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Product Tips: Using Voicemail to Improve Productivity
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 – posted by Rebecca Daneault
For decades now, businesses of all sizes have been benefiting from voicemail as a means to capture important messages and stay connected with their customers, employees and vendors. With technological improvements there have been significant enhancements in this functionality to make it even more dynamic and helpful for business professionals. Now, let’s take this feature a step further and examine how you can use voicemail as a way to actually improve your productivity.
Anticipate Their Questions
What better way to reduce the amount of time you spend checking your voicemail messages than to prevent the need for them to be left in the first place? Consider the fact that a good majority of calls placed to a business are to gather basic information, such as hours of operation, directions and details about upcoming events. If your callers receive answers to these common questions as soon as they connect with your business, they won’t even have to leave a message. Include all of this data in your custom greeting, along with your website URL, and encourage callers to visit for more information. This saves you time, improves customer satisfaction, and, as an added bonus, may result in an increase in traffic to your website.
Provide Detailed Instructions
Wouldn’t it be helpful if every message you received contained all the information you needed to move forward to the next step? Nothing is more time consuming and frustrating than filtering through messages that are missing key elements. This can easily be avoided if you clearly state what information you need in your voicemail greeting. Let callers know that they should include their name, contact information, best time they can be reached and ask them to state specifically what the purpose of their call is, so that you can be sure that the right party is the one who follows up. For instance, if the caller knows to indicate that they’re calling about a billing issue, as soon as you listen to the message, you’ll know to forward the message to someone in your accounting department, saving time for your business and improving customer care levels.
Get Organized
It can be an extraordinary waste of valuable time to have to sift through dozens of messages every time you need to locate something. Tools like visual voicemail eliminate this wasted effort by allowing you to retrieve your messages on your computer or mobile device. Read transcripts of your messages instantly and organize them just as you would email. You can even forward messages you receive to other members of your team to manage follow-up more efficiently. Not only does this help you by saving time, but when you can organize your messages, you will reduce the risk of something important slipping through the cracks.
Voicemail is a powerful and essential tool in today’s business world. By leveraging these helpful tips, you can harness this technology to improve your productivity, and get the most out of your valuable time.
Labels: product tips, productivity, voicemail
5 Simple Ways to Minimize Workplace Distractions
Saturday, April 28, 2012 – posted by Rebecca Daneault
We’ve all been there – those days we sit at our desks, chasing our tails and getting next to nothing done. It’s hard to stay focused these days, especially with so much technology at our fingertips. Emails rolling in; office, home and mobile phones ringing; instant messages popping up; it’s never ending. But what happens when you have a deadline to meet and can’t afford to keep being interrupted? Here are 5 simple ways you can minimize office distractions and get down to business.
- Do Not Disturb – It’s so simple, we often overlook it, but simply setting aside time and letting others know it’s not ok to interrupt can do wonders for your productivity. Shut your office door, hang a handwritten “do not disturb” sign on the handle, and put your nose to the grindstone.
- Use Your Phone Features - In today’s day and age, it’s simple to take control of your communications, especially with a feature-rich virtual phone system. Forward your calls to voicemail or have another team member handle them for you until you’ve completed the task at hand.
- Avoid Juggling – As a small business owner, you’ve inevitably had to learn how to multi-task, but believe it or not, this isn’t always conducive to accomplishing your to-do list. What often happens is that you end up running in circles, wasting time and not really getting much done. Instead, try planning your day out and group similar activities together to make the most of your time.
- Be Honest – Everybody gets overwhelmed from time to time. If you’re busy, be honest with people. If someone on your team continuously interrupts you when you’re in the middle of something, have a heart to heart and set some boundaries.
- It’s all about Willpower – Successfully managing workplace interruptions often boils down to willpower. You have to be committed to taking charge of your schedule, planning out your day effectively and closing off the world while you’re getting something done. It’s challenging, but you can do it if you set your mind to it and make it a priority.
Distractions in the workplace are a necessary evil. It’s how you handle these distractions that will be the difference between a struggling small business and a success story. Put these five simple tips into action and you’ll be amazed at how much you can get accomplished!
Labels: productivity, small business tips, virtual phone system
posted by Rebecca Daneault @ 10:08 AM
4 Ways a Virtual Phone System Can Boost Productivity in Your Business
Monday, April 25, 2011 – posted by Maty Grosman
Running a small business can be hectic: wearing different hats, juggling different tasks, staying on the nose while keeping ahead of the ball... this might sound like fun if you’re part of a circus troupe, but we’re talking serious business here!
