Tag: phone

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Direct Numbers

Phoning The Dentist Doesn’t Have To Be A Pain

angry man

For most people, a trip to the dentist is usually synonymous with fear; a big drill going towards your mouth, days of pain to follow, and unless you are going through the NHS, an empty bank account to boot.  Doctors surgeries are a similar example in terms of what patients experience when they go there.  Some of the frustration for patients is the difficulty in getting an appointment in the first place, and this is where a good phone system can really help.  Quite a few of our customers are surgeries, both doctors and dental, and what is even more interesting is that they all seem to use our product in the same way.  They have all elected to choose a local geographical phone number, and not too surprisingly they are configuring their cloud based phone systems in the same way, using almost identical features.

 

Now, we all know how difficult it can be to call your doctors surgery to try and arrange a visit, especially first thing in the morning.  You either get the ringing tone for what seems like an eternity, or even worse than that, the dreaded engaged tone which results in hanging up and hitting redial button furiously until you hear actual ringing.  The interactive voice response system (IVR) allows patients to be greeted into a virtual waiting room, and are given a number of options, one of them usually being appointments.  Pressing this will then activate the call queuing feature, which allows you to tell your patients where they are in the queue, expected waiting time, as well apologies for the delay in answering.  You can even play some music instead of the ringing tone, and all of this can be uploaded from a PC or laptop.  You get to choose how to welcome your patients and customise their experience, and it is no surprise to see this trend flourish in this segment of our customer base.

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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.