I want to set up the office phones for our new office using VoIP (voice over internet protocol). I’ve spent a good part of the day researching the problem. You need two things after you get your internet connection. (We’re getting 3-megabit Covad ADSL for $109.99 a month. It turns out there aren’t any other choices, if you can believe it. AT&T resells Covad’s circuit! What a topsy world we’re in now, when the CLEC circuit is resold by the former Ma Bell.) First you need something that translates the phone calls into packets, an adapter, along with the service itself to transport and terminate the calls along with whatever else you might get, like voice mail, conference calling and so forth. Second, you need actual telephones that will plug into the ethernet network and let you make calls, including acting as extensions inside the office.

My research lead me to one company in particular, Packet8, which is actually the service name from a company called 8×8 Inc., a public company traded on the NASDAQ (EGHT). The company has something called the Virtual Office which integrates both the service and the phones and seems incredibly simple to set up and fairly inexpensive ($100 per extension for equipment plus $40 a month per extension for service for unlimited domestic calling). So I set up a purchase of four extensions on the web store at www.packet8.net. Just before I pushed the BUY button, I decided to call to find out how to get the phone numbers we wanted. (Phone numbers are important for small companies, since they often become associated intimately with the company.) The sales rep said that a computer spit the numbers out and I couldn’t choose them, so I said that I wouldn’t buy anything. She said that she would switch me to customer service to see if they could help. I stayed on hold (and a really crappy hold message that cycled through every 60 seconds, making the on-hold experience miserable) for about five minutes before I hung up.

Since I’m about to commit the partnerships time and user interface to this purchase, I decided to call the CEO of the company and see whether he thought that is a good idea. It turns out that the company itself is at a different web site, not mentioned or linked from the Packet8 web site. The company is actually at www.8×8.com. There is no specific contact information for anyone important at the company, which is always a bad sign. But I persevered and called the company’s headquarters phone and plowed through the IVR system to dial-by-name and, guess what: The CEO’s name is not listed in the dial-by-name directory. The CEO is a fellow named Bryan Martin, who apparently has lots of patents and started out as the VP Operations at the company. Apparently, he doesn’t like talking to customers.

I’m not going to buy the Packet8 Virtual Office system because it’s clear the company that designed is not in business to help its customers be successful. And we are starting a new business where we really care about our own customers and partners. No way I’m turning such a crucial interface over to a company with so little regard for its own customers. (I don’t know if 8×8 Inc. uses Packet8, but if it does, it is a terrible demonstration of what they lovingly refer to as the Virtual Attendant, the automated system for routing calls to the right person.)

Anybody got a better idea of office phone systems?