Layer Four Solutions is a complete telecommunications company, offering broadband Internet, Wide Area Networks, web server hosting, and different options for business digital voice.
Cloud Voice PBX
Layer Four specializes in Hosted Cloud PBX, a voice solution for small businesses. Advanced features of Hosted Cloud PBX include a web admin panel for easy and instant customization.
"This is my 6th phone system (3rd voip) to implement in my tenure at this company (far too many) and I finally feel confident that we have a system that can grow with us. "
by Billy Self
FluentStream Technologies is a VoIP service provider that creates flexible, scalable, and powerful VoIP solutions. FluentStream offers both hosted PBX and on-premises PBX for businesses. FluentStream's flagship product, FluentCloud, is feature rich, cost effective, and easily scalalbe to what your business needs.
FluentStream has various solutions for different types of businesses, especially focusing on call centers. FluentStream offers 4 different hosted PBX plans.
I needed long distance service nationwide and a flexible phone system and my local provider did not have the answers. I spoke to the people at FluentStream and they were able to not only meet all my requirements but much more. We have had the FluentStream VOIP service for almost two years and it is still the BEST phone service we could find. The voice quality is great and the flexibility it gives us allows us to do many things we could not do before. I would highly recommend FluentStream.
Pros
FluentCloud made our transition from Verizon/Frontier relatively simple. Service has been solid. At the beginning FluentCloud worked closely with our remote receptionist service to make sure the transition would be seamless. It's a vast improvement over our old Verizon lines, at about 1/2 the cost.
Cons
Fax was weak for some time; first person who tried to help didn't result in any improvement. When we went back to them, we got someone who fixed it in about 5 minutes.
FluentCloud made our transition from Verizon/Frontier relatively simple. Service has been solid. At the beginning FluentCloud worked closely with our remote receptionist service to make sure the transition would be seamless. It's a vast improvement over our old Verizon lines, at about 1/2 the cost.
Fax was weak for some time; first person who tried to help didn't result in any improvement. When we went back to them, we got someone who fixed it in about 5 minutes.
My business was restructured from a fixed office location to a floating office. Fluentstream has worked seamlessly during this transition. Installation/Setup was quick and easy. The cost is dramatically lower than my previous vendor with the same or better quality and better support.
Pros
Affordable, user friendly, and excellent customer service. Switching our insurance agency over to a voip with Fluentstream was easy and has tons of added benefits that we were unaware of with our old conventional phone system.
Cons
Can't think of any, it's been great.
I would highly recommend looking into Fluentstream Technologies for an insurance agency. The features are amazing and really enhance the experience for customers and for everyone in the office. It takes a few days to settle in, just like anything new does, but we would never even think about going back to the old system.
Pros
Responsiveness from support team.
Options for set up based on company needs.
Value of service.
Cons
Sound quality is 95% or better. The very rare occasion that we have experienced choppy sounds in calls could have been due to our internet connection being slow or crawling at that moment.
Very responsive support team when changes are needed in the system. This is my 6th phone system (3rd voip) to implement in my tenure at this company (far too many) and I finally feel confident that we have a system that can grow with us. The team does an excellent job at delivering value and quality.
I recommend this company to all my friends that are business owners.
Pros
Fantastic support and knowledge of VOIP. Easy to manage through the portal.
Cons
None after 5 months of use.
We had our own asterisk server that started having issues that we weren't able to fix. I called FluentStream on a Friday and they had us up and running the next day on their system. We are a 24/7 operation so we know if the system stops working and we have only had 2 very brief outages since we have had them. They have gone out of their way to make us happy and we are. I am so glad that I don't have to think about our phone system anymore!
In my 20+ years in the IT Profession I have never, until now, encountered a company that put such an emphasis on customer satisfaction. FluentStream surpassed my expectations.
Customer service is the lifeblood of any business. Many can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in new customers, but unless you can get some of those customers to recommend you, a business won’t be profitable for long. Customer service is all about customers and sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the service you offer for themselves and in their turn recommend other customers.There is nothing more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again?
Fluent Stream has shown that they listen to us by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem, taking the initiative to research and resolve the problem and then follow up with a solution. We started using a new CRM (NetSuite) with VOIP integration and had issues. The FluentStreamstaff actually showed up on site to assist with the implementation and configure the VOIP setup for us. This kind of customer service has become a thing of the past.I had grown accustomed to outsourced customer service departments and faceless, electronic "help." (I recently had to call a software company and I've never heard more muzak in my entire life. They still haven’t called back). It always gives me a bit of hope when a company actually goes above and beyond the call of duty and provides excellent customer support.Thanks for all your help Josh, Doug and staff. Kudos to your company.
