How to Create Your Own After Hours Phone Service

Already have a phone system for regular business hours, but don’t have one in place for people who call you after hours? Though Talkroute is a fully-functional business phone system that can handle your daily call volume, you can also use it solely for managing your after-hours calls. This will ensure that you never miss a business call, even when you’re closed. So, to utilize Talkroute as your after-hours phone system, there are a few different configurations; the configuration you use will depend on your current system. Below you will see how to set this up in 3 different ways: For a business already using Talkroute as its primary phone system, with only (1) account. For a business already using Talkroute as its primary phone system, adding a 2nd account for an after-hours system. For a business using Talkroute solely for an after-hours system. Use (1) account for both the …

voicemail transcription

Why Voicemail Transcription May Not Be Reliable

As recently as a few years ago, speech-to-text was nowhere near as capable as it is now. It was highly unreliable and barely considered for voicemail transcription. Now, as the technology advances and speech recognition becomes more accurate, speech-to-text is used for a variety of different applications, including voicemail transcription offered by some telecom providers. You see it in action all the time when your device lets you use your voice to type on your computer, speak your text messages using dictation, so that you can keep your eyes on the road (which we all do, of course), and even tell an automated voice what menu option you want when you call a business, rather than press any numbers. We just posted an article that goes into more depth about how Automatic Speech Recognition works with the IVR on a phone system, which you can find here: Automatic Speech Recognition …

Automatic Speech Recognition & Mixing it with IVR

The first time companies began using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to direct callers through their automated menus, callers were constantly becoming frustrated because in the beginning, speech recognition was crude and very limited in its capability. Though it is vastly improved from the original versions and used by more businesses all the time, there is still some debate as to whether it is effective, or not. In fact, most callers who are forced to interact with it would probably tell you that they would rather never hear that automated customer service robot again. How has speech recognition improved? ASR now uses advanced algorithms to process data it compiles from your voice, filters out background noise, and can even learn your voice patterns in real time, all of which allow the program to understand what you’re saying with far greater accuracy than the original versions. Speech recognition programs are also making …

Top Complaints of Customers Calling a Business

Welcome greeting is too long. The initial greeting someone hears when they call you should ideally have a duration of only a few seconds, and it can even be a simple, “Thank you for calling [your business]”. A quick hello with a brief identification of who you are is sufficient. Callers tend to become irritated if you start trying to pitch them something, right off the bat, so avoid selling your latest promotion in the greeting. No option to speak with a real person. Sometimes when we call a business, all we want is to speak to someone because, for a variety of reasons, the automation just won’t fill the need. There are times when the caller’s issue is complex and requires a human touch. If the option to speak directly with a human is simply not available, then the caller is sure to become frustrated and exasperated from listening …

How to Run Multiple Businesses from a Single Phone

When you’re not familiar with virtual phone systems, the idea of running more than one business from a single phone might seem like a really bad idea, if it’s even possible at all. But it is more than possible; it actually works excellently if you have a virtual phone system like Talkroute. What you’ll see in this post is a breakdown of the steps you can take for exactly how to set it up in a very short amount of time, with an explanation of the features that you will have at your disposal. Open a Talkroute Account To get started, just go to talkroute.com/sign-up and sign up for a new account. Don’t worry; there is a free trial period, so you don’t have to commit right away. If you do decide to take advantage of the trial, then you can select a temporary, working phone number which you can …

How You Can Guard Against Phone Number Spoofing

Caller ID spoofing (for lack of a better term, apparently) is simply masking the outgoing caller ID with a number other than the real one, which is technically not illegal unless you’re doing it for unlawful purposes.   The reason it’s not illegal is because there actually are legitimate purposes for spoofing, such as businesses who want to show only one phone number for multiple lines, as part of a PBX system, or victims of domestic abuse who want to hide their number for safety reasons. It is definitely illegal, however, if someone spoofs a phone number to impersonate a bank, for example, in order to solicit your account information. Though it can be difficult to track down the person responsible, there is some action you can take to protect yourself. When you suspect a caller to be a malicious spoofer Use common sense. Caller ID spoofers can sometimes be …

How to Keep Your Office Phones on During an Outage

No phone network is perfect. No matter what type of phone system you have in your office, there is always the chance of an outage, which is why you can’t put all your eggs into one basket, as it were. Here we’ll go over the two major types of business phone systems, the shortcomings of each, and how you can keep your calls coming in, no matter what happens. Conventional Office Phone System If your office has a traditional phone system that works over the PSTN (the old-school, wired telephone network), then you’re fairly safe. It’s for this reason that Talkroute connects calls over the PSTN, to make sure that users always have a reliable connection. As we all know, the old landline in the house (if you still have one) will work even during a power outage. It still works when the power is out because that landline is …

Why Doesn’t My Company Name Show on Caller ID?

    This article will give you an overview of how the company name is set for outgoing caller ID, including a description of the process and why, sometimes, it doesn’t show up for the person you are calling.   Our Talkroute engineers collaborated on this post to provide valuable insight into how caller ID works, and what you can do to make sure your caller ID name is accurate.   CNAM (Caller ID Name) Firstly, the CNAM is the name that shows up on the receiving party’s caller ID when you call a number. When your call comes in on the phone of the person you dialed, their carrier retrieves the CNAM record, and displays your name on the receiving phone’s caller ID.   The CNAM has a 15-character limit, so a name exceeding this length will be cut off in the displayed caller ID.   The Neustar Database …

10 Steps to Handle a Tough Customer on the Phone

    1. Listen. This has to be one of the most crucial aspects of handling difficult callers, and customers in general. When you really listen to what they are trying to tell you, you are simultaneously showing concern and gaining insight into the issue they are having, which helps you to find a solution. Also avoid the impulse to talk over them, even if you have good news.   2. Provide validation to the caller. Many times, the person screaming at you on the phone just you to recognize that they are upset for a good reason. Many customer service professionals have a tendency to talk down to the customer because they don’t understand what is happening, and this is wrong. Instead of just telling them to “calm down”, try saying, “You’re right—this is a problem, and we are going to find a solution.”   3. Don’t react emotionally. …

What Happens After You Port a Number to a Virtual PBX?

The foremost thing you have to understand about ports is that when you take your number from one service provider, and port it to a provider, it is a clean transfer. That is, once the port to your new virtual PBX is complete, the phone number is no longer associated with the losing carrier, in any way. This leads us to the second most important point, which is this: The old phone will stop working. Let’s say that 555-1234 is your primary business phone number, and this number is attached to a desk phone in your office. What makes it possible for that desk phone to ring when people dial 555-1234? It rings because the service provider, whether AT&T, or Comcast, or whoever, has activated the line going into this phone by attaching the number, 555-1234, to that line. When you port that number away to your new provider, the …