RingCentral Office: Internet Phone System Takes on Virtual PBX

RingCentral, an online phone service for small businesses, recently added virtual PBX services to its new RingCentral Office offering. Multiple options are available. The RingCentral Office 4-line system, for example, includes four dedicated phone lines and integrated Internet fax, for $99.99/month with unlimited minutes (fair usage limits apply). It delivers a virtual PBX, VoIP phone service that includes features like voice mail, auto-receptionist, and call-forwarding.

The package offers four local numbers with area codes of your choice; a toll-free or local main company number; a toll-free or local fax number; and virtual PBX with unlimited extensions.

To use the service, you may have to purchase devices from RingCentral; you have a choice of Linksys SPA-922 IP phones or Linksys Analog Telephone Adapters (ATA). The Linksys SPA-922 IP phone is a one-line business phone designed for a hosted phone service; it comes fully configured.

Because it has a second Ethernet port, you won't need an additional router to connect multiple phones in one office. If you purchase the Linksys ATA, you can use existing analog telephones with your VoIP phone service. You can use IP phones from another provider, but you'll have to have your provider unlock the phones first.

You can use your current phone number with RingCentral Office if you'd like, but you'll need to contact your provider.

PC Mag just reviewed Google Voice, and you should check out this service if your needs are more personal, or if you're a very small business that wants a free virtual follow-me-anywhere service that offers text-messaging capabilities and voice mail transcriptions. RingCentral Office is more geared to multiple users with active extensions.