Tag: business

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Direct Numbers

Olympia Business Show – A Thank You

So, the exhibition season is over for 2014, and it was definitely a lot of fun as well as hard work!  The final leg of the ‘Direct Numbers On Tour’ expedition saw us arrive in Olympia on Wednesday afternoon to set up our stand and get a sneak preview at what everyone else was doing, and once we were done we could not wait to get started the following morning.  The Prysm Group had certainly put a lot into the organisation of this huge event which attracted over 25,000 visitors over the 2 days, including the very successful “speed networking” and “tweet to meet”  functions which culminated in meeting some wonderful likeminded people.

Direct Numbers would like to thank everybody that came to visit our stand, and all the people involved in making this a very successful business show.  We are pleased to announce that we have a winner of the Kindle HD Fire raffle that we held, and of the hundreds of business cards that we took away with us, it was lucky Deborah McPhilemy of Teddys Inc that was selected to receive the prize.  Well done and congratulations.

We hope to see you at more exhibitions at Olympia in the future.

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Direct Numbers

Should You Move To The Cloud?

Tablet in a cloudIf you are completely fed up with blinking error lights and being on hold for technical support services, it could be a sign that you are ready to move your phone server to a cloud solution. No more bulky and expensive equipment taking up space in your already crowded IT room, which only ever breaks down when the technical personnel are on annual leave, and the freedom to expand and edit when you need to. You don’t have to wait until you are at the end of your tether though, here are some other signs your business is ready to move into the virtual world:

Business is booming and customer traffic is increasing: The phones are ringing and your staff are rushed off their feet, which is great news, but making sure you optimise these opportunities is vital. With a hosted phone system, you can add departments to an IVR, extra extensions, time of day routing requirements and call queuing options all with the click of a mouse. Augmentation of these services is all in real time, which will mean no costly downtime for your business.

You have multiple offices, or you are moving location: Ever spoken to a company with numerous offices and found that one was more organised and helpful than another? It’s not a good reputation to have as a company, and you would rather your customers and suppliers have the same experience no matter where they called. Through just one number you can route your calls to wherever you like, with the same intro message, and no one will be any the wiser. If you are moving premises then this is the perfect time to move your phone service to the cloud. The facility is fully scalable, so adding users in the future is free and easy and saves lots of money on new onsite equipment.

The contract for your onsite system is close to expiry: It won’t be long until the highly talented sales team from you current provider comes calling, fully armed with an arsenal of retention statements and charming witticisms. If you haven’t already started to look at another solution, chances are you’ll be tied in to a new contract before you know it. The monetary value of moving to the cloud can be judged by how easy and malleable it is to use, how cheap it is to run, and how simple it is to expand your network when you need to; not to mention that this is normally free to do.

Most modern businesses are now using cloud based servers for phones, data storage, video conferencing and even sharing calendars between offices. It is fast making onsite servers a thing of the past, and saving businesses plenty of money. A move to the cloud will help any size business become more connected, more flexible to growth needs and hopefully more prosperous as a result.

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Direct Numbers

Retail: What Does Your Phone Number Say To Your Customers?

Retail
Let’s be honest; we’ve all done it.  We have all sat on the phone for an inordinate amount of time, bemoaning the cost of the call to whichever particular retail outfit just so happened to have supplied the appliance which is now spewing water all over your new kitchen floor.  Hearing how important your call is at that moment in time…well, l’ll let you choose your own metaphor to depict the furious anger you feel as a customer.  But what about your thoughts as a retailer?  How can you make the whole experience better for the end user?  Well, it all begins with the phone number…

Most retailers are now aware of the change in regulation regarding 084/087 numbers.  No longer is it permitted to have these prefixes for customer service lines, meaning consumers are only ever upset about the actual problem they are calling you about and not the additional cost to them.  Already a better starting point.  As a result of this regulation change, a lot of businesses have begun the migration to the 03 prefix, notably most of the big high street banks.  03 numbers are the same price to call as 01/02 numbers, so therefore are covered in most free minutes packages from the mobile networks.  So why the big fuss about 03?

As well as saving your customers money on the cost of their calls, 03 numbers are not just the starting point for contacting your organisation.  These virtual numbers route your calls to any UK number you want, and they come with cloud based telecoms services!  It seems the days of having the big phone system bolt on that sits in your server room until it needs an expensive service, or replacing for twice the cost of the first one, has been finally been eradicated.  Now you can pick your own phone number, and using just your computer, are able to log in to an online portal where you can manage everything from how long the phone rings to setting up advanced Interactive Voice Response systems.  The best bit?  Most of this cost is covered in your monthly rental!

To give you an idea, these services come with the purchase of an 03 number:

  • Call Queuing
  • Call Whisper
  • Fax to Email
  • Hunt Groups
  • IVR Call Handing
  • Multi Outdial
  • One to One routing
  • Time of Day Routing
  • Online Management
  • Call Recording (£10 + VAT per month additional cost)
  • Audio Conferencing (£10 + VAT per month additional cost)

You can record all of the messages you want your customers to hear, and upload them in seconds.  The result is a real time phone management system that can only improve customer experience and keeps frustration down to a minimum.  The reporting tool can also be used to drill down to the finest detail; so you will be able to confirm exactly how many times Mrs Brown has called you today to let you know she is really not happy with the way the delivery driver closed her gate.  Your phone number, your introduction message, your hold music; it’s the very first point of contact anyone has with your business.  It makes sense to have total control.  03 is the magic number for 2014 in the retail sector.

 

 

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Direct Numbers

Still Advertising Your Business With a Mobile Number?

As a telephone number provider, we come across a lot of small businesses that use a mobile phone number as their main point of contact.  Usually this pertains to the trade industries such as plumbers, electricians and aerial engineers, but can be as diverse as mobile hair or nail salons and even children’s entertainers!  ! Whatever your business may be, advertising your business with either a local  geographical number, or a non-geographical business number (03/08) can be very advantageous in comparison to your mobile phone.Mobile Phone For Business Here are a few reasons why:

The Look

If you are a small business and all of your customers are local, then most people when flicking through a search engine for your services will generally call a local land line number.  It’s the same if you are appealing to a national audience; mobile phone numbers just don’t look national.  The look of your number can really affect how many calls you receive.  Some older generation customers who call from landlines will be more willing to call a business number to save on cost; just look at BT’s rates.  It also gives the image of a company who have been in business for a while, which is great for new businesses and important during these times of economic instability.

Bringing a touch of 21st Century 

Maybe the biggest benefit of routing your calls through a business number are the cloud based services you have access to.  It’s not just the look and feel of a large business, or the local appeal to your customers (depending on your demographic), but did you know these numbers come with free services such as call queuing that lets your customers know when you are already on a call or you are busy?  Pretty handy when you are up a ladder or in the middle of blow drying somebodies hair!  You can choose to use your own voice, a friends, or even let us do it for you.  All of these options are stored online in “the cloud” where you have full control and access to them.  All the calls still come to your mobile phone, and the call whisper feature will even tell you that it’s a business call before you connect to your client.

All in all, making a simple change from advertising your mobile number can bring additional calls, revenue and efficiency to your small business.  Using innovative cloud based services with dedicated account managers and customer service could help revolutionise the way your company is perceived by your customers.