How Vanity Numbers Boost Marketing Campaigns

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

April 7, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

You might not have considered a vanity number as part of your marketing campaign, but this could provide a perfect opportunity for you to split test, monitor leads and really see your return on investment and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

There are different types of vanity number to choose from, each having a different effect on your marketing, so take a look below at the different numbers to choose from with a VoIP system and find out which will help you achieve your desired results.

Free Phone Numbers

A toll free number can work in a number of ways for your marketing campaigns. Firstly, a free phone number gives the impression to customers that a business is large and established.

A free phone number is very professional, so if your marketing is getting across to customers that you run a trustworthy, professional and well-established business then a free phone number is the perfect way to back up these claims.

On seeing a free phone number a customer will assume that your business may be larger than it is too, as generally bigger corporations are the ones with free phone numbers – so if you are competing with larger companies when marketing your business, one way to stand out, or just keep up with them would be to deploy a free phone number for marketing purposes.

Customers will call it as normal, and it will come straight through to your staff who are waiting to take the call; you can even add an IVR system so customers can choose the department they are looking for to add to the professional image even after they have called you.

Another way a free phone number can boost your marketing campaign is that it breaks down any barriers to customers contacting you.

With your marketing campaigns, often the aim is to get customers to pick up the phone and make contact, so deploying a free phone number takes away any barriers to customers doing so and your sales team can take over from there.

Your company will appear much more customer focussed with a freephone number, as customers will see that you are actively encouraging them to make contact and will not shy away from keeping lines of communications open, this means that from your marketing customers will gather that you are a trustworthy company and they will want to do business with you because of this.

Personalised, Branded Numbers

On average, it can take a customer seeing your marketing campaigns seven times before they will take action so ensuring that your marketing is memorable is key to winning more business.

A vanity number can be used for exactly this reason; to create a number which is memorable and easy for a customer to call when they need your services.

They might not need your product or service now, but if you use your phone system to market your business correctly, a customer should remember a branded number and be able to call you when they need it.

Tests have concluded that ads with personalised vanity numbers perform 33% better than those without, so if you do not include these in your marketing strategy then you could really be missing out on a great opportunity to increase recall in your target audience.

You want your marketing to really stick with customers so they choose you over a competitor, so making sure your number is memorable is just another way of taking down anything which is standing in the way of a customer making contact with your business.

A customer who makes contact with you is generally a warm lead, so why not make it even easier for more customers to do the same with a branded number?

Local Numbers

If you’re looking to increase your roots in a certain community, a local number is a great way to do this.

If a customer is looking for a product or service and sees a business with a local number offering exactly what they need then they are much more likely to call that number than if the area code is of a different city or country.

Local numbers increase trust in customers and can also help increase ties to the local community, giving local customers more reason to contact you and support your business as it shows you are proud to be associated with that community.

Even with a local number, your staff can be based anywhere in the world and can answer calls to local numbers as if they are based in that area.

This means that you can increase your local community ties without sacrificing on hiring talented staff from wherever you want to.

In terms of marketing, local numbers give you a unique opportunity to appeal directly to your target audience based in a specific geographical location – for example, you may offer training in a city in the UK, but your business’ head office is somewhere else, you can deal with all queries in your head office while your marketing reflects the locality of your training.

If you have multiple branches, you can market these separately and gain fantastic results with local numbers.

You can set up many local numbers in different cities to capture traffic from each one, ensuring that your business is seen in as many localities as possible.

Analyse Your Vanity Numbers

Overall, a vanity number can really boost your marketing campaigns in a number of ways depending on the phone number you choose.

To really see the effect though, your marketing team will want to see detailed analytics of what is working and what is not working; so they can reflect and make changes throughout a campaign.

This is easy to access with Acefone’s online portal, where you can see a detailed log of all calls, and with its connection to your CRM system your marketing team can follow these calls through the pipeline and see how many converted into sales.

This gives you the opportunity to see exactly which numbers have been successful in your marketing and which ones you can switch off; so you can make sure you are getting the most from your marketing budget – all from changing your telephone number!

If you’d like to find out more about vanity numbers and your hosted phone system, call our team on 1888-859-0450.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

Why Integrating Toll Free Numbers with IVR System is a Smart Move?

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

April 6, 2020

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Connectivity with customers is the backbone of a business. Unless a business is available to customers who want to reach it, keeping them satisfied is out of question. While small entities have a few hundred existing and potential customers, the number can be massive for larger enterprises. Moreover, organizations expect these numbers to grow with the passage of time.

The concern, therefore, is about being available to them all the time and managing their calls effectively. What you need is a robust communication system that is capable of providing excellent support, along with consistent availability. A toll-free number, coupled with the conventional Interactive Voice Response system or IVR system, can serve as a reliable solution that you can trust for seamless communication and connectivity.

Let us see how each of these elements serves value to a business and how their combination can drive exceptional benefits in the long run.

