Competition Means Better Business Phone Service

It used to be that if you needed phone service for your business, you called the local phone company, which had a monopoly on your area, and bought what you needed at their price. There was no room for negotiation, and there was no competition, so you were stuck.
But this has all changed now. No longer do you need to rely on a copper line from your nearest telephone company central office to your business; if you have an internet connection, you already have everything you need for phone service. And since you are not bound to the local monopoly carrier, you can now buy your phone service from anybody. And there are now hundreds of national phone exchanges that would love to have your business, and to compete aggressively for it.
There is room for negotiation, there are competing quotes, there are different service options; but, the one thing you can count on, is that you will get more features and better service and a lower cost per month than your deal with the local telco.
So, if you have an internet line into your business, start looking for a phone provider who can give you service over that line. Get some competing bids, check out the features, and save yourself some money. Isn't it amazing how good old competition works to your benefit!
How do you find these national phone providers? Simple; just Google for "business phone service". You should get many choices of telephone exchanges that WANT your business.
You will need to buy a new phone (called a SIP phone), which connects to your internet network rather than the copper phone line you are used to. Or you will need a converter box to convert your existing analog phone to allow it to connect to your internet line. Either way, you can expect the cost to be less than $100 per unit, and there are many choices. But this fixed investment will be weighed against your monthly ongoing savings, which will go on for years.
Are there any limitations to this sort of business service. The answer is simple: NO. You can have an inbound number in any city in the US, or a toll free number. You can call out to any telephone anywhere in the world, including landlines and cell phones. You will probably also get some exciting features that you didn't have before: things like auto-attendant that allows your callers to route their calls to the right department, or conference calls, music on hold, voice messages, etc.
So get to work and make good old American competition work for you!