Filed under: Business, Commercial
Make your small business sound big with Grasshopper
One of the challenges small businesses have is in developing trust in their customer base. While some customers are happy to work with the small guy, others need the impression of size to help them feel comfortable that they're not dealing with a fly-by-night organization.
This is a particularly difficult challenge for virtual companies, which are companies consisting of team members that are spread out geographically.
How do you have a single company phone number for a team of people that are spread out in different cities? One solution is Grasshopper. In fact, that's exactly how 37signals' CEO Jason Fried decided to manage his phone for his office hours, where he sets aside dedicated time to speak with customers, prospective customers, or anyone with an interest in or question about 37signals.
While Google Voice seems to be getting all the press these days, it's a solution that focuses on the individual. If you're trying to run a team and present a cohesive, "bigger business" image to your customers, you might need to step up to something like Grasshopper. While not free, Grasshopper has plans starting from $9.95US per month, making it accessible to even the earliest of startups.
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
NyaR said 12:28AM on 11-15-2009
I am deploying google voice as a solution and was really interested when I initially saw your article. However, upon review, the pricing is ridiculous!
For $10 (+$25 Activation) bucks you can get a grasshopper account, with limited talk time. A google voice can kinda mimic extensions with groups/ but you would need to have those people's number saved.
If they offered more phone numbers, and less extensions, for lower prices I would be a customer.
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Tad said 1:52AM on 11-15-2009
Doesn't sound much different than Toktumi in functionality. It's the only solution other than Google Voice that I've fond that has unlimited minutes. Its only $15 per month!
http://bit.ly/2NEizX
mah said 4:38AM on 11-15-2009
@Tad: Your bit.ly link is 3 characters shorter than the toktumi url. seems kind of silly, no?
Crazy Serb said 9:54AM on 11-16-2009
Meh... all I can think of is that someone here got paid to write an article on Grasshopper.
Why?
Because they are offering the same features tons of other companies have been offering for years for a lot more money... I mean, every single plan, phone transfer and extra feature has an activation fee attached? That's pure nonsense, as a simple search on Google for "1-800 Toll Free service" will return at least a dozen other companies who will provide you with the same service without any activation fees, with lower per minute charges, etc...
I'd post a bunch of links here myself if I had access to my home computer where I have a few of these bookmarked...
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Jonathan Kay said 10:13AM on 11-16-2009
Hi Guys,
This post was definitely not written by someone who Grasshopper paid. One of the differences between Grasshopper.com and a service like Toktumi is that they are VOIP based, while Grasshopper is TDM quality. Therefore, Grasshopper allows you to sound a bit more professional then using a internet based connection. Second, i would challenge you to search Google again for "Toll-Free 1-800 service" and tell me how many of those companies offer a phone number you can contact for customer support. Nonetheless a 24/7 365 day a year US based customer service option. Now, if you are starting a business, and your phone number is the source of your income, wouldn't you want to know you could call someone if something went wrong? Wouldn't that be worth a one time fee of $25 ??
I hope this helps, and appreciate all the feedback,
Jonathan
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