’s unlimited long distance calling?
My first reaction is that this is just the right amount of telephony for solo startups that want to keep their day gigs while inexpensively letting them test the waters.
I’m looking forward to getting a demo account from the 8×8 crew, and trying this one out for myself.
Related articles
- 8×8 Virtual Office Solo (8×8.com)
- A Peek at Cloud Telephony: SIPFoundry’s sipXecs (technoverseblog.com)