Toll Free Number & IVR: Understanding The Basics

The basic objective for any business in the competitive landscape is to excel in terms of customer service. You may have a great product to offer but will not be able to get high profits unless the buyers are happy with the services and support you offer. Therefore, you need to go the extra mile for being open to communication. Both toll free numbers and IVR system can get you closer to these goals.

By availing a toll-free number, you give your customers the option to call without incurring the cost of calling. These numbers are free for the callers, with the cost being borne by the business, which definitely is a motivating factor for the potential customers to call and connect. A virtual toll-free number is free from geographical boundaries, thus opening the opportunity of building an international presence for an organization. This also eliminates the need for changing phone numbers while the business changes its location.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a telephony menu system which can be used for greeting the callers with a personalized welcome voice message. Further, it can be used for identifying, segmenting and routing the callers to the appropriate agents or departments within the organization.

Combined, IVR and toll-free numbers create a simple yet effective communication system that significantly cuts down costs, saves time and increases efficiency within a company. At the same time, it elevates the level of customer satisfaction as well. Businesses comprising multiple units, in particular, can avail extensive benefits of the system as it provides the facility of single connection which connects the callers directly to the concerned department.

Why integrate toll free numbers with your IVR system?

Now that you understand how toll-free numbers work, it makes sense to find out why integrating them with your IVR system makes a worthwhile investment for your business. Here are some good reasons to invest in this powerful combination.

Deliver exceptional customer service

Enhanced customer service is the key to success today, considering the fact that it can set an organization apart in the widely competitive scenario. No wonder, businesses are willing to execute different methods for excelling on this front. Consistent availability along with faster resolution of customer queries and issues can take you one step ahead.

A toll-free number coupled with IVR creates a user-friendly communication platform. It can assist you to connect seamlessly with the callers while ensuring that calls are routed to the concerned executives directly. This enables your team to offer swift redressal to queries without any additional effort involved, thus ensuring exceptional service and support.

Enhance business credibility & professionalism

As the markets become more competitive, the opportunities for businesses to gain credibility and prove their professionalism are literally drying up. Using a toll-free number with the IVR is a great idea because it acts like a credibility metric that establishes your presence without geographical constraints. When users call on the number, the IVR solution greets them with a personalized greeting.

Additionally, it provides them an automated response for navigating through the menu options that take them closer to query resolution. The system eliminates the possibility of being unreachable in addition to facilitating call back on missed calls so that you never lose a customer. These attributes give your business a professional image and present you as an organization that is willing to make an extra effort to deliver the highest level of services to its customers.

Get a competitive advantage

One of the most significant benefits of these numbers is branding. A robust branding strategy can actually serve as a key differentiator when it comes to securing a competitive advantage. Any business is more likely to come ahead of the competitors if it has a reliable and accessible business contact number.

A toll-free number does it perfectly, which is the reason why any company should invest in these numbers. Additionally, integrating it with your IVR system takes your branding initiative a step further. While the toll-free number becomes an identity of your brand, you can advertise it with an automated welcome greeting on the IVR system.

Empower your marketing initiatives

Amazingly, these numbers, when integrated with an IVR system, can help businesses empower their marketing initiatives as well. You can invest in an easy-to-remember number that can be made a part of the IVR-based marketing campaigns. Since these numbers have a good recall value, there are chances that existing as well as potential customers will call you.

Moreover, you can actually track the calls by integrating the system with a call tracking solution. This can help you build a database of callers that the marketing team can connect with later for expanding the customer base.

Prepare for future scalability & portability

Businesses aspire for future growth, which comes with increase in team size and customer base as well. While you are bound to make efforts for achieving the growth targets, there is also a need to be ready with scalable solutions that match the growing requirements.

This is where this smart combination of IVR and toll-free numbers can help; it serves immense flexibility whether you want to increase the number of agents or expand the customer base being served. Moreover, there is also the benefit of portability that helps businesses to set up establishments at different locations or expand offices across the country and globally.

Drive extensive cost savings

Both IVR as well as toll free numbers are easy to set up in addition to being affordable, which makes them ideal for small businesses as well as startups. The subscription rates charged by your toll-free number provider can be even lower than the regular telephone services. They usually offer affordable monthly plans, which are available on pay as you go basis rather than binding you with a contract.

Moreover, the implementation of IVR in combination with toll free numbers is affordable as well. You can get the advantage of scalability as well. As your business grows later, you can subscribe to premium offers that cover any additional requirements at this stage.

Wrapping Up

These incredible benefits of this combination of IVR and toll-free number are enough to justify an investment in them. If you want to win your customers, nothing is more important than being available, and this is exactly what this amazing combo can help you with. Moreover, this is a small price to pay, considering the benefits they can drive from the branding perspective. The best approach would be to collaborate with a reliable IVR and toll-free number provider. Seek one that offers advanced features at best-in-market pricing as well.

Acefone is a name you can trust for getting the best services to empower your business with IVR and toll-free number, regardless of the size or scale of your business.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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5 Costly Mistakes When Buying a Cloud Telephony System

Acefone Editor

Author

Expert Opinion

April 1, 2020

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Buying a cloud phone system is a big investment for any business large or small, so it’s important to ensure you have all the correct information to save you from making a costly mistake.

