Why Indian Entrepreneurs Rely on Virtual Phone Number

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

February 11, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. The rule of thumb does not apply just to you but also your startup. The Indian market is getting increasingly competitive with a glut of new businesses joining the fray. The country has risen to host the highest number of startups after the US and China.

Your up-and-coming firm may be on its way to international funding round or still based out of your friend’s basement, but it needs legitimacy to thrive in a cut-throat market.

This is where a virtual phone number comes in. A virtual business number is automatically programmed to forward incoming calls to any number or device that you choose. Unlike conventional telephone numbers, virtual phone numbers are not linked to any physical telephone line. They can forward incoming national and international call answering service for business to a variety of telephone numbers as selected by you. Indian startups are increasingly adopting virtual phone number services as a centralized tool to boost customer communication.

A third of all potential customers will call a business directly and frequently when they are considering a new product purchase. Most smart entrepreneurs are choosing a virtual phone number service instead of using their personal phone number for their business. No matter the size of the staff, a virtual phone number ensures that the people-facing end of your business is always smooth and streamlined.

You can choose the right number for your startup, which will automatically forward incoming calls to your personal phone, so you never miss a call. This means that you don’t need to share your personal phone number publicly. You also don’t need two SIM cards for separating personal and business calls. You can set up separate ringtones to differentiate professional and personal calls and make life easier for yourself while remaining lean on staff and physical equipment.

How to make a virtual phone number work for you

You can choose a local area number as it builds trust among consumers. They find a business more accessible when the number begins with the STD code of their state. You give your customers the sense that they are dealing with someone just around the corner. Depending upon the type of business you’re looking to build, this could absolutely be to your advantage.

That’s not to say that choosing a national toll-free 800-XXX-XXX number does not build trust. In fact, it gives the impression of a more established firm that is active across the length and breadth of India. It is also ideal for a startup that’s quickly scaling up to more states. A toll-free number also helps people stay assured they won’t be charged for calling in with their queries about your product. If you’re trying to gain a national footprint, having a toll-free virtual business number implies that your company does business from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and everywhere in between.

You can also choose premium numbers that are easy to recall. Business who go for “vanity numbers”, as they are called, swear by their branding advantage.

One number, so many benefits

Not all virtual business numbers are the same. Some are simply what you might call “forwarding addresses”, while others include the auto-attendant feature. With this feature, you can choose to have all calls to your business number—or during specific times of the day—answered with an automatic response that presents the caller with a quick choice based on the nature of their query, streamlining the customer service process and saving your time. After all, customer expectations can be ruthless. If your business phone ever goes unanswered, it could give a very unprofessional message.

Virtual phone numbers also assist in gathering data on the busiest days and hours for customer queries. After the launch of a special product, for instance, a virtual phone number can be a useful tool to track fluctuations in customer reception and concerns.

Virtual phone numbers help business leaders in boosting revenue and improving customer loyalty by efficiently manning every incoming call. Entrepreneurs who don’t have a lot of time on their hands opt for cloud-based virtual number solutions to manage incoming calls proactively without increasing time or resource overheads. The sophisticated virtual number solutions come with call management suites and support interactive voice response (IVR) solution.

Today, you have the option to choose from several virtual number services in India. But no business can manage incoming calls optimally without getting the right virtual phone number. Hence, it is prudent to compare various service providers and opt for a virtual number that comes with robust features like call management suite, IVR integration, real-time reports, and SMS notifications.

In the knowledge economy of the modern world, a physical working space is less valuable than virtual networks and business clusters. Science technology parks and innovation centers, virtual incubators, and business information centers could be a far more convenient way to support startups in scaling up their disruptive and innovative technologies into competitive and profitable businesses that create wealth for investors. A virtual phone number is an excellent example of a “cognition technology” that plays a vital role in the knowledge management process, helping entrepreneurs learn and solve lots of different problems more effectively.

Make sure that you also have a big presence by using a virtual business phone number. Because at least as long as clients and customers are concerned, there is often very little difference between perception and reality.

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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.

How IVR has Transformed Election Management Altogether

Acefone Editor

Author

IVR Service

February 7, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Over the years, political systems across the globe have witnessed a technological revolution. Specifically speaking, the impact of technology on political elections has been significant. While poll campaigning was initially a completely manual process, political parties have gradually adopted specialized technologies to connect with the voters, gather polling trends and information, and influence the electoral base to be on their sides. One of the technologies that have come to the forefront in this context is Interactive Virtual Receptionist (IVR). Essentially, IVR is an automated cloud telephony system, which interacts directly with the target audience for routing the calls to the specified recipients and gathering useful information through telephonic surveys.

Let us see how it works to empower political campaigns and connect with the voters.

How Does IVR System Empower Election Management?

