No more monthly 800-account fees, slightly better rates, and some communications glue that facilitates Web calls--that's value.

Several weeks ago I wrote my1voice: Virtualization Made Easy, and I ended with a notation that I'd be giving the my1voice a "free" trial run. I'm not ready to give up our IP-PBX just yet because it's too well embedded in our infrastructure and it works great. Instead I'm suggesting some value and what I'm referring to just may resonate among some customers.We've been paying an account fee on our 800-service for several years. While our bill isn't killing us in any sense, it has been on the table for discussion mainly because of the account charges to just maintain 800 services with Verizon. We canned the idea of going SIP because our carrier hasn't perfected keeping that alarm button on my phone turned off -meaning no downtime. When the folks at Protus discussed their many hosted PBX telephony features in the previous interview, I focused on one feature that they didn't make a big deal about--"Click-to-dial." For us it meant goodbye carrier and hello hosted provider.

Click-to-dial with my1voice made my day when our trial account was activated. Of course I received a new 800 number and within a couple of minutes I logged into their console to customize my account. In a few more minutes I activated the feature "click-to-dial" and copied HTML snippets over to our web pages. Testing the service and confirming that customer/prospect Click-to-dial calls from our web pages did in fact ring in--that was easy too. my1voice made it easy to do business.

Secondly, when potential customers hit your website, giving them the option to connect moves prospects onto the magical red carpet closer to sales or in establishing a relationship.

The third thing I like about Click-to-dial is that customers that hit our secure area to download software updates or obtain technical or user information and documentation can also use the feature if they have a question or are feeling stuck. When David Bryan wrote in Are We Falling Victim to Our Own Success? That,"the voice community needs to remember that what is important is connecting people, not how we do it," I took David to heart because I think that his point is what the voice community does need to hear, understand and moreover act upon. I'd only add to David's advice that once you connect people, then the real challenges begin.

No more monthly 800-account fees, slightly better rates, and some communications glue that facilitates Web calls--that's value. The process with my1voice was painless as was porting over our 800 numbers. We can also login anytime to review our calls and history or to make changes. Thinking back over the course of our company history, I've never had more of a hybrid telecommunications solution even when we had a "hybrid"--

* An IP-PBX that supports our TDM proprietary phones, * An ACD with reporting built into our Voice Mail/Auto Attendant system, * IP, SIP and wireless (multi-line) phones & analog devices and geeky gizmos, * UC and management features/tools on the desktops, * Verizon Centrex--a step above POTS but with undeniable reliability, * SIP trunks serving as a real cheap LD alternative, and * A hosted 800 number to deliver cool features.No more monthly 800-account fees, slightly better rates, and some communications glue that facilitates Web calls--that's value.