So, we have put together five of the most common mistakes people make when buying a cloud telephone system so you can make the most informed decision possible and can enjoy a stress-free experience when looking for a new phone system.

Not Doing Your Due Diligence

At Acefone, we encourage all of our customers to ask us as many questions as they want to.

We encourage customers to do their research on all the different types of phone system and to explore many different providers before they decide which is right for them.

Buying a phone system from the first provider you come across may be tempting, particularly if you are a beginner to phone systems or are not too confident in the technology; but it pays to be diligent and a good provider will be happy to answer as many questions as you need to make you the customer feel comfortable and confident in your purchase.

It is advisable to look closely at what each provider is offering in terms of the phone system itself, technical specifications and features to see what your business will actually use.

It is better to be informed about whether some features are optional or not, as you may end up paying for features you will not use.

Your provider should design a bespoke system which perfectly matches your business’ needs, not a one size fits all solution.

Remember, as the customer you are in control and have the right to shop around to find the best cloud phone solution for your business.

Keep An Eye On Costs

It is tempting to opt for the provider with the cheapest deal, and in some cases, this may be right for your business, but sometimes the cheapest provider could end up costing you more in the long run.

The cheapest provider may not necessarily have the best solution for you, before signing a contract it is important to look into exactly what the provider is offering for the price quoted.

When examining a quote from a provider, look closely at whether they are including everything you need from the provider to get your hosted phone system up and running. Are they including installation?

All the hardware you need? Maintenance? If the answer is no, you may need to reconsider the provider or take a look at the providers who may have come in with a higher quote but will give you all the support your business needs.

Cheaper quotes may come with added extras which can really make your monthly bill add up and you could even end up worse off than if you would have gone with a more expensive provider.

Another cost consideration should be the call costs, take a look at your current call usage and get a realistic view of how many calls your business makes and the cost you currently incur.

A hosted phone system should save your business money as call costs are much cheaper in the cloud, particularly for international calls, so with the information from your current system you can figure out for yourself whether the call costs from a provider will save you money or whether you need to continue looking.

Settling For Less Than Your Business Wants

With so many providers offering different features and packages for hosted telephony, there really is no need to settle for anything less than what you want or need.

Settling for a package which does most of the things you need it to will not benefit you in the long run and may even result in you having to get a new phone system in a few years time – meaning even more expense.

To save you making this costly mistake, ensure you have looked into the provider enough to know how much adding extra features might cost, whether these features are actually available at all with this provider and whether the phone system is scalable.

The last thing a hosted phone system should do is hold your business back, so it is important that it is easy to scale the phone system up as you add more staff to your payroll.

It should be simple to add a new line to the phone system and if you are limited in doing so this can prove very costly and can hold you back.

As standard, Acefone can add as many lines to your phone system with no hassle – lines can be added or removed in minutes so you will never pay for a line you do not need and you can hire staff anywhere in the world with ease.

Not Adhering To Compliance Regulations

Particularly in recent years, security is a big issue across businesses in all different industries. So now more than ever it is important to ensure you are complying with all relevant legislation.

Acefone’s hosted phone systems all adhere to PIC, FCC, GDPR and CPNI regulations, so with Acefone as a provider, you can rest assured that you will not be subject to costly fines or penalties for mishandling data on your phone system.

You should be sure to check with the provider you are in discussions with that their hosted phone systems adhere to these strict regulations – if not you may find yourself subject to GDPR fines or investigations, a cost your business should not need to worry about.

For your own peace of mind and that of your customers, ensure you question your provider on their security compliance and how they ensure your data will be protected from attackers.

It is important that your phone system has the latest security updates to be guarded against the latest and most sophisticated attacks, so it may be cost-effective to consider a provider who keeps your system updated with a maintenance package rather than losing data and having to pay for a potentially costly fix.

Check Uptime Figures

Things can go wrong with any phone system, but what is important is that the provider is well equipped to get your phone system back online in the quickest time possible should anything happen.

From power outages to natural disasters, if something happens to your office building, will your phone system be destroyed? If your provider does not have emergency plans in place to get your phone system back on track it is important to start considering whether they are the provider for you.

We hope nothing ever does happen to your business, but it pays to be prepared and could cost you a lot if you are not prepared for a potential situation.

Acefone stores your data in different geographical locations – adding an extra layer of

protection for your business in the event of a crisis. With 99.9% uptime, you can be assured that whatever happens, your staff can switch devices and pick up where they left off with no interruption to customers – even mid-call, they can flip the call onto another device seamlessly and continue giving the best service possible.

This could be the difference between your company keeping customers or losing them to a competitor if your business was not contactable.

If you would like to find out more about avoiding costly mistakes when choosing a hosted phone system, call our expert team on 1888-859-0450

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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How Hosted Phone Systems Is A More Secure Communication Channel

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

March 30, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

The rise in adoption of VoIP phone technology has been staggering over the past few years, however, some businesses are still reluctant to take up the technology with fears that this new technology may not be secure enough for their business needs.