As a busy business owner, I rarely take the time to write a review for a vendor since I am mostly concerned with getting the service I am paying for. But FluenStream Technologies is not just another vendor to me. They helped our business grow from a one city operation to a 6 city operations and is effectively aiding our growth in the upcoming cities. My previous telephone company was not very responsive and didn't give us due attention give our small business setup. FluentStream has consistently provided timely support and helped us with options that suit our growing needs. Our business depends on taking reservations through our phones and when they dont work it hurts our bottomline. We have not had one minute of down time since we have switched to FluentStream. Though its easy to forget when things work right - I am glad I have been able to express our complete satisfaction with this company and would personally recommend their services to anyone.
What I love most about FluentStream is their fantastic support. I know that whenever we need them, they're there. They pick up the phone and their technical staff know VOIP inside and out. Whether I'm asking for the impossible feature request or having a rare technical issue FluentStream delivers
"With M5 Networks, you get the latest technology without investing more dollars."
by Samuel A. Litt, Director of Information Technology, John Carris Investments
M5 Networks is a cloud communications company that provides phones and phone service applications with an emphasis on customer service and satisfaction.
M5 has 11 years of experience in cloud-based business phone solutions. With over 2000 customers across North America, M5 is one of the US's largest specialized VoIP providers.
M5's quality and support are simply outstanding. Their features and quick turn up times is what has made us keep coming back to them. I have already recommended them to others looking for a quality service.
My small business office uses M5 for 10 VoIP phones using their T1 line. The service is great! Their customer service is their best feature. We recently tried to cut costs by connecting our VoIP phones to a Time Warner public internet line but we constantly dropped calls because the connection had constant interruptions. Although M5 is pricier, you get what you pay for. We switched back to M5. I appreciate their honesty when evaluating what services I need. They found other ways for us to save money on our monthly service (ie use Time Warner for internet but keep the phones on a T1). Thanks!
Pros
High reliability, great features, and intergration with LoB application for our company, Low administration overhead, very responsive technical support.
Cons
As with any managed cloud service, ongoing expenses need to be managed.
We moved to M5 over 5 years ago, from a propritary PBX environement. That proved to have a high CapEx budgeting for ever expanding requirement, and high administration overhead. The M5 managed VoIP eliminates most of all the CapEx and voice communications continuing operations is very smooth. It takes up less than 5% of our monthly time allocated. All issues and requests followed up by their staff until resolution. And with new features such as soft phone apps for mobile communications, for laptops/netbooks/etc. for off site communications, and user controlled follow me commands.
Great Reporting Methods. Great sound quality, easy management. M5 is constantly improving the quality and service management, very stable service. Awasome customer service, very quick response provided.
I have worked with M5 for over 4 years. When I arrived at my compnay as the director of IT, there was a lot of work to clean up, upgrade and fix systems and process within the comanpy. To add to that complexity, our company has grown at a rapid rate on top of that. Throughout the process, M5 has made this proess easy as there was very little work on our end to keep things up and running.
Yes, we've had problems. A router died and the phones were out. It was replaced in a matter of hours. There also was a period where there service was slipping. I had a meeting with my account manager to discuss. They advised me that they promoted some of their service department and that many of the customer service staff was new. They asked that I give them a little time and they will resolve those issues which I thought was fair. They kept their word and within a few weeks the service levels were back to normal.
I get calls all day from someone who will save me money on my phone bill. I operate with the rule, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. No headaches, no hassle and honesty. If the rest of my vendors woudl be this way, my job would be easier.
My company recommends M5 to everyone and anyone. Never a problem, always satisfied, and always good with tech support. I could not recommend M5 enough.
Pros
The customer service at M5 is phenomenal. They are available any time that I need them. They also are very quick to resolve my issues, most times within 1 business day.
Cons
Depending on the internet connection in our office space, the reliability and sound quality can be in and out.
Overall, I am very pleased with our VoIP service through M5. At times, the phones will cut out and sometimes lose connection, but that is because of our weak internet connection in our office. The customer service through M5 is outstanding and I have always had my issues resolved in a better than expected time frame. I would certainly recommend M5 and the VoIP service to a friend or colleague without any hesitation.
One of the major challenges that I have at Middleby Corporation is dated phone system. I'm glad that I picked M5 for the solution. Now, I have more time and energy to focus on other projects and I'm with babysitting dated phone system. Especial thanks to my project leader, he helped me all the way no matter what issues we come accross. I also want to extend my thanks to support team and my account manager who also have given lots of support getting every division up and running. It's a job well done!. I definitely recommend M5. Thanks,Adreydie Cruz (AC)
For years, we have enjoyed working with M5. Their strength lies not only in the quality of their products but also in their incredible customer service. Our recent migration with them was painless and successful. We look forward to continuing to work with them.