Dealing with phone calls amongst all this hustle and bustle can be quite a challenge.
If you’re like many other one-man-band-ers who’ve been delaying a proper solution for a while, your system of managing all the scheduled calls, notes, and follow-ups is probably comprised mostly of sticky-pads and paper clips.
Now, you can keep on juggling all you want, but if your hands get tired or if you feel like taking a break, come on out and sniff the 21st century air. You’ll find there’s a much better solution in town that’s been putting that old circus act out to lunch.
Organization
A small business PBX keeps all your client information in one place. Call-backs, requests, comments—everything stored conveniently, updated automatically, and accessible by the entire team.
Moreover, each designated department views their own call records, so there can be no confusion or stepping over each other’s toes. Even if it’s just you and your partner—that’s four toes already...
Flexibility
Perhaps the best part of a virtual PBX is that it’s truly freedom personified. Since everything is up in the cloud, you can work anytime, anywhere, and on any device (to learn more about what makes virtual so awesome, check out 'Walking on Clouds--the Freedom of Going Virtual'). You’re no longer tied to the office, or even to your own computer.
They call it running a small business for a reason—and since you’re always up and about, the less hardware you have to carry around, the easier your life will be.
Efficiency
One of the greatest challenges faced by any small business is scarcity of resources—from supplies to personnel, there never seems to be enough of anything to go around—and that’s why managing them effectively is so critical.
A PBX system lets you designate departments and use your call tree to route calls simultaneously to the entire team, so that the first person to become available can answer the next caller. Making conference calls also becomes easier than ever as you need only dial a single number to reach a designated cluster of people.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response), which is a standard component in any PBX system worth its salt, can answer many common queries and provide useful information before the caller ever reaches a live agent. This takes a significant load off of your already overwhelmed staff. Some system providers, like Synclio for instance, even offer a Live Answer service for a small additional fee. This is especially useful if you’re running a small operation, as by letting their trained staff handle the few callers that still get through the IVR strainer you'll be freeing your own team to deal with a gazillion of other daily tasks.
It’s your business, reinvented.
Cost savings
It must be clear by now why a virtual PBX is infinitely cheaper than—and superior to—any physical counterpart (not sure? Try reading our '5 Reasons Virtual Systems are Taking Over the Physical World'), but what you may not realize is that, in many cases, it’s even cheaper than having no system at all!
Here’s why:
If you’re using multiple landlines or cell-phones, things can get pricey—fast. For a single low monthly fee, a virtual PBX usually gives you a local or 1 800 number and an unlimited set of extensions.
This means that both you and your customers can stop running into international calling charges whenever you’re dealing outside the province, and that you no longer need multiple landlines to accommodate your personnel—simply squeeze all the juice out of that single landline you already own by dressing it with all the extensions you’ll ever need!
The availability of unlimited extensions is also a great prospect for the future, as it can accommodate your business as it grows without running into any significant growth pains.
For a detailed discussion of what makes virtual PBX so cost effective check out 'A Fortune 500 Customer Calling Experience that Won't Cost your Company a Fortune', and for an overview of 1- 800 numbers and their benefits, try 'Advantages of an 800 Number for Your Business'.
If you haven’t made a switch already, no time is better than the present to treat yourself to a brand new phone system. Quit the act and get in on the action—here's to leaving the old circus days behind!
Labels: business, cost saving, efficiency, flexibility, organization, productivity, technology, toll-free, virtual PBX, virtual phone
posted by Maty Grosman @ 5:01 PM
5 Reasons Virtual Systems are taking over the Physical World
It’s no secret that Cloud computing is taking over the world in a storm with a myriad of virtual solutions ready to address all of our modern IT needs, leaving the vendors of traditional systems moaning: “don’t rain on my parade.”
As a small business owner you want to stay ahead of the weather, so let’s take a look where the winds of change are blowing. Here are 5 reasons virtual solutions are fast replacing their physical counterparts:
Flexibility
In the virtual world, your work and data are no longer confined to a single machine or location and instead 'float' in the cloud—a figurative way of saying reside in centralized servers conveniently accessible via your own web portal. This gives you the freedom to work anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Productivity
Because your work is up there in the cloud, it's now easier than ever to stay on top of changes in a team-environment, share files, and collaborate with co-workers. It also makes on-site backup a redundancy, as all your work is already backed up automatically in the safest place on earth (er...in heaven)
So if your equipment catches a bug or your if office burns down, at least the safety of your work will NOT be one of your worries.
