No,

While 12 and 24 month contracts offer discounts and a free entry level phone you do not have to sign a contract.

We offer Metered and Unlimited calling plans on month-to-month basis as well.   Please be aware that month-to-month plans are higher and may limit your INTL destinations unless prior arrangements have been made.

The pricing advertised on a provider’s website often fails to capture the amount you’ll be paying in mandatory taxes and fees. If your business is in the state of Texas we will charge sales tax.  We also pass through our providers fee for E911 address registration per DID, $1.50ea.  Toll-Free numbers also have their own rate ie: $.015/min.  However unlikely, if you should need more concurrent call paths (CCP) than what is included in our plan they can be purchased, $14ea.

Don’t be fooled, although a competitor may have super low cost the per phone on a metered plan the per min charges are often 6x higher than the normal rate.  Example $.03 per minute compared to $.005/min, this adds up quick.

With the Metered Plan all of the PSTN/Telco usage charges are passed directly to the customer.  Aratis will handle all of the managed services including registering the customer with the SIP provider and applying a credit card on file. We can set proactive limits,  notifications and auto refill options. This way you pay for what you use. 

Unlimited Plans bundle all of the service usage and Telco/PSTN fees.  Unlimited calling includes domestic US and Canada.  If you exceed the terms of the agreement and using way above normal operating call volume your calling could be shut off until proper steps could be taken. 

Note: INTL and Toll-Free are always metered. 

Look out for providers that advertise a really low basic rate for each phone but then nickel and dime you extra for each add-on or force you into a much more expensive package for the one feature you need. 

We will bill you a flat fee per phone, for E911 registration and for any Toll-Free minutes you use.  All PBX features and support included with every phone.

No, service providers that lock you into certain models of phones minimize your ability to customize the cost of your phone system.
Our offerings allow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy.

Optionally simply ditch the desk phone and utilize our reliable UC Softphone to deliver a consistent communications experience across all devices (Windows, macOS, iOS, Andriod).

Our platform has the most integrations with, and we most recommend, Yealink phones as you won’t find a better price through us.  We include a free entry level Yealink T31P phone with any contract or you can apply that value towards an upgrade phone such as the Yealink T33G.

Fax to email is included with every extension however if you want to send fax you have two options;

1. Physical Fax machine and a ATA converter (free) included in the cost of a single extension. 
2. Aratis Email to Fax API – Where you simply email an PDF with destination telephone number and our API delivers it to the destination.   The cost for this is same as a single extension.

Yes, be wary if service provider sells you phones that are not compatible with other platforms.
This makes it even harder to leave the provider if you are unhappy with your phone system. 

All our phones are unlocked and SIP Standards based.

Users can have many devices allowing them more flexibility in how your team operates. 

A flat fee allows each user 3 device registrations (Desk phone, Computer Softphone and Mobile App).  You can then have any extension on any phone you want however you would be limited to 3 registrations at any one time unless prior authorization is provided.  

Yes, mobile options are key for remote workers and other employees who need to access the phone system from anywhere. 

• We offer a complete and reliable UC LInkus Softphone app that delivers a consistent communications experience across multiple devices. 
• (Windows, macOS, iOS, Andriod compatible)

Be sure your provider allows integrations with any standards based hardware, software, mobile apps and last but not least includes voicemail to email.

Having a reliable method for spreading information about service disruptions saves you unneeded confusion.
As a provider we will post clear messages on our Support Portal when service disruptions occur.

Our support staff is our selling point.   They are based out of Houston, Texas and have 12+ years average tenure giving you a general idea of how experienced our highly motivated support staff is.

An overseas support department is typically a signal that the provider is trying to cut costs when it comes to customer support.  

It is not required and shared internet services is the norm for all business’s alike.   Its more important to consider QOS to prioritize voice traffic over normal internet traffic even when bandwidth is low.   Most SIP trunking services use either G.711 codec, which consumes 64 Kbps per call, or G.729, which consumes 8 Kpbs per call.

The whole idea of a hosted PBX service is that you are avoiding the unnecessary costs of employing an on-premise solution.

For our Cloud PBX, the only requirement is you have a reliable Internet connection.

For the on-premise solution, yes there is a one-time hardware and deployment cost.  The hardware is sized based on the number of users it can support.  We offer monthly service plan to provide ongoing support if needed.

A decent internet connection is required for most office communications and E911 services however we got you covered.

1. Utilize the UC Softphone on your mobile phone when internet drops.
2. PBX can be programed to automatically forward calls to your cellular number when your registration goes offline.
3. For critical environments we can recommend and install a 4G cellular device,  such as CradlePoint, to provide fail-over or always on Voice connectivity over cellular.