Yesterday I received a call from a client via my RemotePBX. He asked a couple of questions that I answered successfully. At the end of the call, I said “When I get back to the office, I will send you some more information”. He surprisingly said “You are not at the office!” BUSTED – Virtual Office Rule No. 7 – Never say when I get to a computer or the office. Although the rules have changed regarding home bound workers, clients do not necessarily want to know you are at Jason’s Deli and not stuck in the office!

The benefits of working virtually are great. I had lost my appreciation because I have done it for so long. I closed my last real office in 2002. The only reason I had a office was because that was what everyone else was doing. The freedom of working from anywhere you have a Internet connection is great. I will be adding more stories I have heard from other Virtual workers

I am a fan and supporter of NPR (National Public Radio). One of the shows I like to listen to is called “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”. It is a comedy new quiz of the past week in the headlines. The show has very little to do with VOIP or telecom services. But wait! One of the prizes for answering the questions correctly is……. Carl Castle’s voice on your home ANSWERING MACHINE!

People seem to be genuinely happy about winning that prize. Every time I hear it, I laugh out loud and think “Do people really still have answering machines at home?” If so, where can you buy them? How much are they? For the record, I gave my last answering machine to my brother in law back in 1994 (He still has it!). Every since then, it has been CallNotes, voicemail and virtual pbx services.

I think the Answering Machine should take it’s place right next to the typewriter in the old school office. If you are running your business using an answering, please call us! We can save you. In fact if someone calls me at X.104 and still uses an Answering Machine, I will donate 3 months of service and help you find a new home for the old relic!

Check out this episode of “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” from NPR

People ask me “What is a Remote PBX?” How does it differ from a Hosted PBX or Virtual PBX? The short answer is: There is no difference!

A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) offers a unified front door so callers can reach all of your employees by dialing one main phone number, which is particularly useful if your business uses more than one telephone line.

Your local telephone company will be happy to sell or lease pricey PBX equipment to set up this type of service. However, you can now get many of the same telephone call-handling capabilities at a fraction of the cost by using a Web-based virtual PBX service.

A month-to-month Remote PBX gives you the flexibility of being able to enhance or cancel the service at any time. There’s no capital investment or commitment to a long-term leasing contract.

You do not need some big fancy office to have a Remote PBX. In fact, you do not even need a phone line.

Let me say both phones are nice….and addictive! I have had the iPhone for about 6 months now. Since I am a Mac fanatic, I really enjoy using it. It is fun to use and everyone digs it. Surfing the web, listening to my iPod and showing off my pictures make the iPhone super cool. With all that being said, boy do I miss my Blackberry.

Hands down, the Blackberry is the phone of choice for me as a business person! The push email, cut and paste and one handed operation helps it earn the name “Crackberry”. My email arrives instantly and I can tell where it came from by looking at the icon. On my iPhone, I have to dig three steps deep into one of five folders (I check five email addresses from my phone). I am about to make the switch back! Not because I don’t like my iPhone – I love it. I am switching solely for the email functionality. There it is – I said it! I am going to lose a lot of cool points but I will make up for that by not getting my email 30 minutes later!