How to Find the Best Virtual Office Phone System for Your Small Business

Virtual office phone systems are great for those with businesses working remotely. These systems use an extensive call forwarding solution to allow employees and clients to call a single main business phone number and be forwarded directly to you.

With 50% of the us population working remotely at least part-time, virtual office phone systems have become more critical than ever before.

What’s the Right Hardware for You?

In a traditional office setting, many companies consider the plain old landline. But there are an increasing number of businesses making the switch away from a landline to a voip system.

VoIP systems use your Internet connection and pair it with your telephone. So, you can access your communications system wherever you are. Typically, these systems are controlled from a central dashboard through accompanying software.

Virtual offices need to consider the needs of remote workers, therefore a system powered by VoIP may be the best option for your virtual office phone system without hassle of new hardware installation.

What Features Do You Need?

Virtual office phone systems come in all shapes and sizes. You need to figure out what you need as part of your business. And this is going to depend on the needs of your employees and your clients.

For example, if you have multiple employees all responsible for different things you might need call park and call forwarding  features that can forward calls to different people and departments.

Alternatively, you may be looking to create the impression of a fancy corporate office, thus you’ll need the IVR, and local and vanity phone numbers.

Don’t discount the extra PBX features such as call waiting, custom greetings, voicemail etc. within your phone system because you and your business have just seven seconds to make a good first impression.

How Easy is it to Train Your Team?

This is another point that often gets ignored. Different providers will have phone systems that are simpler than others.

If you’re not the sort of people who are ‘into’ tech then a complex system may be more hassle than it’s worth. You need a provider that offers a simple system and provides a good training program, such as thorough virtual step-by-step courses.

Does The Provider Deliver on Their Promises?

Reliability and quality are the two things you should expect from your virtual office phone system. Therefore, you need to take the time to research different providers.

You may find two providers offering the same service for the same price only to find one of them lacks quality.

Make sure you look up what other customers have to say before you commit to any type of phone system.

 Last Word – Be Willing to Change Your Virtual Office Phone System When Necessary

Your business is inevitably going to grow, and your needs will change. Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of not reviewing their virtual office phone system until something goes wrong.

Content Source: Cebod Telecom

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How VoIP Helps You Upgrade Your Pizza Delivery System without Breaking Banks

Pizza Power Report of 2019 found that three themes driving the pizza industry are:

Quality Ingredients

Technology

Youth Culture

Pizza fans are increasingly demanding the freshest and healthiest ingredients possible along with technology that makes ordering and fast delivery easy. Technomic’s study found that 83% of customers eat pizza once a month. There are 77 thousand pizzerias in the country to fill that demand.

Being a pizza fan myself, I know that almost all pizzerias offer a mouth-watering cheese blend, a wide variety of toppings to satisfy the taste buds, and a crust recipe to complete the meal. That’s why pizza brands are worried about what else they can do to stand out among fierce competition.

I already gave the answer at the beginning of this article.

Technology.

No matter how excellent your pizza is, the process starts with a consumer’s call to place the order. This is where you get the opportunity to make or break your brand.

The process of pizza home delivery seems easy, but at times miscommunication takes place without your knowledge. When consumers call to order pizza, they don’t get a menu to select the options, and your salespeople have to repeat a lot of things to make sure that consumers understand what you offer. It’s a time consuming process which irritates customers and makes them jump to competitors with faster services. Moreover, if we talk about consumer complaints, it takes ages to address the complaint of missing toppings or smaller quantities.

A single mistake leads to losing a long term customer, only to make you wonder what went wrong.

I know what you’re thinking

“Tell me how to solve the problem, create the best delivery system, and steal the customers from competitors?”

VoIP is your answer.

Before I tell you how it upscales your pizza delivery system, let’s have a brief look at what VoIP is and how it works. 

What is VoIP and How does it work?

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. It’s a process to route your phone lines through the internet, allowing you to make call and receive calls from data-driven devices like smartphones, computers, or VoIP phones.

