Remember to watch out for ambient noise on your end of the call as well. Train signals, traffic, or even outside conversations can be very distracting to your callers and project an unprofessional image. Don’t forget the beep. Every millisecond – yes, millisecond – between the end of your greeting and the beep is time callers could potentially drop the call. That’s why the anticipated beep should sound the moment your greeting is finished. Leaving lengthy, silent gaps may cause your customers to wonder if they’ve been disconnected. Don’t give them the opportunity to hang up waiting to hear that affirmative tone. Check and then recheck your greeting. After you complete your outgoing voicemail message, play it back to verify you’ve said everything you intended to say. Then take it a step further and dial in to experience the greeting for yourself, and be mindful to contemplate the greeting from the customer’s perspective.
In most cases, landlines would cost exponentially more for the same set of features. In some cases, a landline phone system may simply not be able to match the feature set and value of a VOIP line, regardless of cost. If you have found yourself looking at your small businesses’ phone bills lately and wondering what you can do to lower the cost, VOIP might be the answer.
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You might also consider giving them the option to skip your voicemail message completely by pressing another key (again, check with IT). You also want to make callers aware what you will return their call, instead of telling them that you will try to return their call--and let them know when you are likely to do it, if possible. If necessary, provide additional or emergency information in your voicemail greetings. My dentist, for example, lists his cell phone number for emergencies.
Phonewire offers three different plans, targeted to individuals, small offices, and enterprises. The individual plan starts at $19/month for 30 minutes of audio transcribed, billed at 1 second increments. The small business plan is $53/month and includes 100 minutes of audio, with unlimited users. Finally, the enterprise plan is $250/month and includes 500 minutes of audio, with unlimited users. The individual and small business plans include a free trial for 2 weeks or 100 messages.
11. “Hello! You’ve reached [company name] support line. We’ll be happy to help with your inquiry. In the meantime, have you checked out our [website, help forum, etc.]? It may have the answer you’re looking for. If not, leave your name, number and reason for your call. We’ll reach out to you within the day. Thanks for calling [company name].” Sometimes, a caller likes to find the answer to their own questions. Let them discover by directing them to your website or help forum if you have one.
RingCentral is one of the top names in VOIP for business. Their cloud-based solution gives users the trusted connectivity of a traditional phone line, with the mobility of whatever device they choose to work from on the go like a laptop or smartphone. The company offers subscribers a variety of toll-free numbers so customers can call from anywhere–including from long-distance–free of charge. Video calling helps add another form of connection to suit your business as well. At $19.99 per month, per user, RingCentral is competitively priced with its peers.
38. You’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m sorry, but I’m temporarily unavailable. Please leave your name and number, and I’ll return your call as soon as possible.
The mid-level Partner package is recommended for growing small businesses with one to three employees. It offers the same features as the Solo plan, plus:
The Integrated plan is the lower-level Kixie package, also referred to as their "Starter" package. It includes: 300 standard minutes (unlimited minutes available for an additional $30/month/user) Unlimited inbound and outbound text messages Number porting Power dialing Click-to-Call Mobile apps IVR auto attendant Ring groups New CRM lead creation Call outcome logging Call recording Sales leaderboard Live call board CRM integration, including Hubspot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive Zoho Email support
Website: https://www.activecampaign.com/free-marketing-tools/business-voicemail-script
23. "Happy holidays! [I'm, the team at X company is] away until [date]. We'll make sure to call you back straight away when we return. If your request is urgent, email [emergency contact] at [email address]. Thanks, and have a wonderful day."
To get directly in touch with this virtual office phone number provider, you can call them, send them an email at [email protected], or talk to an online representative via live chat. The agents are available from Monday through Sunday between 4 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST.
One way to identify your pain points can be as simple as meeting with your team to discuss what makes their day — and the customer’s day — harder. By anticipating what your customers are struggling to find on their own, you can potentially solve their problems before they leave a voicemail or, at the very least, point them in the right direction. This will help ease your own pain by making the experience easier for the client to navigate, leading to a more organized process.
Vonage originally was known for its residential consumer offering that disrupted the telecom landline marketplace. However, Vonage also offers a small business phone service. Vonage is a publicly traded company (NYSE:VG) and according to recent investor presentations, their growth focus seems to be on midsize and enterprise businesses, with less emphasis on small business customers. Feature We Like: Simultaneous Ring which will simultaneously ring up to 5 other phones to reach you.
“Good afternoon. You have reached the office of [your name]. I will be out of the office beginning on [date] and will be returning on [date]. Please leave a brief message with your contact information, and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I return on [date]. If this is an emergency or you need to speak with someone before I return, please contact [name of colleague/supervisor], [their job title], at [their phone number].”
Recording voicemail greetings for your business or personal life requires a separate list of priorities, because they are being used for two distinct purposes and will be heard by two very different types of callers. I have a friend with two cell phones - one for work, and one for personal calls - and if you call both lines, you would never know it's the same person.
Then, sometimes I'd have to listen to the same message three times just to get a return phone number because the recording broke up right when the person was leaving their number.