In this article, we will explain the safety features of hosted telephony and how hosted phone systems can go a long way towards securing your business in an emergency.

Uptime Even In Times Of Disaster

In the unfortunate event that something happens in your business’ premises, you don’t need to worry about your phone system.

Hosted phone systems are built to withstand disasters, protecting your customer’s data and information so if the worst does happen, you’ll be able to continue working from anywhere.

Whether something happens physically to your office premises or a different threat such as COVID-19, you may find that your staff has to vacate your office premises quickly for their own security.

This is not an issue for those with hosted phone systems as they staff can simply switch to another device as soon as they are safely home with an internet connection; even if they are mid-call, they can flip the call to a mobile device and customers will have no knowledge of the effects and can continue calling you as normal.

In times of disaster, it is important for business owners of all sizes to be able to continue to do business.

A hosted phone system will work seamlessly even though a national emergency, and you will be able to keep your customers informed every step of the way.

In challenging times, customers will remember a business’ reaction and it will remain in their memory how much that business helped them through a difficult time, so when everything is back up and running and returning to normal customers are much more likely to use your services and recommend you to others.

So, whether you have a power cut or are going through a national emergency, you can be assured that your business’ lines of communications are safe and protected and that you can continue providing the high standard of service your customers are used to.

Protect Your Clients’ Data

Recent events have made some customers very wary of how companies are using their data.

GDPR and Data Protection laws have come into place to stop customer data being misused and the onus is on every company to do everything they possibly can to be compliant and to ensure that customer data is protected in any way possible.

Reliable hosted phone service providers such as Acefone take data protection seriously, and their hosted phone systems ensure that you are fully compliant and that any data you take is held securely.

You can assure your customers that their data is safe with you, and can show them that your phone system adheres to PIC, FCC, GDPR, and CPNI.

These providers store your data in different geographical locations – adding an extra layer of protection for your business in the event of a crisis.

Should something happen to your premises and your phone system is attacked or destroyed, they can keep your data safe at a different geographical location ready to be restored; so nothing is lost and no data is compromised.

Attackers are increasingly targeting businesses as data is valuable and can be sold on to the highest bidder, but your hosted phone system will ensure that any information you store in it about your customers is highly guarded and protected.

Hosted phone systems also provide security from threats so your client data is safe from any attacks, increasing the level of trust between you and your clients.

If you can confidently go out to clients and tell them how your systems are completely secure this can provide yet another selling point for your business and can help you secure contracts over a competitor.

Staff Can Work From Home With Ease

Security can come into question when workers are suddenly having to work from home.

Employers have less control over who can see customer data, whether staff are taking the right precautions to ensure data is kept safe or whether data is vulnerable to attackers; so this can cause some problems for employers wanting staff to work remotely.

With a cloud phone system, employers can be safe in the knowledge that they have control over the phone system even when staff is not physically present.

The phone system works in exactly the same way wherever staff is, and still meets all of the required security and compliance requirements.

Using an easy to use online portal, management can easily see agent/employee productivity and can monitor any calls they have taken to ensure everything is running smoothly.

All calls are still logged so there is a detailed record of communications available should your business need to show this, and business owners can access both this and call recordings to ensure they are safe from any complaints and that customer data remains safe in the hosted phone system.

Professional Maintenance To Increase Security

With cloud-hosted phone systems, security is handled by your expert provider.

You pay a monthly service fee to ensure that you have all the relevant updates installed for you to ensure you are up to date in terms of compliance, and that you are not left vulnerable to any potential attacks.

As attackers are constantly developing new ways to steal valuable data, you must ensure that your business is always one step ahead, something a professional hosted phone system provider can ensure for you.

Hosted telephony providers are very aware of the dangers facing businesses from attackers, so they can ensure you are armed with everything you need to keep your business and customers safe from any theft.

If your phone system is professionally maintained, you can have peace of mind that you are one step ahead of hackers and that you are taking customer security seriously.

Overall, a hosted phone system can go a long way to making your business as secure as possible.

Compared to a traditional phone system, hosted phone systems can provide so many extra layers of security and can protect both businesses and customers from any attacks on their valuable data.

If you would like to find out more about how a hosted phone system can keep your business safe, call our expert team to discuss your telephone system on 1888-859-0450 .

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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How To Foster Collaboration In Your Call Center Team

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

March 26, 2020

4 mins read eye

Table of content

To provide the best possible service to your customers, the collaboration between your staff is key.

Customers expect a smooth, efficient service and teams who do not collaborate will not be able to provide this exemplary service – a factor which could be the deciding factor between a customer choosing your business and the business of a competitor.

So how do you foster collaboration in your call center team? Acefone has put together some ways in which your cloud-hosted contact center can help your staff collaborate better than ever before.

Encourage Staff To Communicate Through The Online Portal

An online portal gives staff the opportunity to leave detailed notes on customer accounts, which can help staff work together to deliver the best possible service.

