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eVoice Review: Virtual Phone & Virtual Office |
| Sign up for eVoice | |
Rating: |
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| Good interface and a great value, includes teleconferencing, but only 2 extensions | |
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Introduction
Evoice is a product of J2 Global Communications, the company that also brought us the somewhat pricey eFax Internet faxing service. The two have a lot of things in common actually, though surprisingly faxing is not one of them. When we reviewed eFax we noted it had great tools and, as we mentioned, a higher-than-average price. The difference between the two is that eVoice might be worth the premium. Interface and Setup The Interface is one of eVoice's strong points. It's refreshingly easy to find the options you need; everything is intuitively placed inside eVoice's simple menu system. Yet it still feels robust. Its features are comparable to the other services, it's just easier to find them. The call routing screen, for instance, is found under call settings (see screen shot at left). One thing that's not as easy with eVoice is recording your own message. If you want to record your own greeting, you must record it on your computer using your own recording software and then upload it via the eVoice interface. However, you can easily change the message spoken by the robo voice, or pay an additional fee for a professional recording. Service and Features Call quality with eVoice is equal to others in this category. We found calling using the included iPhone app (see screen shot at left) over a Wi-Fi connection was actually better than routing the call through our cell phone's normal voice connection. This also allows you to call using the minutes, and anonymity, provided by your eVoice service. However, it does not seem to work over the 3G data network. Evoice also wins the award for the best hold music: Dave Brubeck's classic jazz piece, "Take 5." Of course you don't have to choose hold music, you can also have it simply ring, or screen your calls with just the robo voice. One novel feature not found elsewhere is built-in support for phone conferencing. Simply distribute the information the system provides to your attendees, and you can conference with up to 95 people. You are, however, charged per minute, per attendant, so the costs can add up. Our only real complaint about the service is the small number of extensions. Two extensions will not be enough for many small businesses, and an upgrade may be necessary. Pricing and Minutes Unlike other virtual phone services we reviewed, eVoice has no yearly discount; it's $12.95 per month for 300 minutes and 2 extensions. However, you get a generous 30-day free trial. An upgraded plan of $19.95 per month gives you 500 minutes and 3 extensions, while $29.95 per month gets you 1000 minutes and 5 extensions. Conclusion We really like eVoice. It does not do everything that RingCentral does, but it does most of it, and does it much more intuitively. We can only really quibble with the small number of extensions, particularly given the price. If you don't need any more extensions, and you do need conference calling, it's a clear winner. If your company numbers more than two, and you need faxing over conference calling, you should try Phone.com. Sign up for eVoice | Compare to Other Virtual Phone Services |
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| Annual Plan Price: | $12.95/mo |
| Free Trial: | 30-day free trial |
| Domestic Minutes: | 300/mo |
| Extensions: | 2 |
| Faxing: | None |
| Additional Minutes: | 5.9¢ |
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