Phone People Review

Pros:

• At the time of our most recent review there were no notable pros.

Cons:

• Local numbers not available
• $35 setup fee for vanity numbers
• Additional cost to receive voicemails via email
• Conference calling not available
• Internet fax service not available

Conclusion:

Phone People’s 200-minute plan gives you 200 included minutes and five extensions for $9.99 per month. Other services we've reviewed offer significantly more minutes or extensions for the same price. Also, this service does not offer Internet fax or conference calling, which are standard features of a PBX service. They offer Find Me/Follow Me (which sets forwarding rules) and an auto attendant (which is a custom menu that directs calls).  They offer voicemail alerts and voicemail transcription via email for an additional $3 per month.  You can store 200 voicemail messages online for 14 days.  They provide phone and email support during regular business days.

Pricing

Phone People’s 200-minute plan provides five extensions and 200 minutes for $9.99 per month. This equates to 5 cents per minute, making Phone People a good value.  Phone People also charge a 94-cent “monthly cost-recovery fee” per number that we do not consider a Market Standard. Phone People also offers a 3000 minute plan for users who require more minutes.

Phone Numbers

Phone People does not offer local numbers, but they do include a 866, 877 or 888 number for free with your monthly fee. 800 toll-free numbers are also available for a $29 setup fee. Vanity numbers may be acquired for a $35 setup fee or you can port in an existing number that you own for a $5 setup fee.  Phone People does not offer international numbers. 

Online Interface

Phone People’s online interface, through which you customize and monitor your phone system, is below average quality, but their setup wizard is rather high quality.  You can access call logs and create an online address book in the online interface, but you cannot make a blocked call list or set specific handling rules.

Voicemail

Phone People lets you store voicemails online for 14 days.  For an additional $3 per month per extension, you can opt to receive voicemails via email, but you cannot download voicemails in their online interface. You can also choose to pay $9.99 per month per extension to receive text transcriptions of voicemails.

Call Handling

Phone People offers Find Me/Follow Me call handling, which allows you to set a rule that will forward a call to your cell phone, after a certain number of rings at your office phone, and then forward back to your office voicemail if you don’t answer.  While on a call you cannot block a caller, transfer a caller to voicemail, start recording a call, or place a call on hold using your phone’s keypad. Phone People offers call screening, but they do not offer a Do Not Disturb function, which makes your phone appear to be turned off to callers.  You can set up auto attendants, or custom menus, but you cannot define how long a caller waits in a queue before the menu automatically redirects the call. You can use your Phone People account to place outgoing calls, which are subject to international forwarding rates, while you’re outside the U.S. During testing, we experienced high quality audio during our Phone People calls.

Conference Calling, Internet Faxing, and Mobile Apps

Phone People does not offer conference calling capability, but they do allow you to receive faxes online. They do not provide any mobile applications for smart phones. 

Customer Support

Phone People offers average quality phone customer support 24/7.  They offer FAQs, but they are not searchable.  Phone People does not offer tutorials or forums for you to ask questions at this time.