By encouraging staff to collaborate in this way, customers are sure to benefit as agents will have all of their details on hand ready to help them without the customer having to go through any issues again and again with different agents.

If staff are communicating freely through your phone system, they can ensure that great customer service is delivered to each and every client.

Communication is a key to ensuring that customers get personalised service and feel valued by your business; increasing loyalty and customer retention.

Encourage Staff To Share Expertise

Each staff member will have their own area of expertise, and solving complex customer issues can often draw on the expertise of numerous staff across your contact center.

So, by encouraging staff to communicate and collaborate, chances are that customer queries or complaints are much more likely to be resolved on the first call.

If a customer is made to wait for too long on hold, they are likely to become dissatisfied or frustrated and will end the call with a negative impression of your company.

Your professionalism might be called into question as customers may believe your staffs are not properly trained; so the ability for staff to easily collaborate is critical to a successful contact center.

With a cloud contact center, agents in your contact center can easily work together to solve any customer problems.

Firstly, agents can use conference calling to draw on the expertise of another agent or department completely free of charge; meaning they can get to the bottom of a customer query quickly and can return to the customer with a solution.

Secondly, agents can quickly transfer a call to another agent who may be better equipped to deal with an incoming query.

You can transfer calls to any agents no matter where they are based, as long as they have an internet connection to pick up the call.

This sharing expertise and working together can introduce a new, more collaborative culture into your business which will have a knock-on effect on your customers who will receive better service as a result.

Brainstorm Together As A Team

Your contact center team may be based all over the world, but that does not mean they need to work completely on their own.

With a hosted phone system, agents anywhere in the world can brainstorm ideas and work together as a team – making your call center run much more smoothly and allowing you to draw upon the ideas of staff all around the world.

Conference calling is just one of the ways your staff can collaborate and come together to share ideas.

It will not cost your business any extra, and your staff can run ideas by each other and come up with new ways to deliver the best possible service to your customers.

Not only will your customers benefit, but your staff’s mental health could also too – if they feel they are a valued member of the team, any remote workers will feel less isolated and will be much more likely to perform better in their roles.

Conference calling gives you the unique ability to hire and manage staff all over the world, using their local knowledge and expertise to your business’ and customer’s advantage.

Staff can also collaborate with each other and share ideas through your CRM system. As your hosted phone system can integrate with your CRM system, once staff has communicated with a customer they can then add detailed notes about the customer query and can talk through a customer’s issue or question with other agents.

This means staff can work together to ensure that this customer receives a highly personalised and effective service the next time they call – and can even give your marketing team the chance to create customer segments and deliver communications which are highly relevant to them.

If you would like to find out more about how a cloud-hosted contact center can help you foster collaboration in your call center, call our expert team on 1888-859-0450 .

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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How VoIP Can Benefit Remote Workers During COVID-19

Acefone Editor

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Voice - VoIP

March 25, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Through these challenging times, more and more workers are having to work remotely; this could be something they have never done before and so will need a little more guidance than usual on how to remain productive even when they are out of the office.

VoIP can help businesses maintain productivity and is actually designed to help remote workers be more connected than ever.

Here are just some of the ways a VoIP systems can help remote workers operate efficiently and help the companies they work to keep their business running.

Make Remote Workers Feel More Connected

Remote workers can often feel isolated or disconnected from your business, even more so in these challenging times.

VoIP telephone systems give your workers easy access to communications with each other through conference calling so every member of staff can feel as though they are still part of your business even though they may be based miles apart.

Isolation can be problematic for workers as it can be detrimental to their mental health, leaving them vulnerable to depression or anxiety issues.

So, installing a VoIP system can go some way towards protecting your staff’s mental health as well as their physical health if they need to self-isolate.

Switch From One Device to Another Easily

Your workers can seamlessly go from speaking on their phone in the office to operating their phone systems on their mobile phone, laptop, or tablet; wherever they have an internet connection they can access your phone system and still deliver crystal clear communications to customers.

The compatibility of VoIP systems means that your employees are free to choose whichever device suits them and opens your business up to many more staff across the world.

If your business has had remote work implemented recently, this may be fairly new to you.

So, if you have not had ample time to prepare you may have limited resources (i.e. laptops or phones) to give out to staff, so having the flexibility for staff to use their own devices can give you the time you need to source alternative devices for your employees.

This flexibility also means that your staff do not need to wait to talk to your customers, they can continue as normal.

Make Your Business More Adaptable to Changes

Many businesses have been thrown into times of uncertainty and with bars, restaurants and more currently being ordered to close their doors, it is very worrying to business owners and staff who want to keep their employees on the payroll and keep up connections with their customers.

VoIP phone systems can help you continue to keep staff employed in your business as they can easily do their jobs from their homes or alternate premises.

A hosted phone system ensures that your business can adapt to these changes instantly.

By allowing you to instantly transfer your phone system from a desk-based phone to another device you and your staff can pick up exactly where you left off.

With a VoIP phone system, there is no longer a need for physical premises, and you can continue to conduct meetings between your staff and clients through conference calls.

