One of the most important business tools available is the humble telephone. Even though the internet has evolved into an indespensible tool for business, the phone still has it’s place. You customers, suppliers & partners still need the option of speaking one on one to a real human being. In fact, the internet allows small business owners to have professional grade telephone systems for a fraction of the cost that you might expect to pay. Tools such as Skype & Vonage allow your small business to have multiple local telephone numbers, 800 numbers, voicemail, automated call forwarding, etc… for little more than you’re paying now for basic service. One tool that I especially like is Kall8. Kall8 gives you a ton of service at an amazingly low price. For only $2 a month (that’s right folks, $24 a year) you get:
Your own toll free number – Either 888, 866 or 877 standard US toll free numbers. If you want 800 then that’s a bit extra. You can also have a vanity 800 number for a small upcharge.

Voice Mail & Fax – Your toll free inbox can receive both Voice Mail and Faxes. You can customize your greeting and limit the length of caller’s messages.

Conference Calling – You can host conference calles with up to 25 participants for as long it takes.

Call Forwarding – You can set your calls to ring your home phone after hours or your cell phone, or wherever…

Online Account management – From here you can see details of each call, download voicemail messages to listen to later and track how busy your phone is.

Now, you do have to pay a per minute charge for each call, but that’s to be expected, right? After all, the phone company does that to you as well. However, the charges are very reasonable, currently around $0.05 a minute for Domestic calls. That’s actually cheaper than my cell phone.

Having a toll free number prominently displayed on your website does several things for your business. First, it entices potential customers to take the next step and contact you. It builds trust, because customers are more apt to associate you with a real person if they can call you. And finally it makes it gives you another opportunity to “close the deal” when they call. So take a look and see for yourself what a toll free number can do for your bottom line. When you decide to take the next step, then Kall8 is an outstanding service, that I highly recommend.