In the context of elections, IVR technology enables callers to respond to the poll questions by pressing the specific phone keys or by responding with voice answers. The information is thus recorded for later analysis without the need for human intervention at the collection stage. It can serve useful insights for the political parties, which they can use for creating result-oriented strategies. So, an IVR solution definitely becomes a strategic investment for any political party that wants to improve its prospects in the electoral landscape. The utility of IVR is not confined to electoral surveys by political parties. It can also aid the local authorities in confirming the voters’ registration as well.

How IVR can Empower Political Campaigns

Now that much has been said about the role of this technology in political campaigns, it is time to highlight the advantages of embracing it for political campaigns. Here are the key advantages of the automated polls that political parties can derive with an IVR system in place.

Wider Acceptance As people are pressed for time these days, they are more likely to embrace IVR-based surveys because of the flexibility and convenience they offer. On the other hand, they are less likely to stop in the middle of a busy day and respond to an in-person survey organized by a political party. Another reason why these telephonic surveys make a smart move is that smartphones have become a way of life for people. So, users are more than willing to be a part of telephonic surveys that can respond to with a few clicks and on the go.
Zero Dependence on Manpower When it comes to campaign-related expenses for political parties, hiring massive manpower just for promoting the campaign is the biggest challenge for parties. Beyond just the onboarding expenses, they also need to incur on training and managing the workforce. This may not be a feasible investment for political parties as they are always pressed for funds. Embracing IVR service, on the other hand, is a smarter alternative because it saves money due to zero dependence on manpower. All that they need to do is collaborate with a reliable IVR service provider to set up the system and they are good to go.
Wider Coverage Considering the population size in the country, political parties need to target a huge audience base with their campaigns. They often have a long list of contact numbers to target, which is probably not feasible to handle with manual calling. IVR calling irons out this challenge because it eliminates the need for human reps to call each and every single person on the target list. Further, the possibility of missing out on any target user is reduced to the minimum.
Reliable Feedback IVR service, as a part of the electoral strategy, brings the benefit of the accuracy of the surveys it offers. This is because these calls completely eliminate the possibility of any bias on the part of the survey takers and respondents. All the individuals who are a part of the survey receive the same questions that are presented using a recorded message. This eliminates any questioner’s bias (since there is no human involvement) and allows the respondents to answer questions and share feedback more honestly.
Accurate Reports The challenge with manual feedback methods is that a lack of understanding or communication may result in inaccurate reporting. Conversely, IVR renders assured accuracy in the survey collection and reporting processes. All the respondents get the same set of multiple-choice questions which they have to answer by pressing on specific buttons. As a result, the system can be completely trusted for generating accurate reports. Accuracy of information is mandatory for getting useful information.
Time saving When it comes to assessing the value of this technology for poll campaigns, it goes beyond just the aforementioned benefits. Obviously, parties can save a lot by joining hands with an IVR service provider. Besides saving on funds, they can save the precious time of their workers who would otherwise have to spend hours and days for gathering useful insights from the target group. Rather, they can invest this time in action-oriented activities such as campaigning for the party. Additionally, real-time dashboards serve useful data and information, which can be used for faster decision making.
Measurable and Accountable The results that IVR delivers are measurable and accountable. Every single call can be measured in terms of its length, which makes it possible to know whether the recipient has heard the main message. Further, the information captured through polls (both keyboard and voice) can be organised into a database and shown as easy-to-read reports. As a result, it emerges as a fully accountable outreach investment for political players.

Now that the value of IVR technology for electrical campaigns is clear, the next obvious step for parties is to find a partner they can trust. Acefone is a leading IVR service provider that offers reliable solutions for businesses and political parties. You can trust our solutions for handling your electoral surveys from end to end and delivering valuable insights for your campaigns.

To know more call us.

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End Of ISDN: How This Is The Best Opportunity For Businesses

Acefone Editor

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Phone System

3 mins read eye

Table of content

ISDN, or Integrated Service Digital Network, will be switched off in 2025; this means businesses will have just under five years to find an alternative solution. This should not be a worry for businesses, as this provides a great opportunity for businesses to upgrade their telephone systems and ensure they are getting the most they possibly can from their phone systems.

Opportunities To Save Money

Hosted phone systems are much cheaper on call costs than traditional phone systems, so the sooner your business changes their phone system over the sooner you can start saving money. A hosted phone system will not hold back your business’ growth either, you can add as many lines to your phone system as you need at no extra cost; this means there are unlimited opportunities for your business to grow with no extra costs involved.

Opportunity To Increase Security

A traditional phone system is much less secure than a hosted phone system; if anything should happen to your business’ premises your phone system can quickly be restored and you can seamlessly continue calls on any device you use. Adhering to security regulations, your data is stored remotely to ensure that it is safe from attackers and that the trust between your business and customers is maintained.

If something happened to your business’ premises a traditional phone line could be lost along with all of your customer data. So, changing to a hosted phone system can give you the opportunity to safeguard your phone system, customer data and business’ reputation.

