Take a look at your business card. How many contact numbers does it indicate? Many cards list a direct number, cell, fax and maybe even a toll-free number. If you have a home office things get even more complicated. So if someone wants to reach you, what number do they dial? She has to guess where you might be.
For a business enterprise there are software packages you can buy to solve this problem. Some are labeled "Find me" or "Follow me." They allow you to notify the phone system of your location and calls on any of your numbers will ring there. For example, if I know I will be in the car for two hours, my office calls are directed to my cell.
Now there is a new service that allows you to do that without any new equipment or software. Grand Central.com is a web-based service that allows you to use one number that will reach you regardless of location. The number is tied to a person, and you can keep it upon moving, getting a new job or changing cellphone providers.
The interface is pretty simple. Log onto grandcentral.com and chose an area code, then a phone number. You are then prompted to list all the numbers you want to ring when the Grand Central number is dialed. You can have your cell, house and office all ring at once. When one phone is answered, the others stop ringing. You can even tell it you want only one phone to ring during certain hours.
Another nice feature is that you can switch an incoming call from one phone to another by simply pressing the star key. For example, if you are on your cellphone in the car, then arrive home where reception is spotty, you can switch to your home phone by pressing one button.
There are lots of other features that you can read about on the website. One of the best things, however, is that it is free. It is in beta testing now, through the winter, and is free to anyone during this time. Even after it goes live, some of the features are free and you can pay for enhanced services.
All of this works through an IP call server created by the founders. For now they are aiming it at the consumer market, not businesses. Their current OC3 pipe has plenty of bandwidth and will likely be upgraded to OC48 when they add enterprise customers. That will come later, hopefully.
I signed up for an account. It works perfectly, and you can't beat free.
Reach Mary at mpowell@a1teletronics.com.
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