Using VoIP instead of Landline

In this business development post, we'll share our experience with switching from Landline to VoIP.

A couple of months ago, our Internet+Phone contract with Bell (along with the promo and everything) expired and they just won't budge on continuing the monthly promo credit (the typical it is only for new customers). So instead of continuing the service, we discontinued the Internet+Phone service and went with a third-party supplier which happens to use the same Bell line. Basically, we got a similar service from the same infrastructure but are paying less for it.

Yes, yes, yes, you might think that ~$150/month for Internet+Phone is not a huge expense in the grand scheme of business expense but we have a culture of cost-saving here at Canada Robotix. Why pay more if you can get a similar service for less?

With the cancellation of the Internet+Phone service and signing up for a new internet service with another provider (plus they have a new customer promo too), we no longer have a landline. Although landline is becoming more and more obsolete nowadays, we still get regular phone calls for that (virtual) human touch. So what's the solution? VoIP.

Now, I know Bell and Rogers and other telecom providers provide VoIP as part of their Internet+Phone but we went the more manual way. The reason why we took this route was partly for the adventure and partly for the cost-saving.

After doing research online, we decide to go with voip.ms, a Canada-based VoIP provider, for our phone service. Instead of paying $20-$30 per month to a third-party telecom provider or $40-$50 per month to a primary provider, we got our phone number ported over and are paying $1 per month for the phone number registration and less than $0.01 per minute. But we need something to connect our phone set to the VoIP provider.

After doing some more research online, we decided to go with the OBi200 VoIP adapter from OBiTalk (~$70 when we purchased it from amazon.ca). It allows us to simultaneous connect to 4 VoIP services (4 phone numbers), which is more than enough for us.

Although you need to be a tiny bit tech-savvy to get the VoIP box setup, we think the saving is worth it. We ended up putting one VoIP at our Markham location and one at our Downtown Toronto location.

The other bonus is, since the VoIP is pretty much DIY, we have more control over the switching of the phone call in terms of setting up voice mail, forwarding rules, etc.

In conclusion, even though it is not as easy to set up and not as reliable as the traditional landline, the added flexibility and cost-saving made it worthwhile. And no complaint so far except for the one week when voip.ms was under DDoS attack and their network went down. But we also have our e-mail and chat where you contact us from so our phone is becoming more and more as just a backup system now.

Our total saving per year:

Original Internet Package: $129.95 x 12 = $1559.40
New Internet + Phone + VoIP Box: ($55 + $4*) x 12 + $70* = $778.00
Saving of $781.40 per year
*assuming phone number per minutes is about $4 per month
*assuming VoIP box is $70 (less if cost is spreaded over a few years)

If you are interested in using VoIP with voip.ms as well, sign up through us and both of us will get a $10 credit after you sign up for an account and use the service.

Cheers!