Phones have been connecting businesses for decades. And as a result, we’ve gotten used to them. A bit too used to them. Here are some of the things you can do with your business phone system besides just talking.
Personalize Your On-Hold Message
If you’ve ever tried calling a business, you’ve probably been put on hold. Do you remember what happened next? Most likely you were forced to endure some kind of music. In fact, this is the default for most businesses. But it’s also a wasted opportunity. Customers are put on hold for an average of about a minute when interacting with companies. While customers are on hold, you’ve got their full attention. So this is an excellent time to do some marketing or give them valuable information.
What’s more, sophisticated systems allow you to segment your market by caller ID. You might, for instance, want to target different customers with different messages. Perhaps your business clients would benefit from one message, and your consumer clients another.
Home Working
Home working has significant benefits for companies. It allows them to cut down on office costs. And it allows small businesses to work from wherever they are.
There’s just one catch: home working doesn’t look all that professional. There’s something that’s just not quite right about customers ringing up businesses on home phone numbers. This is where a phone system can really come in handy. With the right system, any employee can be connected with the business telephone number, no matter where they are. What’s more, they get access to all the features enjoyed in the office itself, including putting people on hold.
This is great news for maintaining the company image. Customers won’t be able to tell whether they’re calling someone in their pajamas or somebody in a suit in a stuffy office.
Integration With Your Mobile
One of the most annoying things for both businesses can customers are mobile phones. When businesses are both office based and mobile, they often have to give out two numbers. This makes their contact details look cluttered. And it means that customers have to potentially try two separate numbers to make contact. It’s not ideal.
But with a good phone system, you can solve this problem. It’s now possible for companies to link their office phones to their mobiles. Automatic forwarding services can redirect calls to mobiles. This means that companies don’t have to have two separate numbers. Plus, it means that the actual mobile handset can still be used to take private calls.
Visual Voicemail
Phone systems should be all about convenience. But there’s nothing more annoying than going to your phone and spending ages listening to all your voicemail. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if you could just check your voicemail like you do your email?
Well, with well-developed phone systems, now you can. You phone system can simply send all your voicemail to your email. And you can listen to your messages at your convenience. This is a huge boon to your productivity and helps retain your sanity while listening to voice messages.
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