Profig is a startup aimed at providing virtual phone systems for small and medium businesses.
The service is intended for newer businesses that don't have any legacy PBX (News - Alert) equipment to tie them into more expensive services.
“Traditionally, businesses that wanted custom features, integrations and analytics on top of simple offerings like phone menus had to go cobble together separate, expensive solutions,” Profig's home page said.
Businesses can have one toll-free number, as well as two local numbers. In addition, they get 500 minutes free and can send up to 250 text messages. There are, of course, charges for going over those initial amounts. The system works with a company's existing phone system. The service also includes standard features such as call routing, call screening and auto attendant calling.
Profig also includes call tracking and voice broadcasting. Customers can also include a “click to call” button on their website, as well as deploy automated phone surveys. Businesses can avoid Web surfers giving up on their website in disgust and turning them into paying customers, while the phone surveys aim to give them actionable data.
The company intends to distinguish itself by including all of these features in an intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard.
Profig's co-founder Anantha Katragadda told TechCrunch that about half of the current class of startups had signed up for their service, an apparent testament to Profig's potential. Both Katragadda and his brother Vamsi are currently the company's only full-time engineers.
For customers who have outgrown the virtual phone system, Profig is working on providing premium business phone solutions. Their office phone solution is currently in beta, however. The company is also planning on integrating with CRM tools such as Salesforce and Highrise.
Profig is funded by Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley company that provides seed money to startups. Some of the past startups they've founded have included Dropbox, Posterous (News - Alert), SmartAsset, Reddit and Airbnb.
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Edited by Rich Steeves