Opportunity To Add Features To Your Phone System

If you have always had a traditional phone line, you will not have been able to enjoy the amazing features of a hosted phone system; so you can take this opportunity to introduce them into your business. Add a virtual assistant to take any calls when you cannot, customise your number to a freephone number, use video and conference calling and much more right from your phone system. Your phone system works for you too, being able to move seamlessly between devices means you can work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection and you can hire staff in any location.

Opportunity To Widen Your Talent Pool

A hosted phone system, unlike ISDN, allows your staff can work from anywhere in the world without any issues. This means you can widen your talent pool to anyone suitable all over the globe and can ensure that you hire the best people for the job, with no restrictions on location. This also means that you can ensure someone is online at all times to deal with customer queries no matter what time zone your customers are in.

With a traditional phone system, this would be almost impossible without opening new premises in a different country; however, with hosted telephony you can recruit anywhere with no need for expensive premises, plus call costs are low so you can expand as far as you want to. Staff can also keep in touch with their colleagues around the world with conference calling and video calling through your hosted phone system.

Opportunities To Keep Ahead Of Your Competition

With all of the features, security and freedom a hosted phone system can give you compared to a traditional phone system you can make sure your business stays up to date with technology and also keeps up with the competition. If your business has access to amazing features such as virtual assistants, customised numbers and video calling this means you can serve customers much more effectively than your competitors. The improved customer service is sure to impress existing and prospective customers and make them more likely to purchase from your business over that of a competitor; helping you increase profits and maintain an edge on the competition.

If you’d like to take advantage of all the opportunities a hosted phone system could bring you and are tired of being restricted by your traditional phone line then get in touch with our team of expert hosted telephony advisers who can take you through the whole process on 1888-859-0450 .

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What CxO’s Should Know About VoIP

Acefone Editor

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Voice - VoIP

February 6, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Are you considering a VoIP solution for your business but need to present your idea to senior management? If so, you need to know all the benefits and features which a hosted VoIP phone system can bring to your business and Acefone are here to help. Here is everything your senior management team should know about VoIP systems.

VoIP Is Reliable And Secure

With 99.9% uptime and adhering to security regulations (Acefone stores customer data in the cloud adhering to PIC, FCC, GDPR and CPNI) your CxO’s can be sure that their business’ data is securely hosted in the cloud. If they are unfamiliar with the latest digital technology they may be reluctant to put their customer data into a new system; however, they should know that if anything did happen to their office premises, a traditional phone system would be lost along with all the data which goes with it but a cloud hosted phone system allows you to pick up right where you left off with any device – so the business can continue as normal and your data is safely secured in an off-site location.

VoIP Can Improve Customer Service

With a VoIP phone system, staff can easily see all customer data through our easy to use online portal. This means that staff can see notes on previous customer calls, and all the products/services that customer uses – giving them more time to focus on the issue at hand rather than gathering background information every time a customer calls in. Some issues may take more than one call to resolve, so from a customer experience point of view, the less repetition involved the more satisfied that customer will be as they will have been dealt with in a prompt and efficient manner.

VoIP phone systems can also interact with your CRM system, so any new information or new customers calling in will have the ability to be added to your system with ease – so no lost leads and much more information for your sales team to call with.

Save Money With Professional Features

A VoIP system is not just a phone system, there are plenty of extra features which can be added to your hosted phone system to give a more professional feel to your business. All of these features are managed right within your phone system, so no need to go to multiple suppliers. You can add a virtual assistant to take calls when staff are not available, you can have cloud voice mail forwarded to email for easy access when you open again the next day; the possibilities with a VoIP phone system are vast.

If you would like a local number for the different areas your business operates in you can have this simple and quickly with a hosted phone system. You can enhance your marketing with a memorable or campaign-specific number – with a hosted phone system your choices really are endless and you can really make your phone system work for you.

VoIP Phone Systems Grow With Your Business

A VoIP system does not hold your business back. If your CxO’s are planning to grow the business and have concerns about investing in a phone system which could become costly when adding new lines – they should know that with a hosted VoIP system you can add as many lines as you want to your phone system at no extra cost. You can also remove lines too, a VoIP phone system is completely flexible, and lines are quick and easy to add or remove. This is particularly useful for businesses which experience seasonal changes, so they may need more staff at certain periods – you can easily add temporary staff to your phone system and remove their lines when their contract ends all from your easy to use online portal. With a VoIP system, you have control over your phone system and will have access to expert support from your provider along the way.

To Know more about Important VoIP Statistics: Important VoIP Statistics You Should Know

Low Costs, Wherever You Are Calling

A VoIP system will save your business money no matter where you operate. Whether your calls are national or international, as your VoIP system is hosted online the need for paying high call connection costs are over. Call costs are extremely reasonable and will no longer eat into your profits, plus they can be monitored easily using the online portal; which gives you accurate information about the calls made and costs incurred. You can always amend your hosted VoIP plan with Acefone too if you find you need to make more calls or less we can provide a bespoke plan to suit you.

