[tptacek]

In what way is this better than any of the other hosted PBX solutions out there? I don't see the novelty here. Even the "advanced" stuff, like voice mail transcription, have been standard features at virtual PBXs for years now.

[mp3jeep01]

We've used existing hosted PBX systems to run our phone systems in the past, and found them bulky and difficult to setup. We're targeting ease of use and quick setup - we aren't advertising that we have new features at our core, but the method of getting to those features and setting them up is a snap.

[tptacek]

I'm not trying to be argumentative and I don't want to talk too much about who we use (I wouldn't want to endorse or anything) but it took like 20 minutes to get up and running with them.

Have you worked out how you compare pricingwise to the RingCentrals of the world?

[ceelee]

we're working with our telephony providers to keep the pricing as low as possible, and will also be adding a some new features soon to further differentiate.

[detst]

How do you compete with someone like grasshopper.com ? They seem to have more features, are much cheaper for >500 minutes and I would imagine are just as easy to setup. Although, I haven't used either of you.

Then you look at something like OpenVBX, which would be significantly cheaper ($1/month for number, 1c per minute incoming) if you don't mind setting it up.

[ceelee]

We're focused on usability as our primary offering. Setting up phone systems is major pain point for a lot of businesses, esp kinds that can't host their own VBX :)

[ditojim]

grasshopper is easy to use and setup as well. set it and forget it. in fact, i actually forgot we were even using grasshopper until i saw this article.

if it is the same or better than grasshopper, you guys will do well in the smb space.

[bconway]

I wonder if this is a sign that YC is admitting too many startups and that the company-advisor ratio has fallen out of whack. This space is extremely crowded, and a lot of companies are already doing it very well (and cheaper).

[tptacek]

It's not their fault that TechCrunch wrote an article begging people to make these comparisons. It's perfectly fine to launch a Grasshopper competitor; it's just a dumb idea to pitch it as "Google Voice for Companies", as if companies didn't have this stuff long before Google had Voice.

[pbreit]

There actually are not too many good providersin this space. The only I can think of off-hand are Phonebooth and Grasshopper. Most of the others are much too cumbersome.

[tptacek]

I can name at least 2 other independent companies doing this that are low-drama and easy to set up.

[crizCraig]

Their site says: More dependable & better quality than other services TellFi works with the phones you have. So, unlike VoIP, you still receive calls if your Internet connection is down. Which seems to happen to everyone from time to time. Plus, call quality is always great. This answers the main objection to virtual PBX that our business had.

[tptacek]

Uh... we get calls when our Internet is down too. Always did. We're not using Vonage or something. I think the verdict is that there have been companies doing exactly what TellFi does for many years now, and many of them appear to be significantly cheaper.