VoIPdito is a UK-based provider that focuses on providing businesses with hosted PBXs.
There is only one plan with VoIPdito.
If you would like to try VoIPdito first, there is a free 100 minute trial.
The price is $4.99USD per user per month for all features. Internet calls are free. Otherwise, there is a per (time) rate to call to landline and mobiles, both local and international.
CoroCall is an up-and-coming service provider that specializes in audio and video conferencing. CoroCall also offers hosted and on-site PBX for businesses, which gives you the opportunity to choose what is best for your company.
CoroCall Web Interface & Unified Communications
One of CoroCall biggest perk's is its simple web interface that unites its various services. Their web interface allows you to manage your phone, fax, and audio/video conferencing plans and services through one website.
Sangoma offers hardware and software products for large-scale telephony carriers and projects.
Sangoma's gateways and voice hardware allow users to set up their own large phone systems. Sangoma also provides equipment solutions for VoIP providers and carriers that want to create large customer interfaces.
Pros
Quality at an excellent price, continuous improvement in technology, wide range of product and feature set
Cons
The number one company in the niche, can get to their head
Sangoma is the premier VoIP interface card company. They have been a great supplier for a long time. Their customer service is excellent and covers a wide range of issues and geographic areas. They continue to improve and enlarge their product range and improve their products using available new technologies. Interface card business is hard and takes a great deal of knowledge. This means a manufacturer has to work hard and does not get the credit it deserves. They supply hardware, firmware and drivers. In addition, they deal with nervous and not so friendly situations when an integrator is in a tough spot when installing and configuring a system. This is true for all card OEMS, but in the telephony / VoIP it's even more crucial. Snagoma pulls off this position with flying colors!
Availability: Major metropolitan areas
Founded in: 1999
Cbeyond offers more than 30 small business communication products through their private IP network. Cbeyond gives you access to these excellent services, as well as customer support, at the fraction of the cost of a standard telephone line- toll free minutes aren’t even billed at a per minute rate like they are with most companies.
The catch with Cbeyond is that it has a limited service area. Cities Cbeyond serves:
BandTel gives businesses Sip Trunking VoIP solutions for a fraction of the price of a standard phone line. BandTel VoIP solutions are great for businesses that receive high call volumes.
BandTel for business
With BandTel’s SIP trunking VoIP services you don’t need to lease multiple lines, which is money back in your pocket. No longer do you need a dedicated phone line. Instead, your phone and Internet work together to bring you both Internet service and phone service by linking the phone, through your broadband connection, to BandTel’s VoIP network.
There is one thing you should know about Velocity Tel: Velocity Tel is not a traditional VoIP provider.
Velocity Tel sells Internet and phone packages to residences and businesses. The telephone service has some cost savings on it, but not as much as you’d get with standard VoIP. You can expect VoIP features with your phone service as well, features you’d otherwise pay for with the local phone company like caller ID and call waiting.
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dmcwaters
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.159.42
FluentStream: Best service we could find
Posted on: Jan 27, 2012Sound Quality, Cost, Flexibility
None
I needed long distance service nationwide and a flexible phone system and my local provider did not have the answers. I spoke to the people at FluentStream and they were able to not only meet all my requirements but much more. We have had the FluentStream VOIP service for almost two years and it is still the BEST phone service we could find. The voice quality is great and the flexibility it gives us allows us to do many things we could not do before. I would highly recommend FluentStream.
Would recommend to a friend.
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GFCicotte
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.20.76
FluentStream: Simple Transition
Posted on: Jan 25, 2012FluentCloud made our transition from Verizon/Frontier relatively simple. Service has been solid. At the beginning FluentCloud worked closely with our remote receptionist service to make sure the transition would be seamless. It's a vast improvement over our old Verizon lines, at about 1/2 the cost.
Fax was weak for some time; first person who tried to help didn't result in any improvement. When we went back to them, we got someone who fixed it in about 5 minutes.
FluentCloud made our transition from Verizon/Frontier relatively simple. Service has been solid. At the beginning FluentCloud worked closely with our remote receptionist service to make sure the transition would be seamless. It's a vast improvement over our old Verizon lines, at about 1/2 the cost.
Fax was weak for some time; first person who tried to help didn't result in any improvement. When we went back to them, we got someone who fixed it in about 5 minutes.
Would recommend to a friend.
