SysAdminMan - Profile

Cool van!

I think what puts people off calling is when numbers are not included free in mobile phone plans. I think that's the case with most 0800 & 0845 numbers?

UK numbers normally run anywhere from free to a few pounds a month. A free one would be OK for testing, but probably not for business use.

You would sign up with a call provider, which would give you SIP login/password. You would then enter those details in to the phone.

There are many call providers around. Another one that quite a few of my customers use and like is voiptalk.org.

There are lots of choices for phones.

Anything that is 'SIP' compatible will work with most call providers (inbound calls to your DDI numbers or outbound calls to regular phone numbers)

They rely on you having a stable broadband connection. As an indication each call will take around 100kb/sec bandwidth up and down (and it's normally the upload speed that is limited).

I can't post links but I use an Aastra 55i (which is around

You could use a service like this - mydivert.com

With the calls being forwarded to a regular phone number you'd pay for the second part of the call (the redirect).

If you were using VOIP phones then the divert to the VOIP phone would be free, and you'd just be paying for the DDI number/s

That's right. If you just have an IPv4 address you will not be able to connect to an IPv6 address.

There will be a move towards 'dual stack' where you get an IPv4 and an IPv6 address. This needs to happen at the ISPs really so that customers will be able to connect to both types of addresses.

IPv4 blocks of address are starting to change hands for larger sums of money now and many providers will have a good supply yet.

There will also be some gateways between IPv4 and IPv6 so there may be some interesting solutions to help.

It's only delaying the inevitable though :-)

It's going to get messy!!

With little movement from a lot of ISPs on IPv6 there will be a whole new internet out there soon that many people won't be able to get to.

Favourite OS questions only ever start flame wars!

Learn lots and choose the best for the job :-)

I think social networking can help, depending on what sort of business you're in. I've used Twitter to generate some sales, although I think Facebook only works well for certain size/type of companies.

I certainly wouldn't spend too much time on it though.

Matt

You don't mention if your domain is registered with the same company but for anyone looking at website hosting/development I would recommend -

- Always have your domain registration and design/hosting with different comanies. That way if things go bad it's easier to move.
- Always keep your own backup of any website design/data. Don't only rely on your provider.

Good luck with finding a reliable design company.

My personal approach is to write a blog, post in forums and keep my website up to date with useful information.

Also, trying to climb up the Google search results is an ongoing battle :-)

Telesales, spam or any sort of pressurised selling do not appeal to me as a customer so I wouldn't use them to attract customers.

I've spent a very small amount on Google AdWords, I'm not convinced it generates any sales though.

Matt