Detailed Analytics Available At Your Fingertips

With your current phone system, you will not be getting all the analytics and information a hosted VoIP system can give you. If your senior management team would like more control and information about call time, agent performance and more with the ability to easily pull up call recordings and much more – they can have this as standard with a hosted VoIP system. With the information available to them they can help agents perform better by listening to calls and seeing where they might need extra support, they can also use call recordings to train new agents and give them a feel for what types of calls you receive from customers.

The analytics available on our online portal also helps senior management manage those workers who might be offsite, as hosted VoIP can be used from any device the option to hire remote workers is much more viable so a challenge may arise in how to manage them. This problem is solved by hosted VoIP as you can communicate freely over the phone or via messaging with remote workers and can see detailed analytics on their performance, call times etc; allowing managers to manage remote workers with ease.

If you would like more information on hosted VoIP and the benefits it can provide to your business, contact our customer service team on 1888-859-0450.

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How Adopting A UCaaS Solution Can Boost Your Customer Service In 2020

Acefone Editor

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Operations

5 mins read eye

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Unified communications as a service, or UCaaS, allows you to integrate multiple communication methods through a single cloud provider; including messaging, telephone, communication, video conferencing and more to facilitate team communication. With a team able to communicate effectively, your customers are sure to benefit and are much more likely to spend their money with you. Here are our top ways of adopting Unified Communication as a service (UCaaS) solution can boost your sales and customer service in 2020.

Support customers in innovative ways

If your business is in a position to provide support in a way which suits the customer, a customer is much more likely to buy more products from you as trust is increased and customers have an easy experience. With video conferencing customers could video call you and demonstrate an issue they might have with your product, or you could offer product demonstrations to them over a video call. You can also use messaging to communicate with customers or traditional voice calls; by giving the customer a choice, you are making them feel much more valued and they can select the option which best fits in with their daily life, meaning calling your company is not a problematic event.

Store product details to answer queries more effectively

Product details can be stored simply by scanning a barcode/QR code right into your cloud phone system, so agents can find exactly what the customer is looking for without trawling through your whole product catalogue. If your agents have all the information to hand, they are much better placed to talk to customers in more detail about your products; potentially upselling more products to the customer and increasing your sales. While this product knowledge will inevitably increase your business’ sales, it will also give customers much more confidence in your business and your expert agents and your customer service and customer satisfaction will increase too.

Important information can be stored in your system and can be accessed globally by your staff, searchable by keyword. So staff can always keep up to date with changes in your products or business and can use their time not interacting with customers to give themselves some training on the products you carry; more knowledgeable staff will mean much more satisfied and informed customers.

Team communication can help customers get to the right place, first time

If your teams are remote, or you have a large office premise, they might not communicate as effectively as you would like them to. Using a UCaaS solution, you can encourage open communication (at no extra cost to your business) and encourage staff to share expertise through conference calls and video calls. If your staff are united and communicate freely, they are more likely to know where each other’s strengths lie. So, if a customer comes through asking a query which they are unsure of, they will know exactly which department or member of staff to transfer the customer to; ensuring the customer has a great experience and has their query solved on the first call.

Get ahead of the competition digitally while giving world-class customer service

Getting ahead of the competition is important for any business, but particularly for those in a crowded market. If your customer’s see you are invested in the very latest technology and have invested money in moving with the times digitally, their confidence in the abilities of your business will be increased as will the trust between customers and your business. This confidence and trust will lead to you getting more leads and therefore more sales; as customers will tend to choose a business which is more progressive and will, in turn, keep them up to date with digital advancement. Even when competitors follow your lead by implementing these digital advances, your business will still be steps ahead as your UCaaS solution will keep you at the forefront of digital technology.

Complete records for customers data

If your business can keep detailed records of customer purchases, buying habits, queries and more in one easily accessible place your agents will be able to deliver a world-class service to each customer every time they interact with you.

If an agent has all the information they need about a customer, they will be able to quickly identify products which could be of use to this customer which can, therefore, increase your sales. They can also look back through a customer’s notes so they get a feel for how to tailor their interactions with this customer, for example, if a customer has had a few issues before with the products they can offer extra support to ensure their purchase runs smoothly. This can be added to easily by each agent during each interaction so you build a detailed view of a customer’s relationship with your business, allowing you to personalise both interactions and potentially suggest more products or services to them.

Integrate with social media to reach more customers and engage employees

People spend more and more time on social media, and your customers will be on there too. If you are looking to attract new customers to your business, you want to ensure that as many mentions of your business on social media are positive – as this is used in the customer journey for research purposes. By integrating your phone system with social media, your agents can easily pick up on mentions of your company and can integrate this with your CRM system, giving agents the opportunity to actively reach out to any dissatisfied customers and solve their issues.