Upgradability and Maintenance:
Since both the physical infrastructure and software components are now centralized in a single location and maintained by a company whose sole business is to provide the service it has chosen to specialize in—upgrades are simpler, smoother, and far more frequent than if you had to wear an IT hat (on top of your other office apparel). In plain speak, this means that the user always remains on the cutting edge, and with minimal interruptions.
Security:
There are many reasons that make Cloud Computing at least as safe, if not safer than, traditional systems. Not the last of these is the fact that companies who’ve made it their business to offer a virtual service have far greater resources than the average user to invest in combating security threats and coming up with solutions.
Furthermore, since such companies usually host their servers in state of the art facilities, they're far better protected against hardware failure and natural disasters.
Affordability
The essence of specialization in any industry is reflected in the bottom line, and here is no exception. The savings are vast because users have no need to purchase any additional hardware or software components, or to worry about installation, configuration, maintenance, and upgradability issues. What’s more, a single low monthly fee can often buy our access to services we would have otherwise simply not been able to afford.
For this reason, the advantages of going virtual are perhaps most evident in hardware intensive operations, where just the costs of getting in is often beyond the means of most average users.
A virtual phone system such as the one offered by Synclio is a perfect example of how cloud computing brings the sky within reach of virtually anyone.
Labels: affordability, business, cloud computing, cost saving, customer service, efficiency, flexibility, IT, productivity, security, technology, virtual PBX, virtual phone
posted by Maty Grosman @ 4:44 PM
A Fortune 500 Customer Calling Experience that Won’t Cost Your Company a Fortune
So you’re starting a small business. Or perhaps you’ve been at it for a while, but suddenly the floodgates have come open with an overwhelming gush of daily calls. Either way, you’re now finding yourself in need of a better way to manage all this inbound traffic. You’ve probably listened with envy when calling big conglomerates to these fancy phone trees: “dial 1 for this... dial 2 for that”. Perhaps you’ve even shopped around till you got chest-pains looking at traditional solutions and their price tags.
But worry not. Thanks to modern computing, you can now have a system with all the bells and whistles just like the big boys, for less than the price of a landline.
Let’s take a closer look.
The challenge with setting up a PBX (Private Branch Exchange) has traditionally been the exorbitant expenses it entailed. From the early days of operators manually plugging and re-plugging telephone lines to the first automated switchboards, the process involved the purchase of expensive equipment, hiring professional technicians to have it set up, and later incurring the high costs of perpetual maintenance. Unsurprisingly, this was something only the top dogs in the business could afford.
Even in the 1990’s, as smaller systems came into the market, they were still beyond the pale to smaller businesses.
In the following decade, however, the introduction of VOiP along with other technological innovations and the ever decreasing prices of hardware components combined to open a door to a new class of PBX systems. These were significantly less expensive on the hardware side, and, especially with open source solutions, very affordable on the software side. But no good thing comes without a caveat, and in this case, though one could put together such a system for a relatively small initial investment, he still required the expertise to have it set up, configured, and maintained. Assuming he wasn’t the savvy type, this required again hiring an expert—which has a way of seeing even the smallest investment quickly put on weight.
Now fast forward to the preset—with the internet becoming ever prevalent, connection speeds ever faster, storage capacities ever larger, and prices increasingly cheaper—a new phenomenon has emerged that is fast reshaping the faces of most industries. This phenomenon is called ‘Cloud Computing’, and it’s the new wave in digital data management.
The idea is simple: to eliminate the need for dedicated hardware and software configurations on the user’s end by delegating them to a centralized server, specifically equipped to handle the relevant tasks. It is essentially a form of specialization. An example is how you share and edit documents online using a platform such as Google docs, or how you utilize remote storage to backup your personal data.
Synclio has taken this concept and applied it to the field of Virtual PBX, bringing the full power and features of a robust telephone system right to the tips of your fingers for one low monthly fee. There’s no longer any need to purchase additional hardware or software components—all you need is your existing telephone lines, personal computers, phones, and internet connection (all of which you already own!) There’s no need to pay outrageous installation fees, or to worry about maintenance—Synclio does all the worrying for you!