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tserleth
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.5.63
FluentStream: Dramatically Lower Costs
Posted on: Jan 21, 2012Simple installation and easy to use.
None to date.
My business was restructured from a fixed office location to a floating office. Fluentstream has worked seamlessly during this transition. Installation/Setup was quick and easy. The cost is dramatically lower than my previous vendor with the same or better quality and better support.
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
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jhfury
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.85.225
FluentStream: Affordable, User Friendly
Posted on: Jan 20, 2012Affordable, user friendly, and excellent customer service. Switching our insurance agency over to a voip with Fluentstream was easy and has tons of added benefits that we were unaware of with our old conventional phone system.
Can't think of any, it's been great.
I would highly recommend looking into Fluentstream Technologies for an insurance agency. The features are amazing and really enhance the experience for customers and for everyone in the office. It takes a few days to settle in, just like anything new does, but we would never even think about going back to the old system.
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
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Billy Self
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.53.2
FluentStream: Very Responsive
Posted on: Jan 20, 2012Responsiveness from support team. Options for set up based on company needs. Value of service.
Sound quality is 95% or better. The very rare occasion that we have experienced choppy sounds in calls could have been due to our internet connection being slow or crawling at that moment.
Very responsive support team when changes are needed in the system. This is my 6th phone system (3rd voip) to implement in my tenure at this company (far too many) and I finally feel confident that we have a system that can grow with us. The team does an excellent job at delivering value and quality.
I recommend this company to all my friends that are business owners.
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
Was this review useful?
scottw
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.228.241
Re: FluentStream Technologies
Posted on: Jan 20, 2012Fantastic support and knowledge of VOIP. Easy to manage through the portal.
None after 5 months of use.
We had our own asterisk server that started having issues that we weren't able to fix. I called FluentStream on a Friday and they had us up and running the next day on their system. We are a 24/7 operation so we know if the system stops working and we have only had 2 very brief outages since we have had them. They have gone out of their way to make us happy and we are. I am so glad that I don't have to think about our phone system anymore!
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
Was this review useful?
falconreef
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.215.198
FluentStream: Surpassed Expectations
Posted on: Jan 19, 2012Outstanding Customer Support, Reliability, Price
None
In my 20+ years in the IT Profession I have never, until now, encountered a company that put such an emphasis on customer satisfaction. FluentStream surpassed my expectations.
Customer service is the lifeblood of any business. Many can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in new customers, but unless you can get some of those customers to recommend you, a business won’t be profitable for long. Customer service is all about customers and sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the service you offer for themselves and in their turn recommend other customers. There is nothing more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again?
Fluent Stream has shown that they listen to us by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem, taking the initiative to research and resolve the problem and then follow up with a solution. We started using a new CRM (NetSuite) with VOIP integration and had issues. The FluentStream staff actually showed up on site to assist with the implementation and configure the VOIP setup for us. This kind of customer service has become a thing of the past. I had grown accustomed to outsourced customer service departments and faceless, electronic "help." (I recently had to call a software company and I've never heard more muzak in my entire life. They still haven’t called back). It always gives me a bit of hope when a company actually goes above and beyond the call of duty and provides excellent customer support. Thanks for all your help Josh, Doug and staff. Kudos to your company.
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
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TheCityTour
Member since: Jan 2012
xxx.xxx.186.26
FluentStream Helped Our Business Grow
Posted on: Jan 19, 2012Customer Service, Price, Reliability, Simplicity
As a busy business owner, I rarely take the time to write a review for a vendor since I am mostly concerned with getting the service I am paying for. But FluenStream Technologies is not just another vendor to me. They helped our business grow from a one city operation to a 6 city operations and is effectively aiding our growth in the upcoming cities. My previous telephone company was not very responsive and didn't give us due attention give our small business setup. FluentStream has consistently provided timely support and helped us with options that suit our growing needs. Our business depends on taking reservations through our phones and when they dont work it hurts our bottomline. We have not had one minute of down time since we have switched to FluentStream. Though its easy to forget when things work right - I am glad I have been able to express our complete satisfaction with this company and would personally recommend their services to anyone.
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
Was this review useful?
rterp
Member since: Dec 2011
xxx.xxx.219.66
FluentStream: Fantastic Support
Posted on: Dec 19, 2011Service/Support/Price
None
What I love most about FluentStream is their fantastic support. I know that whenever we need them, they're there. They pick up the phone and their technical staff know VOIP inside and out. Whether I'm asking for the impossible feature request or having a rare technical issue FluentStream delivers
Would recommend to a friend.
Business VoIP Comparison | Residential VoIP Comparison | Wholesale VoIP Comparison
Was this review useful?