In today’s digital age, there’s no denying that many business communications are first made over the phone before both parties even get to meet face-to-face. It’s also safe to say that a significant first impression about your business can already be deduced even with something as simple as your voicemail. Because of the pressing effect it has on your business, you have to do all that you can to keep your record good and positive. Otherwise, an ill-made and rushed voicemail could result in a low rate of returned calls.
17. "Hello! You've gotten the voicemail of [your name]. Leave your name, contact info, and the answer to the eternal question ‘Which came first, the chicken or the egg?' Anyone who gets it right will receive a call back."
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On top of that, Nextiva instant messaging lets you tend to clients who are not big on talking but still want to get in touch with your company. And with its top-of-the-line cloud PBX, you can kiss your traditional desk phone goodbye. Small business owners can take advantage of Nextiva softphones for both internal and external communication over the internet with HD call quality. Larger businesses set in their ways can keep their existing hardware or buy additional phones sold by this VoIP service provider.
That’s the simple structure of a voicemail greeting. Overall, your greeting should be professional, but the wording can vary depending on the situation. Check out a sample below.
19. “Thank you for calling [company]. We’re closed for [holiday] from [date] until [date]. Please leave your message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a happy holiday!”
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.
Want the perfect business phone systems for your telesales team? Kixie is exactly what you're looking for because Kixie offers an integrated CRM platform alongside its VoIP business phone system. Small businesses that rely on VoIP phone service for reaching out to leads to turn them into customers will appreciate all the features Kixie has to offer. In an industry full of mediocre customer service, Kixie stands out with very good reviews and support Kixie allows you to take your phone number with you if you choose a different service, which is not allowed at all on some services, such as eVoice Kixie offers simple to set up integrations with CRM systems like Salesforce, Insightly, Nutshell, Pipedrive, and more to log calls, as well as team communication tools such as Slack, an extremely powerful chat application Their pricing is extremely transparent and does not attempt to lock you into an annual contract Their cost per minute is one of the cheapest in the industry, starting at $0.01 for US phone calls. For comparison, their competitor eVoice starts at $0.03 per minute for US phone calls While Kixie’s pricing is transparent, their plans only include 300 standard call minutes, and unlimited minutes for calls to the US and Canada must be added for an extra monthly cost Kixie only offers a seven-day free trial, which means you will need to have a plan in mind to test the phone system within this short window While email support is available at all tiers of Kixie’s service, phone support is only available for the most expensive Enterprise plan
Gain a variety of tools with one of the best office phones for your business. Opportunities for gaining more customer connections are bound to happen as a result.
Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at UniTel Voice, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners. 8 Ways To Build Brand Trust & Make Your New eCommerce Business Look Established
Company-level calls are usually directed to your general business number. There are occasions when everyone in the office is tied up and unable to pick up calls. It’s important to gather information about the reason for the call so that the right person or team can call them back. These greetings ensure that customers do not feel neglected while also providing assurance that their call will be attended to as soon as possible.
In a nutshell, a good voicemail greeting should only be brief but also complete, simple but also professional. It should only meet its purpose of leaving a quick message to the listener or informing a caller that although you haven’t taken the call, you’re going to get back to it at the soonest time available.
Kall8 is a little different from some others on this list of small business phone services because its primary focus is as a toll free number service. It touts itself as a way to direct and track online ad campaigns to toll free numbers. Along with it, Kall8 also offers basic phone service features such as voicemail and call forwarding. Prices start at $2.00/month per number. Vanity numbers and local numbers cost more. Add to that a per minute rate of roughly $.06 to .07 per minute. You could easily use this service to tie a Google Ad campaign to a phone number and allow you to track which ad performed best. Feature We Like: The online tools for tracking.
Voicemail greetings can include any information you’d wish to convey, such as special sales, bargains, alternate phone numbers to use, or your company’s normal working hours.
You're well on your way to finding the best phone system for your small business. As you begin evaluating systems, there are a few more questions which you'll want to get answers to before making a commitment. Questions such as: What are the line limits or cost for larger workforces? What kind of tech do we need for the phone service operator? What kind of contract should we sign (if any)?
Without further ado, here’s the ultimate 2021 list of the best virtual phone systems for small business:
eVoice users applaud the across the board standard features eVoice provides. The only exceptions are with extensions and minutes. Some eVoice customers have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the company's customer service efforts.
Pricing: TalkRoute’s plans start at $19 per month and go all the way up to $99 per month. Each setup up in plan offers more advanced features that are suited for different business uses.