By Amanda Ciccatelli, TMCnet Web Editor

Today, it is important that an SMB's and SOHOs (small office/home office) businesses’ entire workforces can work remotely and be reachable, appearing to customers as if the company is open for business all the time in order to remain competitive even during massive power outages.

As long as employees have phone and Internet service, they can remain engaged in business, even if there are treacherous storms. Home workers, telecommuters or those who cannot get into an office on a given day benefit from "business as usual" connectivity that is offered from VoIP and cloud-based telephone service provider, Phone (News - Alert).com Inc.

With services that specialize in SMBs and SOHOs, Phone.com is now offering free accounts for service for up to one year to as many as 100 businesses in New Jersey that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

"SMBs and SOHOs can remain in business if they maintain a telephone presence despite having their buildings wiped out or left without electrical power for weeks at a time, and that's where Phone.com (News - Alert) can help," Ari Rabban, co-founder and CEO, told TMCnet in an interview.  "As a New Jersey business, we're making our offer to as many as 100 fellow business people in the Garden State."

Businesses whose office communications systems have been knocked out by storm-related coastal surge, rain, wind or other damage from Sandy can take advantage of accounts with Phone.com to re-establish their presence with customers.

“If you don’t have power, or you don’t have Internet, the calls will come in just the same,” Alon Cohen (News - Alert), EVP & CTO of Phone.com, told TMCnet.

Each complimentary one-year Phone.com account includes free calling minutes for 12 months and in switching their numbers to Phone.com's hosted service, affected businesses retain existing telephone numbers so that to callers they appear in business as usual. "We would just require a business name, address and owner contact information, and we would need a credit card for incidental expenses," said Rabban.

If Internet and electrical power are available, phone service will operate as it would any other day. If Internet and power are disrupted, Phone.com can forward calls to cell phones or other facilities in regions not affected by the disaster. Its cloud-based service is more effective and offers better business continuity assurance than a traditional phone system.

“We cannot anticipate every catastrophe that might occur, but we can plan for them. Phone.com solutions are designed to be a part of those contingencies,” Rabban added.

With Phone.com, as long as a business has a cloud-based telephone number, calls can be received even if power to a building fails. It doesn't matter what device a person has or the location because Phone.com's calling rules allow any phone number to ring a VoIP land line, mobile phone, copper-wire line or tablet-based soft phone simultaneously.

Rabban concluded, “Phone.com is a New York/New Jersey-based enterprise. We live here and we work here. One of the most admirable qualities of the American spirit is the desire to reach out and help one another when we recognize a need. This storm disrupted the lives of far too many people, and although our offer is a modest one, we wanted to help,”