Looking for virtual business phone services? eVoice is a business phone system that acts like other business phone systems, but the difference is you can be anywhere and receive your calls using their cloud-based PBX phone line. They even offer a live receptionist service that will take your calls and provide a host of administrative services, like booking appointments, collecting customer information, processing payments, you name it. eVoice offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is among the longest of the services we’ve researched You can get a free, professionally recorded greeting if requested within seven days of setting up your account eVoice offers the most phone numbers available per plan, starting with three numbers on the lowest plan and up to 33 numbers on the most expensive plan A credit card must be entered to start a free trial, and from customer reviews available online, the cancellation policy of eVoice is not reliable A phone number cannot be ported or used on services outside of eVoice unless it had been ported into eVoice in the first place and requires a $40 service fee to complete Unlike many competitors, eVoice does not have an unlimited minutes plan for calls to the US and Canada. While this lowers the entry price, it can lead to a more variable monthly cost Standard Features Call forwarding Virtual answering service Advanced call routing Voicemail Custom greetings Call screening Web portal and mobile app Call queueing Pricing 11 users 30,000 minutes per month 33 toll-free or local phone numbers Unlimited extensions Inbound online faxing One user 30,000 minutes per month Three toll-free or local phone numbers Unlimited extensions Inbound online faxing Six users 30,000 minutes per month 18 toll-free or local phone numbers Unlimited extensions Inbound online faxing 10 users 30,000 minutes per month 30 toll-free or local phone numbers Unlimited extensions Inbound online faxing
You may think this is boring, but it’s what works. Leave the sales talk and the promotion for when you call them back. Leaving a greeting is all well and good, but if it has no context you’re going to struggle to stop the person from giving up on you. Make sure people know that they’ve reached the right place. Hello, this is the office of X, the Y department. Please leave your name, reason for calling, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. By mentioning the specific department or office they’ve reached, you’re reminding them that they’ve reached the right place, and this is not some generic support department they’ve been redirected to. We talk to lots of different people every day. Make sure you remind people of who you are, and why you’re the best person to handle their call (and more importantly their valuable time). Hello, my name is X, the Senior Manager of Y, I’m sorry I’m unavailable right now, but if you leave your number I’ll return your call as soon as I can. Not only have you revealed who you are, but you’ve also given them the reassurance that their call is important to you. It leaves the right impression. The order of your words can seriously impact how your greeting is received. Research shows that we remember the first and last items on a list best, so the statements that matter most are those at the beginning and those at the end. Hello, you have reached X. I’m out of the office at the moment. Provide me with your contact details and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Do you see how important the order of the words is? The name comes first and the call to action is last. Most people will put all this important information in the middle of their greeting. It may not seem like a big difference, but it really matters. It can be tempting to try to fit as much information into a voicemail greeting as possible. Don’t do that. Sometimes less is more. Try to incorporate some strategic pauses into your greeting, so you can let everything sink in. Hello, this is X from Y. [Pause] I am not available to take your call right now. [Pause] If you are calling about Z, then please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as you can.
