How Business Can Benefit from Virtual Phone Number

How Your Business Can Benefit from a Virtual Phone Number

  As virtual phone numbers were basically created for businesses, it’s a given that they carry with them a lot of benefits for businesses. Those benefits are not always spelled out for businesses by the virtual service providers, though, so we thought it fitting to show exactly what you can do with a virtual phone number as a small business owner. In their function, they function pretty much the same exact way as a normal number, but in addition to the standard service that you would get with any other number that you’re used to, virtual numbers are actually quite a bit more versatile. It’s kind of like when you switch from using CDs for your music to using mp3s. You’ll be able to do a lot more with mp3s than CDs, and you’ll be able to do it quicker, more cheaply, and more easily. Your business has more options …

Google Voice Alternative: Talkroute

Google Voice Alternative: Talkroute is Better for Business

  Google Voice is one of those services that was created by a very large company who found and employed an elite team of very smart people, who then took a great idea built by GrandCentral, put the power and resources of Google behind it, and made it even better. What they really did was to design Google Voice in such a way that it was appealing and useful for a much bigger market. GrandCentral, the phone management service which Google bought out for themselves back in 2007, really wasn’t much more than a basic carrier with a lot of infrastructure and massive inventory of phone numbers. Google took that to use as the backbone of their new Voice app, but what they created with it was much more than what GrandCentral had. One of the problems with the Google Voice app, though, is that it only has basic features …

800 Number History

The History of 800 Numbers and Why We Want Them

Toll-free phone numbers have been around for quite a long time now, and their value to businesses remains even until today. There are a few benefits to having a toll-free number, most notably the fact that anyone can call it without assuming any charges, but it’s also a simple way to give your business a national presence. On top of that, it works great to turn it into a vanity number to make it easier for customers to remember and identify your business, especially when it has the original (800) area code. 800 numbers have come a long way to become what they are today. All the way from collect calling, to expensive, regional-based numbers offered during the time when AT&T still monopolized the telecom industry, to the affordable, nationwide toll-free service with which we are familiar today. In this article, we’ll explore that extensive history, its gradual development over …

High-Quality Phone System

8 Ways to Tell If You Have a High-Quality Phone System

Every business needs some kind of phone system. Well, nearly every business needs it. There are some businesses today who actually manage customer support entirely through email and other messaging platforms, but even for those who have the ability to do that, it’s questionable whether it’s a good idea to completely eliminate phones. Back in the old days, there was only one type of phone system which consisted of landlines and nothing else, but then alternative types of systems were introduced, such as VoIP lines, virtual phone systems, and even personal cell phones. It can be pretty tough these days to choose one and to be sure that you’re getting everything you need to properly manage calls for your business. That’s why we’re providing some points here to give you a basic barometer that will tell you whether or not your phone system has exceptional quality and performance. If your …

What to Do When Your Business Line Gets Excessive Unwanted Calls

Your first instinct when you start getting a lot of unwanted calls to your business number will be to become panicked and angry. That is natural and totally understandable, but try not to freak out because you do have some pretty effective options to stop it from happening. It can be extremely frustrating when this happens to you, as it can make you feel completely powerless. In addition to feeling like there’s nothing you can do to stop it, you might also have a hard time getting anyone to help, including your own phone service provider. Even if you can’t get the help you expect from your provider, there are definitely measures you can take to handle it yourself, sometimes pretty quickly. Try out these options, and by the time you get through all of them, you’ll probably have eliminated most of the unwanted calls, if not all of them. …

which do you need

Toll Free or Local Number: Which One Does Your Business Need?

  Something as simple as a phone number isn’t often on the minds of entrepreneurs starting a business for the first time. With most business tools found in the cloud or on your computer, you probably won’t need to worry about your phones until you have at least a few customers. As your company grows and evolves, the number of phone calls you have to handle will increase, and having a professional phone number will prove to be invaluable. This leaves you with an important choice to make; should you go with a local or toll-free phone number? These different types of phone numbers provide a similar user experience, but offer a diverse range of opportunities along the way, making it critical that you consider them carefully. Before diving into the differences between these number options, it’s a good idea to take a look at what they are.   What …

How You Should React to Missed or Lost Business Calls

Although you can take measures to ensure that you just about never miss a call, ever, it’s inevitable that it will happen from time to time when a caller slips through the cracks for some reason. A proper phone system and call log can almost completely eliminate the possibility of missed or lost calls, but you should nonetheless have procedures and standards in place for those times when it does happen. Customers who are calling you expect to be taken care of, and quickly, which is why the tips in this post are helpful to you as a business owner. Make Sure a Record of All Calls is Saved When you miss a call, there’s going to be a record of it in your system’s log or in the actual device where it came in, but that’s not always the case. When a call is missed and you don’t have …

Does Your Phone System Need a Call Menu? Here’s How to Tell

  As a small business, especially a new one, one of the best features you can add to your phone system is the same one that you probably don’t even consider. That’s the call menu. A call menu is simultaneously one of the most useful and underrated features that you can have for your business phone system. Here, we’re going to go over all the ways that a call menu can benefit your business and whether or not it will be helpful for you.   Do You Have Persistent Issues When People Call You?   There are a lot of signs that you might be in need of this feature. Do people complain when they call you, of having trouble getting through to you, or being connected to the wrong person? Do your callers tell you that your business doesn’t seem like it’s very professional? If you routinely receive complaints …

Text Messaging Small Business

Text Messaging & Small Business: Why Text is So Important

We live in a much different world today, and small business can be said to be at the forefront of changing times because commerce usually leads the push into the future. That’s a much larger conversation, of course, but one of the things that serves as a perfect example of this change is text messaging in business. Not only do you probably communicate a great deal with your colleagues and employees through text, but the need for text with your customers has most likely been developing for a few years now. If you’re like most small businesses, customers are increasingly contacting you with a text message, rather than a phone call. As is always the case with advancing technology in business, you are forced to either get on board or be left behind. This is why text messaging is so important. We All Prefer Text, and Customers are No Exception …

keys to find perfect number

5 Keys to Help You Find the Perfect Business Phone Number

Choosing a new phone number for your business can drive you crazy, as there are so many options and factors to consider when you want it to be just right. There are a few guidelines, however, that you can use to save yourself time and frustration while looking at options for your new business number. First off, if you already have a number that you’ve been using for your business, then there’s no reason you should have to trash it and get a new one. Many new business owners feel that they need a separate number for the business because they’ve been using a cell phone or landline number up until now. That’s not a great idea if any of your customers already have the original number, and even if you don’t like it, an established number is better than a brand-new number that people will have to relearn. If …