Why $50/mo for a phone system is still cheaper than what you're probably paying
A lot of small businesses are paying $30-50 per seat per month for a VoIP SaaS — and still don't get IVR, voicemail transcription, or missed-call follow-ups. Packet Den's Business tier bundles phone, email, and automation for one flat price.
A small business with three people and a main number is probably paying somewhere between $90 and $150 a month for phone service — if they are using RingCentral, OpenPhone, or something similar.
That is per-seat pricing. Every person costs extra. And most of those seats are barely using the features.
Packet Den’s Business tier costs $50 a month, flat — and it includes hosted email, workflow automations, and the full phone system. It covers the whole business.
What the Business tier actually gets
- Hosted email with 5 mailboxes (custom domain, SPF/DKIM/DMARC)
- A business phone number (Canadian or US, ported from wherever it is now)
- IVR menu — “press 1 for sales, press 2 for support”
- Voicemail with transcription sent by text
- Missed-call auto-SMS follow-up
- A softphone app that works in the browser and on your phone
- Workflow automations
- Priority support
It is not a stripped-down plan. It is the same infrastructure I run for my own projects, documented and maintained.
Why the difference exists
SaaS phone companies charge per seat because their business model depends on recurring user revenue. Every person you add is another line item. They make money on the margin.
The setup I run is Asterisk on a VPS, with Twilio for SIP trunking and text. The marginal cost of adding a third person is roughly zero — they already get a softphone extension. The only reason to charge more is if you need more minutes than a typical small business uses, which is rare.
What you do not get
No 24/7 enterprise support line. No Slack integration that nobody configured. No AI coach that listens to your calls and tells you to say “uh-huh” less.
What you get is email, phone, and automation — a working system that you can understand, that your data stays in Canada, and that you can walk away from if you decide I am not the right fit.
The math
- RingCentral: ~$30/seat × 3 people = $90/mo
- OpenPhone: ~$23/seat × 3 people = $69/mo
- Packet Den Business: $50/mo (phone + email + automation)
That is $19 to $40 in savings per month on phone alone — plus you get email and automations included. For most small businesses, that pays for the service and then some.
Sign up in the customer portal, pick a plan, and subscribe — or email me and I’ll reply with a recommendation. No commitment.