Are There Uptime Issues with a Virtual Phone System?

  If you’re looking into a new phone system for your business, then the first thing you will probably want to know is if you need to worry about the service unexpectedly going down for any reason. Business owners especially have questions about this when trying a virtual provider for the first time. We’re going to address a few of these questions here.   Consider the Type of Virtual System Different virtual providers connect calls in a few different ways. The three main examples of these are those that connect calls strictly through your mobile phone’s carrier service through the cellular network; VoIP providers who use your on-site Internet connection; and the providers like Talkroute who connect calls using the networks of whatever phones you have—cell phone, landline, or other type of phone. The latter is the best type most of the time because your call connection will be as …

The Best Way to Handle Multiple Incoming Calls

  It would be nice if your business only received one call at a time, but that of course isn’t always the case. At times, you will inevitably get multiple calls coming in at the same time, meaning you’re going to need provisions in place to manage all of them so that no one hangs up before you can take care of them. The focus of this post is to give you a few ways to professionally handle all of those simultaneous calls.   Automated Reception Especially when you are working with minimal phone support staff, it’s important to have an automated system set up to field simultaneous calls as they come in. The best way to do this is to use a call menu, or auto attendant, that allows callers to press a number corresponding to the information they need, or to press a certain number to speak to …

5 Good Reasons to Ignore Cheap Phone Systems

  There are now more virtual phone service providers than there have ever been before, which presents an interesting problem overall, as well as a huge advantage for a business owner. The problem is that it takes business owners much more time and research to find the right phone service for their business because there are now dozens of providers to choose from, rather than just a few big traditional phone carriers. This explosion of virtual providers, unfortunately, comes with quite a few really cheap providers with terrible service who just want to grab a piece of the profit. The low cost for their services is tempting, but this is why you want to steer as clear as possible.   1. Unreliable Connection This is one of the most common complaints people have when using a phone service app or cheap virtual provider. One of the ways these providers keep …

When to Take or Ignore Advice for Your Business

When you’re starting a business or have been running one for a while, you can bet that people around you will make sure you know what they think about it. They may be family, friends, mentors, or colleagues, and no matter who they are, you need to make sure that you don’t take the wrong advice to heart. The following are a few questions that you should ask yourself before you take anyone’s advice about your business. Do They Understand What You Do? It’s really easy for someone to tell you how you should run your business, but unless they’re your partner, it’s not likely that they have an intimate knowledge of what your business actually does and how it works. The general advice they want to give you may not apply to you specifically at all. Does This Person Have Any Business Experience? When someone you know is offering …

3 Reasons Your Call Transfer Feature Isn’t Working

Live call transfer is a feature that is essential for many businesses, which makes it pretty scary for a business owner when it doesn’t seem to be working. Before you start to panic, consider these possible reasons that you aren’t able to transfer calls. 1. Incorrect Dialing Sequence Failure to transfer a call to another extension or employee within your business because you didn’t perform the correct dialing sequence doesn’t mean you’re stupid; it just means that you were either instructed to use the wrong sequence, or possibly that you didn’t even realize that you’ve been pressing the wrong buttons. Consult with your phone service provider, and make sure that they tell you explicitly what you need to do to initiate a call transfer. 2. DTMF Issue This is probably the most common reason that a transfer function fails, and it has nothing to do with user error. If you …

Why Small Businesses Fail

Why Do So Many Small Businesses Fail?

In a time when more new businesses are opening up than ever, why are so many of them being forced to close their doors, and so quickly? The reasons for the failure of small businesses are as varied as the types of businesses in operation. Even so, we will answer a few of the questions surrounding this phenomenon here. Execution Ideas are like mothers; everybody’s got one, no matter who you are. What separates a business idea from a viable business is the ability to execute that idea. You may have come up with the best thing since sliced bread, but if you don’t have the ability to build the proverbial machine that will produce, sell, and deliver that product or service in the real world, then all you have is a great idea. Money Startup capital and working capital are tricky. When you start your business, the amount of …

How to Start a Landscaping Business

A landscaper is different from other people. A landscaper combines heavy manual labor with intense creativity to accommodate jobs that always require hard physical work and can vary dramatically from one project to another. It takes a special kind of person to start a landscaping business, but if you are that person, you should have no problem getting started with the advice contained in this article. 1. Define What Your Business Will Offer When you had the idea to start a landscaping company, you most likely envisioned exactly what services you will offer your clients, but your vision of what your company will do may be somewhat nebulous. You will of course need to settle on your specific services. Consider the following list of services typically provided by a landscaping company: Lawn care / maintenance Chemical application services & management Residential or commercial landscape design Residential or commercial landscape construction …

Using Your Phone System’s Mobile App for Business

Not long ago, it would’ve sounded strange to associate a mobile app with your business’ phone system, but today’s virtual phone systems use a mobile app to make call management a lot easier for your company. Here are a few of the useful functions of a mobile app to help you manage calls. Stay on Top of Messages Traditionally, you could only check your customers’ voicemail messages by calling into a certain number, but now you can just open your phone system app and tap the voicemail section to view all of your messages and even call those customers back from the same page of the app. Text messaging can also be done through an app, though not all virtual phone systems provide that ability. Check out Talkroute’s text messaging features here: https://talkroute.com/business-text-messaging/ Decide Which Voice Mailboxes You Want to See You may have a lot of employees or departments …

Trade in Bad Habits for New Ones to Be More Effective

Business owners don’t just need to streamline their company’s operations—they need to streamline themselves if they want to be really successful. There are a lot of things that can hold you back when running a business. Consider these negative personal habits and whether it may be something you need to address so that you can move forward and be truly effective. Procrastination We all seem to subconsciously think that when we decide to take on the endeavor of starting a business, we will automatically morph into some kind of superhuman business-runner with heightened senses and dulled emotions, but the truth is that we’re still the same poor schlubs that we’ve always been. We take our bad habits and shortcomings with us into the business. One of the most stand-out and common habits we can bring with us is procrastination. Quite honestly, if you’re a business owner, then you’re most likely …

How You Should React to Negative Reviews

  It’s going to happen at some point, if it hasn’t already happened to you; you’re going to come across some negative reviews or feedback about your business. Your first instinct will most likely be to panic and get angry at the same time, but after you let that phase pass, train yourself to react in the following ways.   Pay Attention As the owner of the business that someone is tearing apart with their scathing review, no matter where you come across it, it hurts because this business is like your child. You have created it and raised it to the point of success where it is now, and to have someone publicly say how awful it is can be very difficult to stomach. Even so, you have to pay close attention to what these reviewers are saying so that you can gain a deeper knowledge of your customers’ …