If you would like to find out more about how a UCaaS solution could boost your sales and customer service this year. Call our expert agents on 1888-859-0450 for a free consultation.

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6 Benefits Of Hosted Phone In The Retail Industry

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Contact Center

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Hosted phones are widely used in customer service, and one such industry is the retail sector.

The retail market includes increasing competitors; thus, it is essential to stand out from your competition by simplifying interactions with customers. Retailers need to keep up with customer’s queries and must be available for them all the time.

Customers, on the other hand, expect smooth and seamless communication with retailers, and if the retailers fail to meet their expectations, then customers choose to shop somewhere else.

Let’s discuss how a hosted PBX System can benefit the retail industry.

1. Agents are Available Round the Clock

Retailer can answer the phone even while travelling, when stuck in traffic or while working from home, ensuring that no customer is left unattended. When retail staffs are available for customers at all times, it results in an increase in customer satisfaction rate.

Hosted phone promotes mobility which results in employees taking fewer leaves. Staff can receive calls even on days when the weather is unpleasant via their personal phone by forwarding calls from the office phone to their mobile.

2. Connect and Collaborate All Over The Globe

If your retail business is spread across the globe, then a hosted phone is the right choice for you. It saves cost as hosted telephony uses the internet for calls, and unlike traditional phones, cloud-based phones do not consider distance as a factor for charging additional. Meaning that international calls become affordable with cloud-hosted phones.

Data is maintained on the cloud; thus, the employees can connect and collaborate with the team from anywhere in the world, provided there is a robust internet connection.

3. Additional Features That Are Unavoidable

Hosted PBX phone system offers advanced features that a traditional phone is limited to.

These additional features will make your retail market stand out from the competitors.

It is equally important to select the right hosted phone that provides tailor-made features for the retail industry and take the customer service to another level.

Hosted phone system by Acefone offer many features like –

Call Screening – With call screening, you get details of the caller even before picking up the call. Based on the details, you can decide whether to pick the call or redirect it to another number. It basically helps you identify the call, and the details are used to decide the action to be taken.
Call Conference – Teams can communicate from anywhere, and at any time, meetings can be conducted easily by adding the team members on the call. A special and must have feature for retail market spread over different locations.
Call Recording – Record all your conversations with customers and listen to them later and get insights whenever you want. It is not possible for agents to remember each conversation that they had with the customers. Thus, with call recording agents can replay the conversation and note down important points through which they can recognise the customer and solve their query on the very first call.
Voicemail to email – Customers can connect with the retail store even when the agent is not available by dropping a voicemail, which is emailed to the retail associate as an audio file. The associate can download the audio file from his email and play it using a media player.

4. Increased Productivity In Your Business

By incorporating hosted telephony in your retail business, you have a centralised management system to take care of. You can manage the entire system from a single online portal, which saves time and improves productivity in maintaining the system.

Investing in the latest technologies also helps improve employee productivity, which in turn improves the growth of your market.

With hosted phones, retail staff can perform better because they are able to do a lot more with its business-oriented features.

5. Make Your Communications Simplified

With hosted phones, you can access all your communication channels through a single dashboard. If you have multiple stores, you can easily combine all your stores into one single communication platform with Unified Communications (UC).

UC makes it easier to keep track and monitor calls, ensuring that you deliver excellent customer service as you get real-time access to data of all the communication services like voice, email, and chat.

6. Hosted Phone Grows With Market Needs

Cloud-hosted phones are highly scalable and grow with the business, retailers can easily add or remove phone lines as per the business requirements. These phone systems are suitable for businesses that fluctuate or are seasonal.

These phone systems are simple to install because these do not include any additional equipment or complex cabling to add every new line.

Conclusion

Online shopping is rising, and there is no going back because of the convenience it offers. Customers can shop any time of the day without taking out dedicated time for shopping. Online shopping is quick and convenient for customers, but it is also a challenge for retailers to provide excellent customer service.

Customers would not like it when they have to put effort into communicating with the retail store. Retailers should be easily accessible to their customers. If, however, the customers are not satisfied with the quality of service they are getting, then it won’t take them long to look for other alternatives.

Hosted phones come with an online portal where you can store information, and your agents can access it. The details help agents provide quick, personalised, and best possible service to the customers.

Improvisation in technology continues to transform the way business communicates. It’s time to keep up with the technology before it gets too late.

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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.

Top 7 VoIP Trends To Watch In 2020 [Infographic]

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Infographics

February 4, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Many businesses have started using VoIP Phone Service from analog phones because of the benefits that the former provides. As we are stepping into 2020, every business is aiming to increase productivity and promote collaboration through enterprise mobility.

VoIP technology has simplified, streamlined, and improvised the way business communicates, and it is here to stay, grow, and transform even more in the future. It’s a new year and a new beginning for everyone, so its time to take one step ahead to improve how you connect and communicate internally as well as with the customers.

