8×8 beats the competition when it comes to state-of-the-art call center features. Thanks to unlimited calling within 47 countries, it’s got the best solution for bringing your business to the international market while impressing your clients with first-class customer care. Ironically, the one area 8×8 should work to improve is its own customer support.
29. Hi, this is [your name] at [X company]. I am on vacation right now and won’t be back to the office until [X date]! Please leave me your name, phone number, and the reason you are calling, and I will get back to you then. Alternatively, you can phone [Name] at [phone contact information]. Thank you for calling!
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When you equip employees with features that promote connectivity, you take your business to the next level.
Keep it Brief. Time is money in business, so if your voicemail is long, chances are the caller will simply disengage before the cue to leave a message even sounds. Keep your voicemail short. The most should be around 30 seconds, and even that’s pressing it. We’ve grown into a country where our attention span can last only about 10 seconds in some cases, so keep it short, brief and to the point. Persuade and Engage the Caller. If someone calls your business, they already have an intention. It’s the quality of your voicemail that plays a factor if they consider you a company they’d like to deal with. This is your chance to motivate someone to engage in a meaningful conversation with you. If your voicemail is shoddy, chances are they’ll hang up, or lose motivation to continue the call. In other words, your voice mail must engage and entice someone to the point that they care enough to leave you a message.
7. “Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. Sorry I missed your call. I’m especially busy today, but if you leave me your name, phone number, and a brief message, I’ll get back to you within the day. Chat soon!” Your callers want to hear from you soon. Calling back within the business day lets them know you’re reliable despite how busy you are.
You can play a voice message at different speeds and pause/resume the message, using desktop client visual voicemail, or by dialing into their voicemail. Pressing a certain key on your phone controls how you can hear the voicemail: Read your voicemail transcription
Vonage's business system also offers a rich array of features, but came in more expensive, and may be more than your small office needs. With the exception of the call center, our winners all happen to be VoIP service providers. If you still cherish your PBX, you'd likely be very happy with Cisco (the largest networking company in the world) or Avaya (flexible for between 100 to 2,500 users) which are universally highly-regarded systems. These two are essentially the Cadillac and Porsche of the phone industry. However, most small businesses would find a Honda or Toyota does the job just as well.
Using the best business phone service can provide your small business with affordable features like call queuing, hold music, call routing, caller id, and more.
For more general advice on voicemail messages, read our tips and examples for business voicemail greetings.
Voice over IP (VoIP) systems dominate the small to midsized business (SMB) telephone market, and that's only grown stronger during the pandemic. Not just because they're cheaper than an on-premises PBX, but mainly because they're mostly software, which makes them far more flexible. There's nothing an old fashioned PBX can do that a VoIP system can't, but there's a very long list of things you can do with VoIP that just aren't possible using on-premises hardware.
Businesses should have two main types of greetings to create an excellent call experience. The first one is what we call a “welcome greeting” – this greeting welcomes callers to your business. Typically, a welcome greeting will present a menu of call options like hours, location, or customer service. For more details on how to create a welcome greeting for your general business number, read this article.
If you are new to the world of virtual business phone technology, you can find plenty of resources on the RingCentral website. Users who prefer reading can enjoy blog articles, case studies, and free e-books, while those who learn better from video content can sign up for free webinars and demos.
12. “Hello, you’ve reached the Customer Support department at [company name]. We are unable to take your call at the moment. We know your time is valuable so instead of placing you on hold, let us call you back! Please leave your name, phone number, the reason for your call, and two different times that are convenient for you to receive a call back from us. Thank you!” Get a better idea of your caller’s schedule by asking them for a few different times you can call back. Their time is important, too!
32. Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m away from my desk. Please leave your name, number and a message, and I will get right back to you.
Potential customers are drawn to Grasshopper's affordable plans, features, and ease of use. Unfortunately, there is talk about dropped calls, which could negatively impact day to day business.
Grasshopper's features also can help make a small business look larger. For example, everyone in your office can have an extension. If you want to create a more professional appearance for inbound calling, Grasshopper provides customizable main greetings, routing for extensions, a name directory, music on hold, and a voice studio (for a small upcharge) if you don't like your own voice and you'd like a voice actor to tell your customers to press 13 for new sales.
Make sure you have a high-performance internet connection. All the best business phone systems in the modern era use VoIP, requiring a stable and speedy internet connection. Be sure to consider feature comparisons and reviews.