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Research

Research and analysis on business telephony.

Long-form analysis of the forces reshaping how small businesses answer the phone. Every piece cites the regulator, the standard or the vendor for each claim, and says plainly where the evidence runs out.

A report with charts and a magnifying glass over a network of call routes

The research

Research · 29 min read
Business VoIP vendors compared, from their own price pages.
Thirteen business VoIP vendors for US and Canadian small teams, compared from their own pages: the plan a phone menu needs, team costs, Canada and contracts.
Research · 21 min read
STIR/SHAKEN signs the call. It does not vouch for the caller.
What STIR/SHAKEN proves, what A, B and C attestation mean, the FCC and CRTC rules, and why a signed business call can still be labelled Spam Likely.
Research · 20 min read
The end of the copper phone line: what the POTS sunset means for a business.
The FCC 2026 copper retirement and discontinuance rules, carrier plans, the CRTC position, what breaks (alarms, elevators, fax) and a migration plan.
Research · 21 min read
NG911 and NG9-1-1: what the switch to IP emergency calling changes for business phones.
The FCC's NG911 phases and Canada's 31 March 2027 NG9-1-1 deadline, explained for business phones: ESInets, PIDF-LO location, RTT, and where gaps remain.
Research · 17 min read
AI voice agents on business phone lines: capability, law and limits.
What AI phone agents can do in 2026, the FCC's TCPA ruling, US state and Canadian disclosure rules, published prices, failure modes, and when a menu is better.
Research · 20 min read
Why texting customers from a business number got hard.
How A2P 10DLC registration, toll-free verification, short codes, the TCPA and Canada’s CASL govern business texts, what each costs, and where small firms fail.
Research · 21 min read
How a business call actually travels, hop by hop.
From dialled digits to a mobile ringing: numbering, the portability query, SIP and SBCs, codecs, DTMF events, caller ID, call forwarding and where 911 differs.
Research · 20 min read
Port-out fraud and SIM swaps: who actually protects a business number?
How criminals hijack a business number by SIM swap or port-out, what the FCC's 2023 rules require and why they are still not enforced, Canada, and a checklist.
Research · 20 min read
Phone menu design: what the evidence actually says.
Which phone menu rules rest on research and which on folklore: menu breadth and depth, Miller's seven, option-before-key, speech versus keypad, timeouts, relay.
Research · 20 min read
Who sees your business name when you call?
How a business name reaches a phone in 2026: the CNAM database dip, why mobiles skip it, Rich Call Data, branded calling prices, Canada, and what to do today.

How these pieces are written

Each piece starts from primary sources: the statute or regulation, the standards body, the regulator's own guidance or the vendor's own documentation and price list, each linked and dated. Where we give an opinion, we label it as ours and say what it rests on. Where a claim circulates widely but we could not find its source, we say so rather than repeat it.

We sell a small product, a business number with a phone menu, and we say where that bias could matter. Corrections are welcome at contact, with the source that shows the correct fact.

Articles on this topic

Topics Small business phone system VoIP Caller ID All topics

Article · 25 min read
Bilingual Auto Attendant: When a Phone Menu Is Enough
A 2026 guide to English and Spanish phone menus: map staff coverage, compare routing with human answering and interpretation, test fallback paths, and calculate a hybrid budget from published prices.
Article · 22 min read
One Business Phone Number vs Individual Numbers
A 2026 guide to one business phone number versus employee direct lines, with routing, texting, offboarding, pricing examples, and a seven-part acceptance test.
Article · 22 min read
AI Receptionist vs Answering Service vs Auto Attendant
A 2026 comparison of AI receptionists, human answering services, auto attendants and full phone platforms, with current pricing shapes, a 20-call pilot and a total-cost worksheet.
Article · 26 min read
How to Get a Business Phone Number: Options & Costs
Learn how to get a business phone number in 2026, compare eight option types and real team pricing, and check porting, identity, toll-free and emergency-calling requirements.

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