This infographic describes some of the VoIP trends which we will experience in 2020.

Here are top 7 VoIP trends to watch in 2020.

Let’s explore in detail.

1. 5G

5G has already been introduced, but it is yet to become mainstream. It is expected to go mainstream in 2020.

So, what can you expect from it?

You can expect superfast browsing speeds, uninterrupted internet connection with lower latency, which means less dropped calls, and smooth communication. It promises to provide a high-quality of calling experience and can transfer heavy files in a burst.

2. Integration with WebRTC

WebRTC is a free and open project created to provide real-time communication in web browsers and mobile applications via simple APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

It is expected that VoIP Phone Service will be integrated with WebRTC in the near future.

WebRTC makes your business communication more flexible. With this integration, you can directly call from the website, live stream, and can do web conferencing in a better way. It does not require any extra plugins, widgets, or extension in your contact center software.

3. AI for Contact Center

Research by Gartner predicts that 85% of customer interactions will be handled without humans by 2020.

Contact centers can be benefitted in many ways by incorporating AI. Artificial Intelligence provides self-help options to customers that provide them quick solutions.
Customers do not have to wait for their phones to be picked up. The contact center agents can focus on other issues that require more attention. You can also get insights into customer behaviours through chatbots. These insights can be used to plan marketing strategies in the future.

In the coming year, we can expect contact centers to utilise chatbots to provide a better customer experience.

4. Popularity of UCaaS

According to research, the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) market is expected to reach $17.8 billion by 2022.

With Unified Communications, users can access all the communication medium such as call, video conferencing, e-mail, and instant messaging on a single dashboard.

It is cloud-based; thus, you can access it from anywhere provided you have a robust internet connection.

It saves cost as you have to purchase only one communication system rather than purchasing separate channels/tools for communication. UCaaS is very flexible and is highly scalable as you get the latest updates and upgrades along with the option to scale resources up or down.

Data is stored on the cloud and can be retrieved anytime, even during disasters or data loss. These benefits make UCaaS one of the top VoIP trend to watch in 2020.

5. Rise of Mobility

According to a report by T-Mobile, 7 in 10 global enterprises cite mobility as a top priority.

Mobility has brought many new opportunities with it. VoIP technology promotes mobility, which, in turn, improves productivity. You can connect and share files from anywhere in the world and on any device.

More and more companies are using VoIP Phone System because employees can work remotely as long as they have an internet connection.

6. Improved Security

VoIP technology is internet-based and hence is vulnerable to cyberattacks such as phishing and network intrusion. One of the trends to watch in 2020 will be what measures companies are going to take to ensure the security of their communication system.

The best practice an organization can follow is to select a reliable and secure VoIP service provider. Make sure that they host your communication system and data on secure servers and locations where they conduct routine security audits to reduce the risk of data breach.

7. VoIP and IoT

With the improvements in technology, VoIP and the Internet of Things (IoT) are integrated together for delivering the best user experience.

It is expected that by the year 2020, the use of IoT will keep expanding as it will be added to more products and technologies.

VoIP is one such technology; when integrated with IoT, VoIP can connect and manage other devices conveniently from anywhere. You can control your lights, TV and air conditioner from your phone, to make your lives easier.

Conclusion

Another trend that you may see in the upcoming year is more and more businesses incorporating toll free number, and we can thus see number portability as a trend. After all, it took you so much of time and effort into building your customer base, and it should not be affected when you change your location or switch to other VoIP service providers.

If any of the above trends prove out to be true in 2020, then it will be a revolutionary year for the businesses. Is there any trend that we missed out? Please share it with us in the comment section below.

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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.

5 Reasons Why You Should Buy Hosted Telephony From Acefone

Acefone Editor

Author

Phone System

4 mins read eye

Table of content

Buying a cloud phone system should be stress-free and straightforward, your provider should do all the hard work for you so you can simply “plugin and play” and start using all the amazing features hosted telephony brings. When choosing a hosted phone provider, you should make sure you are getting the best deal possible with everything you need to get the best return on investment.

At Acefone we pride ourselves on providing the best possible service to all of our customers with the most feature-rich hosted phone systems created specifically to customers needs. Here are six reasons why you should choose us when you buy your hosted telephone system.

Support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

A hosted phone system will be new to most businesses, so there might be times when you have questions or just need some guidance on how to best use the features of your hosted phone system. Acefone are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your calls and solve any issues you might have. From simple questions about running your phone system day to day to more complex technical questions; we can solve your queries quickly and efficiently so no matter what time of day it is your business can keep going.

Bespoke phone systems for each customer

At Acefone, we know one size does not fit all; so we do not simply supply the same phone system to every business we work with. We take time to really get to know our customers and their individual needs and wants from their hosted phone systems and deliver completely bespoke systems to match these needs. This means our customers are not wasting money on features and other elements they might not need, but are making the most of their budgets and getting the best possible return on their investments.

