Grasshopper provides a rich array of features, including custom greetings, call forwarding, call screening, and inbound fax. Voice mail and inbound faxes are automatically converted to email, so there are no documents to convert. Grasshopper will even read your voicemail to you. With Instant Response (included as part of the package), if you miss a call, a pre-determined text message will be sent to the caller.
A secretary in a doctor’s office creates a voicemail greeting that says, “If you have a scheduled meeting with us, we could use copies of all your medical documents from last year, so come prepared.” Using the word “could” gives patients the impression that they don’t necessarily “need” last year’s documents. See the difference between “could” and “need”? Your word choice can impact a future meeting significantly. If you want a customer to perform a specific action, you need to pay close attention to how you express your calls-to-action.
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Need script options? Take a look at these templates (and modify them as you please):
1. Hi this is [you name], I’m either away from my desk or on the phone, please leave your name and number along with a short message and I’ll be sure to get back to you.
It’s more important that your callers feel like they can ask you for help on a subject they don’t know too well. A really easy way of simplifying your greetings is by using smaller words. Imagine yourself explaining what you want to a three-year-old. Your customers aren’t stupid, but they’re not going to always be familiar with typical business jargon. Make sure you’re adjusting your greetings to accommodate for the lack of familiarity, unnecessary details, and technical information.
11. "Hi, you've reached [company]. Unfortunately, we're currently unavailable. But we want to talk to you — so please leave your name and number, as well as your reason for calling, and someone will call back ASAP."
VirtualPBX offers a hosted PBX service aimed at users who already have VoIP phones or want to use a low-cost VoIP service. They have a free 14-day trial and plans start at $12.99/month for limited minutes. Feature We Like: The website explains VOIP and PBX details really well, so you know what you’re getting.
Jive may not have the household name recognition of some other companies but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored when shopping for small business VOIP services. This plug-and-play solution provides businesses with pre-configured phone and VOIP access at just $19.99 per user, per month. Jive includes all of the standard phone features you expect from a VOIP service but takes things up a notch with a professional mobile app as well as a desktop admin panel. Plus, your business can enjoy a free subscription to GoToMeeting when you sign up for Jive. GoToMeeting is one of the top-rated video conferencing/conference calling services on the market and having both services for your business gives you world-class communication options.
Great List. Telecom Recycle is also a very good option if someone is looking to sell his/her business phones.
CallHippo is one of the small business phone service providers with a distinct international focus. It calls itself an “Intelligent Virtual Phone System.” CallHippo does a great job of telling you what you as the user can accomplish with its system (as opposed to simply telling what its technology is or does). Even its live chat starts by saying “Hey, how about setting up your phone system in less than 3 minutes?” Feature We Like: Focuses on workflow, highlighting the third party apps it integrates with. It sees phone as part of a continuum of customer processes in your company.
We recommend CallHippo’s Silver plan as the best virtual phone system for a small business’s sales or marketing team. The cost starts at $24 per month for each user, and should you decide to go for this option, you’ll get all the features from the Bronze tier alongside a few more useful services. Additional features include unlimited incoming calls, call queuing, call cascading, interactive voice response (IVR), live call, call reminder, internal team calling, user working hours, after call work, holiday routing, and intelligent analytics.
The fastest and easiest way to program and record the automated attendant feature of your phone system is to write a script on a word processing program. Select a person to record the script who has a friendly voice, someone who can speak without stuttering or hesitating and can pronounce and annunciate each word and name clearly.
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.
For many, checking voicemails is a productivity killer. It's a slow and cumbersome process that makes the user feel like they are using ancient tech to do their job when there are more efficient messaging services available.
Voicemail Greeting. Many companies offer an escape option so that if a caller ends up in a staff member’s voice mailbox, he or she can “escape” out of the mailbox and go back to the attendant menu. Use a customized auto-attendant for this situation. 10. Escape the Voicemail Box Option. You have reached the voicemail of [person’s name].
Your customers might need you on the holidays. If you’re a business owner, you know this already. 🙂 Manage customer expectations and let them know how to get assistance.
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