Small business communication?

[The Rabbi]

I am planning on opening a small retail business in the near future.  It will have some traditional walk-in and some internet.  I need an economical solution (gotta keep those costs low, right?) to this problem.  I will need to
-Make phone calls
-Send and receive faxes
-Have internet service.
-Have a burgler alarm.

Can anyone suggest bright ideas to deal with these?

[TarpleyG]

BellSouth?  Doesn't sound like you need much.  2 lines (one for your business line, published--one for faxes and alarm, not published) from your LEC and DSL service (you can even skimp here and get the slowest DSL service) should run you about $100/month.  Don't know that I would necessarily state that it's for business up front.  Call and ask what the residential price is then ask what the business price is.  Sometimes they feel they need to stick it to you just because they figure you can afford more being a business.

Greg

[Sindawe]

You could look into what your cable TV provider is offering in your area.  Here outside Boulder, Comcast offers high speed Internet and phone service over the same cable that the TV runs over.

I don't know about the burgler alarm over that though.  The only system I've experience with uses POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service).  You may need to go with a DSL for telephone and 'Net service there.

[mtnbkr]

If your Internet needs are business critical (you lose biz or capability when it's down), then you NEED a service with SLAs.  Do not get residential service and hope for the best.

BTW, if your phone is biz critical, bite the bullet and get a POTS line from your local telco.  Don't play around with IP telephony unless you have an in house expert.  Booze, Allen, and Hamilton's example might be good to follow (they don't use VOIP because telephones HAVE to work and work well).  

Chris

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Use eFax dot com.  For a few dollars each month, you can have a local fax number, send AND receive faxes, and nobody knows it's 100% an online service.  Problem is, you'll have to have a scanner if you're not faxing a document from your PC.

On the outside chance the only thing you need is to RECEIVE faxes, that's free.