Hosted phone system experts

Our team are experienced in delivering cloud-hosted telephony and have done this for a long time, so they know all there is to know about hosted phone systems. We pride ourselves on our service, and our team continue to develop their skills all the time so they can provide you with the best possible support. Acefone experts keep at the forefront of technology so we can pass our knowledge on to you as a customer; we are proud of the work we do, and we invest in our staff, so our customers benefit from the best possible service.

Exciting features to add to your phone system

With Acefone’s hosted phone systems, you will not just get a reliable, trustworthy telephone system; you will also benefit from a wide range of exciting and business enhancing features. Acefone can offer virtual assistants to take your calls when you can’t, send voicemails to emails to keep a record and make sure you do not miss a thing, change your number to a freephone number and so much more.

Our features are what really sets our phone systems apart from our competitors, with plenty to choose from you will be spoiled for choice. You are also free to pick and choose which features suit your business and can add and remove these from your plan with ease.

Keep control with our online portal

We give you all the control with our easy to use online portal, which gives you access to detailed analytics about call costs, agent performance, call recordings and more. You can use this online portal to keep an eye on everything going on in your business, and this can be used to manage a hosted contact center from wherever you are in the world. No matter where your agents are in the world, you can stay in touch and monitor their performance; plus you can use call recordings from the online portal to help train your new starter staff.

If you want a hosted phone system which you can rely on, from a provider you can rely on then Acefone should be your first place to call. We pride ourselves on our customer service and expertise in providing hosted telephony, and our support team would love to discuss your telephony needs. Simply call on 1888-859-0450 to get started.

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VoIP Providers – Which One To Choose?

Acefone Editor

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Voice - VoIP

January 30, 2020

4 mins read eye

Table of content

When choosing a VoIP provider, there are lots of options to choose from; but how do you choose which provider is best for your business? When choosing a provider, you should keep some considerations in mind – here are our top things to consider when choosing a VoIP provider.

Support Available From Installation Onwards

You should consider what type of support the provider gives. Do their opening hours match with your business? Will they be easy to get in touch with? Consider whether your company will have access to help from your provider and whether the support offered is enough for your business – look for VoIP Phone Service providers with 24-hour customer service who are available to you all the time.

It is useful to consider the support provided during the installation stage too carefully, this is an important part of your purchasing decision and any provider who is prepared to be available to your business to answer your questions, shows you that they are happy to invest the time in your company satisfaction.

Providers should be on hand to provide technical support whenever you need them, particularly in the earlier days when you are getting used to your phone system you might need some extra support to become completely confident in the use of your new telephones – at Acefone we want you to be completely comfortable with your hosted telephone system, so we are available 24 hours a day to answer your queries.

Control Over Your Phone System

Choose a provider who puts your business in control of the hosted phone system. Find out from each provider how easy it is to make changes to your VoIP plan; for example, will you have the freedom to add and remove features as you need to or are you tied into a plan? If a provider does not have the capacity to give you the freedom to take control of your hosted phone system, then they might not be the provider you need.

Acefone gives you the ultimate control of your phone system with an easy to use online portal where you can make changes, monitor your call costs, add and remove lines and monitor agent performance. With this control, your hosted phone system can adapt and grow with your business, rather than holding you back.

Features Of The Providers’ Hosted Phone Systems

When choosing a VoIP provider, you should look carefully at the features that the provider can give you with your hosted phone system. Check which features come as standard at no extra charge and take a look at which are added extras. Your provider should give you the freedom to choose features which suit you and those who are too rigid in their approach to selling you a cloud-hosted phone system may not give you the freedom you need to create something completely bespoke.

As a business owner, you want the most for your money – so you should consider whether the features offered will benefit your business. For example, Acefone offer several optional features which can really add value to your telephone system.

You can choose to add on a virtual assistant to answer calls and take messages where you are not available, or have voicemails sent to email as standard; or customise your number to have either a freephone, local or branded number depending on your goals – Acefone will take time to discuss your exact requirements and match you up to the features which will give you the best return on investment possible.

Cost Of Your Hosted Phone System

Finally, a deciding factor when choosing a VoIP provider often comes down to the costs involved. A VoIP provider should be upfront and open about their prices and should be able to discuss your hosted phone system and provide you with a clear price for set up and installation and for ongoing support.

Prices can vary so it is best for your business to shop around and see which provider can give you a phone system which matches your requirements and budget.

You should also carefully consider the call costs, often these are much lower than traditional phone systems, but you still want reasonable call costs, so this does not eat into your profits. Providers should clearly give you all the information and empower you to make decisions on call costs and which tariff will benefit you and save you the most money.

Acefone give you access to all the information in the initial discussions and throughout your plan with access to our online portal, which includes all the relevant information on call costs and much moree.