So everyone is kept safe and customers will be impressed by your business’ adaptability, which could – when this crisis is over-stay in customer’s minds when they are looking for a trustworthy company to do business with.

For those who have already seen the impact of COVID-19, you may be thinking about how to ensure if another crisis occurs in future that your business is prepared and ready for any changes – this may be a good time to consider changing to a more flexible telephony solutions.

Keep Customers Informed

With the flexibility to work remotely, your workers can now focus on keeping your customers informed of any business changes.

COVID-19 is also a frightening time for customers as they may have placed large orders with you and maybe worried about being out of pocket.

By using a VoIP system your staff can easily connect with your customers over the phone and can assure them you have the situation in hand.

Hearing from your staff at this time would give customers some peace of mind and will be appreciated by customers who will be considering making further purchases or using your services in future.

VoIP phone systems work so that customers will not even need to know that your staff are working remotely, as one of the exciting VOIP features you can add to your phone system is the ability to control the appearance of outgoing calls, so your business number will appear on customer’s phones rather than a mobile number which can look unprofessional.

With a VoIP phone system, these times of crisis do not mean your business needs to compromise on professionalism.

Remote Workers Will Never Miss a Message

Particularly for those new to remote working, there may be some teething problems when getting used to this new way of working. VoIP telephone systems have the option for voicemails to be automatically forwarded as voice files to an email address, so even if staff do miss a call they can easily get back to the customer quickly using this amazing feature. If they are not the best person to deal with the query, they can also forward the message to another member of staff to ensure customers are getting the best possible service.

Manage All Remote Workers from Acefone’s Online Portal

Managers and business owners have all the tools they need to manage remote workers with a few clicks using Acefone’s simple to use online portal.

Managers can listen to call recordings, see agent’s call times and waiting times and much more to ensure that even though workers are not physically present in the office they are still working to the same standard and providing customers with the same great service.

If your business has changed to remote working and you would like to know how VoIP phone service can help remote workers through COVID-19 call our expert VoIP team on 1888-859-0450.

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5 Ways UCaaS Solutions Promote Remote Working

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solutions make remote working much easier for anyone finding themselves in a situation where this may be a necessity.

UCaaS solutions give workers the chance to revolutionise the way they communicate with each other and with customers, no matter where they are based, so there are plenty of ways these solutions help promote remote working.

UCaaS Solutions Are Completely Portable

The biggest way UCaaS solutions promote remote working is their portability.

Employees can connect from anywhere they want to as long as they have an internet connection and can communicate seamlessly with your existing team.

Remote workers can bring new perspective and expertise and make a great addition to any workforce, and so you can realistically open up your recruitment to anywhere in the world and make your business global with a remote global workforce.

Remote workers can choose their preferred device and even flip calls seamlessly from one device to another, so they’re never chained to their desk. They can go where they are needed and fulfil their potential as full-time employees.

UCaaS Solutions Make A More Productive Workforce

A big benefit from UCaaS solutions is that it can help your workforce become more productive by eliminating the need for multiple pieces of software or multiple communication platforms – everything can be kept in one place, and staff can do everything they need to do via their phone system.

Your cloud phone system can act as one central hub for all the communications your staff might need; from chat, calls, conferencing, file sharing and screen sharing, your staff can work collaboratively and can save your business time and money.

A mobile workforce is often a more productive workforce, and modern workplaces are shifting towards giving staff more flexibility to work from outside of the office and outside of the traditional nine to five workday.

By attracting remote workers, your business can remain competitive in the market and having the infrastructure ready to offer remote working can also help you retain your existing staff.

You can choose to hire the best workers, no matter where they are based in the world.

Some business may be concerned about the productivity of remote workers, but by giving them all the tools they need to communicate effectively with your staff remote workers can easily become productive members of any team in a business.

Concerned business owners can also monitor their staff’s productivity via an easy to use online portal, where they can access information on everything from call time, waiting time and more.

Collaborate With Employees All Over The World

Now your business has attracted the best talent, you can focus on using their knowledge and skills to improve your business. UCaaS solutions are built to enhance collaboration between your employees and ensure remote workers are included in these collaborations.

Through call conferencing, you can hold virtual meetings with as many employees as needed so you can draw on each person’s expertise to solve complex issues in your business.

And remote workers can be important to solving key issues as they may have more varied experience from working remotely for different companies.

Your team can work together in either these virtual meetings or through instant messaging or just simply calling through internally.

If a customer has an issue one agent is unable to deal with, then they can quickly transfer the customer through to a colleague who can help, meaning collaboration can help not only your team cohesion but your business’ customer service too.

Staff can also leave messages on customer’s accounts which are accessible for staff based anywhere in the world so they can work together to ensure the customer gets the best possible service.

Keep Business And Customer Data Secure

A concern from some businesses about remote workers is that they could potentially breach GDPR regulations if they do not have the correct equipment or data is compromised by their workspace not being secure.

This concern is solved by UCaaS solutions, as all data is hosted securely online and is backed up at a different location.

