Send to friendChris Brogan and others are giving thought to working remotely, and that got me thinking about a closely related topic - business phone services. You see, I've effectively abandoned my hard-wire phone. Not everyone has, of course, and businesses in particular are pretty much forced to maintain their traditional phone service in order to have a single phone point of entry into their operations. It doesn't matter whether it's a PBX system, VOIP/IP Telephoney, or KSU-based; the common thread is that current business phone systems are physically tied to a specific location.

But why does it have to be that way? Why isn't there a wireless phone plan that provides a central call-in number that permits customers to reach anyone with a phone associated with the plan by dialing an extension? It should work in the same way that current business phone systems work but include only three options - dial an extension if you know who you want to talk with, select the department you would like to be connected with or stay on the line for assistance from a real, live human being. Any contact beyond that point should be with a person (or their voicemail). An added bonus would be to include a fax-to-computer phone number in the plan and do away with any real reason to have a hard-wired phone.

That's the business phone system I'd like to see. It may already exist, but I've not heard of it if it does. And if it doesn't, it should.

How hard could it be?