Nextiva Connect: One Central, Toll-Free Number

Nextiva officials are describing their Nextiva Connect service as giving users "one central local or toll-free phone number" to offer clients.

Using an on-line control panel, users can, "choose how your calls are handled," company officials say: "You can have the calls go to your cell phone, your home phone, a phone in your hotel, all three, or anywhere else. You can even send them to department voice mail boxes that you set-up."

Basically the service is designed so you don't have a real good reason to miss another call.

Since establishing the concept that developing an iPhone app was the way to go, "we needed a phone system because using our cell phones all day wasn't going to cut it," said Ben Fisher of Inetmania.com, explaining why his company went with Nextiva.

Fisher said his company has experience with startups, "but this was our first iPhone app. The main thing we looked for when shopping for a phone provider was reliability. The last thing we want to occur is to be on the phone with Apple discussing development issues and then all of a sudden have our phone drop out."

Understandable, certainly: "Since our app went live and a few weeks before the launch date, we were using the phones nonstop. I continue to use it without any drops and have also been fortunate enough to have a strong cable connection coming through at all times."

He specifically mentioned having the ability for our calls to ring to our cells when it's late in the evening or out of the office as "a cool thing."

And it wasn't too difficult, either. "The whole setup and getting started was a piece of cake. Nothing was too intricate or over our heads, there was good support and a well designed interface… Getting our two lines running for 60 bucks a month is a heck of a deal."

And probably the ultimate compliment: "We are so happy with Nextiva that we did not charge them for an advertising spot in our game."