So should anything happen to your customer data you can rest assured that everything your business needs is securely stored in the cloud and backed up in a secure location away from your premises.

Data from your phone system is also encrypted so should attackers attempt to steal your data you and your customers are protected.

Security should not be a reason for businesses to be concerned about hiring a remote worker, so UCaaS solutions help alleviate this concern and put business owner’s minds at ease with their top-level protection included as standard.

Ensure Reliability Wherever Your Workers Are Based

One thing customers will expect from your business is reliability; when they need to contact you, they will expect to reach you easily and will quite often move to a competitor if they cannot get in touch.

UCaaS telephone solutions have much greater reliability than a traditional phone system and if something should happen to your phone system, a hosted phone system can be transferred onto another device so you can continue making and receiving calls as usual, with no downtime for your business.

These robust telephone systems give you peace of mind that a remote worker will always be able to connect to your phone system using whichever device they see fit, so communications and collaboration between employees can continue without an issue.

If you would like to find out more about how UCaaS solutions can open up your business to even more talented workers, call an UCaaS expert on 1888-859-0450.

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How VoIP Phones Can Help Businesses Work In Situations Like Covid-19

Acefone Editor

Author

Voice - VoIP

March 19, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

With the threat of Coronavirus around the world, this can be a really difficult time for businesses. Navigating the conflicting advice can be difficult and knowing when to send your staff home to minimise risk is an integral part of ensuring your staff and families are safe.

VoIP phones service can help you navigate through this difficult time by ensuring that wherever your staff need to be they can get on with their work without any problems.

Remote Working

Much of the available government advice is suggesting that staff may at some point need to work from home to stop the spread of COVID-19. This is not a problem for businesses with VoIP phones as they can simply connect their staff to the phone line from any device they want to use – as long as they have an internet connection, they can use a phone system seamlessly as if they are in the office.

Remote working taking business phone service means that no matter what happens, your staff can continue their job and not be behind when any restrictions are lifted. If your staff do unfortunately fall ill with coronavirus, you can easily hire temporary remote workers to fill in, so you do not miss out on any business while your staff recover.

Low Costs

Keeping costs down at a time like this is important to keep a small business afloat, so ensuring that your call costs do not eat into your profits is vital to keep your business going through a tough period.

VoIP office phone system ensure low costs wherever in the world you are calling; this allows you to deal with customers effortlessly across the world without worrying about your profits.

Keeping costs down is important to mitigate the effects of coronavirus as this pandemic could potentially be costly to small businesses, so anywhere you can make savings will help your business continuity and even thrive through this difficult time.

VoIP phone systems allow you to work without an office space, so even if you are isolating, or your shared office needs to shut down, your staff can continue to work from anywhere. So, you will not need to spend extra money finding somewhere suitable for team to work if your office building should shut down.

Keep Track Of Agent Performance

With the help of a web dashboard, small business owners can keep track of all of their agent’s performance no matter where they are. You can monitor active call time, waiting time and more performance indicators to ensure that they are working effectively from wherever they are based.

If there are ever any complaints from customers, you can use the online portal to review call recordings and get an accurate view of the conversations which have taken place. So, no matter where you are, you can effectively deal with any customer complaints or queries.

Feature-rich Telephony

The features of a VoIP system can also help your business work through the coronavirus or any similar issues you could face. With a virtual assistant added, you will not miss a call from a client even if you are working with minimal staff; a virtual assistant can take messages twenty-four hours a day, and you can pick them up when you are ready.

Call conferencing can also help you and your team stay connected even though you are not in the same office. You can connect with no charge and enjoy crystal clear communications with your team, so you can keep up with your staff and not miss a meeting or important update from your staff.

Calls can also be redirected to mobile phones or any other phone, so you can use this feature to ensure you do not miss out on a lead. If you are working from home you can not only work on your mobile, laptop or any other device but you can redirect your calls, so they come straight through to your landline if this is more convenient for you.

Remote Contact Center

VoIP phone systems are robust enough that they can host a reliable contact center with staff based all over the world. This may help small businesses who may not be able to go into their office building but still need to provide customer support packages to their customers.

Small business owners can allow their staff to connect to the phone system from wherever they are, as long as they have an internet connection and can monitor staff performance throughout their shifts.

Staff can also transfer calls from department to department to ensure that customer queries are being answered quickly and efficiently. So, customers will receive the same high standard of service and will not even notice that your staff is not office based as they will only hear the same crystal clear communications they are used to from your business.

Coronavirus is a worry for businesses, but it does not need to mean a loss of money or that your business is going to grind to a halt. With cloud telephony, you can continue business as usual while keeping your staff safe in their homes until the threat of the virus is over.

If you’d like to find out more about hosted phone systems and how they can help your business through a crisis, call on 1888-859-0450 to talk to our expert team.

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7 Ways To Improve Customer Experience In 2020 [Infographic]

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Infographics

March 18, 2020

3 mins read eye

Table of content

Customer experience is becoming a top priority for businesses these days. Companies have realised the importance of delivering better customer experience to stand out from their competitors. Customer is king and must be treated the same way, as they can make or break the revenue of your business.