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How A Missed Call Solution Can Spell A New Beginning For Your Business

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

January 27, 2020

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Running a business successfully includes establishing a seamless connection with your customers. When it comes to finding innovative ways to connect with the audience, missed call solutions definitely emerge as a winner. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that missed calls are a business opportunity that you must absolutely capitalize on. Still, sometimes, it can be hard o imagine how something as simple as missed calls can be leveraged to unlock the growth potential.

Obviously, you would want to know whether investing in missed call service would bring any benefits for your business. Here are some facts to understand how investing in missed call service helps attract quality leads and increase your business profits manyfold.

Missed Call Solution: Understanding the Concept

The concept of missed call service sounds simple even to a layperson(after all, it’s just a call that is disconnected without being answered), but if you scratch the surface there is much more to it. First, you need to understand the process. When a customer calls on the missed call number of the business, the system rejects the call automatically after a few rings and sends across the information to a Live panel. So, your database ends up collecting the call record without the customer needing to bear the expense of the call. And you can use the database to reconnect with the genuinely qualified customers by sending them an SMS later.

Essentially, a business needs to have a missed call solution in place to handle the entire process of gathering the missed call data in a database. The system saves customers’ time and money and reduces the workload of the agents as well. At the same time, it empowers your business with valuable prospect data. You can get comprehensive reports of the callers, including specific stats such as their phone number, region, time of call and more. With all that a missed call solution can do for your business, it definitely deserves to be considered as a smart investment for any enterprise.

Discover the Unmatched Advantages of A Missed Call Solution

Now that you understand the concept clearly, understanding the benefits of this investment becomes easier. Here are some key advantages that your organisation can avail by having a missed call solution in place.

Greater Reach:

There is no doubt in the fact that missed call solution is a great way to extend your reach because the potential customers are more likely to connect through this free-of-cost channel. Furthermore, this medium is time-saving as well because all they need to do is wait for a ring or two after they call you.
Lead Generation:

With missed calls, it is possible to capture the entire leads coming from everywhere. You can capture the details of the callers in specific databases for specific campaigns and target them as potential leads. It is to be noted that the conversion rates of the users connecting through these campaigns are significantly impressive.
New User Activation:

Missed call campaigns show excellent results for activating new users because they have the potential of generating interest and driving engagement. Moreover, you can utilize them to onboard new customers with a simple one-step user registration.
On-Demand Availability:

Customers can connect with your business anytime and from anywhere, thanks to the user-friendliness of missed call service. This gives them all the more reasons to choose you over the competition.
Campaign Tracking:

With a missed call solution, you can get a complete report on the campaign’s performance on a Live Dashboard. The report lets you monitor the calls on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, track the region of your callers, and track more useful information.
Personalized Approach:

The solution lets you personalize your branding pitch by reaching and connecting with the customers in their local languages. You can create automated reply and SMSesin local languages for personalizing the connections.
Measurable Campaigns:

Another advantage of missed call service is that it enables the business to measure and compare the Return on Investment ROI of marketing campaigns across diverse channels based on the missed calls received from each campaign.
Branding:

Advertising your missed call number empowers your brand by giving it a professional image. Not only does this enable you to score a competitive edge but also wins the trust of your potential customers.

The Myriad Use Cases of Missed Call Solutions

Now that the advantages of this investment are evident, you would want to know how to use it in practical situations. This service can be used in multiple ways, according to the specific requirements of business organisations. Here are some use cases of missed call solutions that you can consider implementing.

Quick, convenient and automated user registrations are possible with this system in place.
Customers can give a missed call on toll-free number and ask for a call back from a business representative.
It can serve as a platform for the customers who are interested in voting, sharing ratings and sending feedback to the business.
You can use the solution to set up an alert subscription for customers who want alert messages for new updates.
It can be utilized to run contests and incentivize the customers who stay loyal and connected with the business.
Another important use of missed call service is in the form of customer verification as it can help you ensure that the prospect connecting with you is a genuine one.
E-commerce businesses can use this service to provide order status to the customers so that they can track their orders at any point in time, just with a missed call.

Is Missed Call Solution the Right Investment for Your Business?

Undoubtedly, missed call solution can serve a host of benefits to any business. But your prime concern would be whether it is would be an apt investment for your organisation. If you are a small business owner, you would definitely want to extend your reach while optimizing your employees’ time. This is exactly what the missed call service can help you with. For bigger brands that want to step up their branding initiative, this is an excellent way to consolidate your brand. Big players can advertise their missed call number on hoardings, newspapers and ads to be visible and make it easier for prospects to connect. This clearly indicates that missed call solutions can serve immense value to businesses, regardless of their size and nature.

Missed Call Solution: How to Get Started?

Considering these facts and advantages, you will surely be keen to get started with a solution for your business. A reliable missed call service provider like Servetel can take you on this innovative journey. Choose us as your partner for making sure that you don’t miss on the opportunity that missed calls bring!

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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