Synclio helps you cut costs further by letting you choose a local or toll-free telephone number for inbound calls, so you and your customers don’t have to keep running up international calling charges.
Moreover, the simple, user-friendly web portal means you’ll be up and running in minutes—not days—slashing the costs associated with training and ensuring a smooth transition.
But ‘simple’ doesn’t mean ‘bland’: Synclio's platform is highly adaptable and lets you easily modify it to fit your own identity, not the other way around.
You’ll be able to record customized greetings and to design your own phone trees; to create rules and to route calls in any way you choose. You’ll even be able to review call stats and access records, which remain stored on our server for as long as your account remains active.
Keeping your finger on the pulse of daily business has never been easier!
And that’s not all—by going on a cloud, you not only get features equal to a physical system—you get the freedom of the web. So whether you’re home or half-way around the world, you can always stay connected.
It no longer takes a fortune to give yourself and your customers the calling experience you deserve. Technology has a beautiful way of progressively making more available for less, and this is just one of those elegant leaps forward. Now the only question is are you going to ride the wave?
Labels: affordability, business, cloud computing, cost saving, devision of labor, efficiency, flexibility, phone system, productivity, specialization, technology, virtual IVR, virtual PBX, virtual phone
posted by Maty Grosman @ 4:29 PM
Walking on Clouds—the Freedom of Going Virtual
Cloud computing is fast reshaping the world. It changes the way we store and manage data. It redefines the way we conduct business. It allows us to carry a single laptop or Smartphone and access an arsenal of features that previously demanded a roomful of expensive computer equipment. Heck, soon enough we’ll be able to upload our minds to reality 2.0 and live up there in the cloud—now there’s a thought!
But before that happens, let’s take a look at what’s already happening today.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is essentially a different approach to how we go about executing IT operations. In the past, to perform any given task, each individual had to own the necessary software and hardware, which in turn had to be properly set up, installed/configured, and maintained.
To take a simple example, suppose you wanted to set up a raid system to back up your digital data. This required a computer with compatible hardware to act as a server, and a software program that could perform the necessary function. Both the software and the hardware had to be set up correctly, and the system as a whole had to be maintained.
All this (at long last) enabled you to perform the desired operation on that particular system, and if something went wrong, it was up to you to troubleshoot the problem or to hire a professional who could do it for you.
If this setup was rigged in your office and you wanted to back up data on your home computer as well you had to put together a second system, equivalent to the first.
Needless to say, this approach was very costly (not to mention inconvenient). But it’s how we used to live.
The nature of our technology simply could not facilitate any alternative.
But with the internet becoming ever prevalent, a far more elegant solution has evolved: enter the Cloud...
The name is derived from the ‘cloud’ symbol that used to represent telecom infrastructure, and later the internet itself, in early flowcharts and diagrams. It epitomizes the idea of severing the user from the equipment—or ‘data’ from ‘location’—to essentially ‘float’, as if in the air. There’s something decidedly sci-fi about this concept: just imagine, all your data simply ‘out there’, accessible whenever you need it. Sure gives ‘out of the aether’ a whole new meaning!
But unlike the fabled substance, this phenomenon is real.
It’s in effect a form of specialization. If previously individuals had to own the infrastructure to perform any IT operation required by their business, now companies recognizing the potential for specialization have stepped up to offer these as services. It's a far more dynamic approach than the rigid, old-fashioned model. The principles of specialization have always made societies far more productive, as people could stop wasting precious time and resources doing a little bit of everything and instead focus on what it was each of them did best. It's the same here. Instead of each business owner setting up his own on-site backup, phone system, etc—he can simply shop around for a company that offers any of these as a virtual service, and for a single low monthly fee make use of their established infrastructure via a convenient web portal. Anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
By letting their centralized servers take over all the heavy lifting, the rest of us are freed to enjoy a streamlined existence with just our favorite gizmo, an internet access, and a latte.
Now that's working in style!
To read more about the benefits of a Virtual platform and why it’s superior to a physical system, check out '5 Reasons Virtual Systems are Taking Over the Physical World'
Labels: affordability, business, cloud computing, devision of labor, flexibility, freedom, IT, phone system, productivity, specialization, technology, virtual IVR, virtual PBX, virtual phone, web management
posted by Maty Grosman @ 4:18 PM
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posted by Rebecca Daneault @ 2:06 PM