Customer Experience is the relationship that a customer shares with the business. It is, however, not built on the first impression, it is the overall journey of the customer with the company.

This infographic will help you in improving customer experience in 2020.

7 Ways to Improve Customer Service in 2020.

1. Make Customers Your First Priority

Put your customers first before anything else. Business runs for customers; thus, customers have the power to make or break the revenue of your business. An unhappy customer would not take any longer to choose services from your competitors.

2. Put Yourself in Customer’s Shoes

You create a lasting business when you think from the customer’s perspective. By doing so, you think like your customers and would be able to solve their queries better. This makes customers happy and satisfied, improving the customer satisfaction rate.

3. Respond on Every Communication Channel

Brands often do not pay much attention to social media, which, however, is very important to monitor. Respond to your customers immediately as it shows that you are committed to your responsibilities.

4. Provide Omnichannel Communication Service

Switch to an omnichannel approach from the outdated multi-channel, communicate with the customers the way they want, and not the other way around. With omnichannel, users can switch between voice, email, or chat and continue the same conversation over another channel.

5. Reward Loyal Customers

Reward your loyal and engaged customers with exclusive offers and discounts. You can also send them birthday cards through which they will connect with your brand emotionally. This also helps in retaining the regular and loyal customers.

6. Ask for Feedback

How would you know where to improve when you don’t listen to your customers?
Frequent surveys help you know about your customer’s experience with your brand.
Whereas feedback will tell you the areas you need to improve.

7. Keep Up with Technology

Incorporating the latest trends and technologies in your call center is crucial; one such trend is self-service. With Self-help tools such as IVR, customers can find solutions themselves when they do not wish to seek assistance from the agents, especially when they are looking for information about products and services.

Conclusion

It will be safe to say that developing an emotional connection with your customers is the one thing that a business needs to do. When customers can connect with you on a personal level, they are more likely to stay loyal to you. Personalised products and services add to better customer experience.

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Ratnam Sinha

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Ratnam is an SEO enthusiast and content writer working as a Digital Marketer with Acefone. He is fond of traveling and new experiences. He is a huge Marvel fan and is always open to learning.

What Is Auto Provisioning Of IP Phones And How Does It Work?

Acefone Editor

Author

Phone System

March 13, 2020

3 mins read eye

Table of content

Auto-provisioning gives users the ability to activate their phone service online without the need for any IT or specific technical know-how.

Users will not need to enter any configuration settings to set up their phone lines; IP phone provider automatically deploys the correct settings to register the phone.

Easy Set-up

Auto-provisioning makes the setting up and maintenance of IP phones in any office simple and convenient; making it a great option for any business looking to enhance their business communication.

As everything is operated online, it is easy for businesses to add new lines or remove unused lines to/from their phone system in just a few clicks. So, when welcoming new staff at busy periods, you can enable them to get started right away with no delays.

Remote Access

No matter where your staffs are based in the world, all you need to do is remotely set up the phones on whatever device they want to use and they can start making and receiving calls for your business right away. All the user has to do is a plugin and start using the phone!

Cost-Efficient

Auto-provisioning works in a way which cuts costs for businesses; with a traditional PBX system, you will need an engineer to come out and install new lines and carry out maintenance on the phone system which can become costly if any problems arise.

With IP phones this is no longer a concern as auto-provisioning takes away the need for a IT specialist; the lines can be installed with just a few clicks through your hosted phone provider’s web portal.

Saves Time

Auto-provisioning saves users time as well as money, traditional phone systems require users to manually set up each phone and ensure it is connected in the right way to the right line; for larger businesses this use of time is not usually something they are able to commit to, causing problems with the flow of their work.

In modern businesses, anything which can save valuable time is worth investing in, so an IP phone with the ability to use auto-provisioning, saving hours and hours of work is a highly attractive prospect to most business owners.

This service provided by your IP phone provider defines plugin and play when you invest in a hosted phone system you can be sure to get a quick, efficient installation with no complicated engineering needed.

Simply plug the phones in and let them do the work connecting the relevant lines to your phone system. Auto-provisioning adds to the attractiveness of hosted phone systems, as businesses can expect downtime to be at an absolute minimum when making the switch.

Worldwide Access

Auto-provisioning also helps open up your business globally. You do not need to be physically present in any location to set up a phone and will have no need to hire any external contractors to set up your telephone system overseas.

You can complete all set up online and no matter where the agent is based they will be up and running and ready to take calls. You can also make other changes like their extension numbers, caller ID and much more with all the exciting features of an IP phone.

Similarly to opening up business globally, this technology can also eliminate the need for an office building altogether; as you can so easily control the phones of all of your agents anytime, anywhere. Overall, auto-provisioning is a technology which should be an essential part of any business’ telephony.

If you would like your business to benefit from efficient, simple to use phone systems while still saving money at the same time, contact our team of expert hosted phone system advisers on 0800-084-3663.

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