The main benefit of VoIP is that it’s budget-friendly. It only requires a speedy internet connection, an internet-compatible phone, and a business-class router. You save  a ton on equipment costs.

Other reasons to adopt VoIP and upgrade your pizza delivery system are: 

Make the customer feel in charge by automating calls

VoIP offers you a range of automated features to put your calls on auto-pilot mode. One such feature is auto-attendant, also know as IVR (interactive voice response). It lets you set up a prerecorded message and self-select options for callers.

For example, if the customers call, they listen to the numbered options like choose 1 to order, 2 for menu, 3 for locations, and 9 to talk with a customer service representative. Auto-attendant puts the control in the hands of customers, making them feel like a boss.

 

 

Make and receive calls from multiple devices with zero charges

Being available across multiple devices, VoIP allows you, your delivery drivers, and the customers to make and receive calls at any time from anywhere using any device, without paying any call charges.

VoIP works as smartphone extension which allows you to reach drivers using a three or four-digit number instead of fidgeting through big cell numbers.

 

 

 

  Utilize call waiting time for upselling

 Generally, businesses upload music files to streamline the customers’ call waiting time. VoIP gives you the option to ad promotional messages like special offers and discounts to tempt customers to upgrade their orders.

For example, you can record a message on today’s combo of veg loaded pizza with cheese sticks and 60 ml Coke. A limited time offer.

It triggers the taste buds of customers and lures them to take action now.

 

 

 Offer exactly what your customers are looking for

VoIP allows you to store customer data, like previous issues they faced, their purchases, etc. Businesses can use this information to tailor the customer interactions and meet their needs, making them feel more valued.

For example, if your customer orders Mexican pizza each weekend, you can offer a combo of Mexican pizza combined with drinks to elevate their happy weekend mood.

 

 

  

Respond at lightning speed without any breakdown

With VoIP’s advanced call forwarding options, your customers will never wait longer to connect with you.

For example, if one salesperson is busy with the customer, VoIP forwards the call to the next available representative at lightning speed, eliminating longer waiting periods which may lead to the customer hanging up.

 

 

Leverage busy hours as well as off hours

One of VoIP’s unique tools is custom scheduling. It hands you the power of time-based call routing. It responds to customers even at your busiest hours and connects you with them directly during your free hours.

You can set up an auto-attendant to answer customers’ calls quickly when you are too busy to pick up the call. And you can answer the calls directly during off hours.

 

Make real-time changes to your offers within seconds

In a pizza business, nothing is constant. You implement changes frequently, and call your customers again and again. VoIP is a well-known online call management interface. It lets you make real-time changes to inbound calls.

So if you want to change the offer in your prerecorded messages, you are just a few clicks away.

 

 

  

Never miss a single call

Last but not least, with VoIP, you will never miss a single call. As all your data-connected devices are in place to receive multiple calls at a time, you leave no stone unturned when it comes to responding to customers.

 

 

Your Pizza Delivery System After VoIP

Imagine the comfort of customers when you give them options to call from any device. They will enjoy a hassle-free experience when given the choice to select the desired pizza coupled with discounts and offers. The time for purchase decreases, and your sales numbers go up. Waiting time is almost negligible and enjoyable as well due to daily offer prerecorded messages.

In a nutshell, you will offer efficient customer service which will give you an edge over your competitors. See the infographic to understand it.

Content Source: Cebod Telecom

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How to Effectively Transition Your Business Communication to Home?

The current state of coronavirus is forcing companies and their employees to work from home. The day when your employees get ready to work at home in their loose trousers and t-shirts is near – something that is giving the creeps to business owners.

Businesses started to discover that working remotely is not as easy as it sounds. Employees are used to working in an office environment. When they have questions, they run to their mentors for an immediate solution. When the marketing executives are on the edge of selling products, they need a last piece of advice to seal the deal. All this takes minutes to implement in a physical location. When it comes to remote locations, it takes ages to answer queries leading to businesses risking to lose the customers forever.

Not mentioning the fact that customers hate to wait for long so instead, they turn to competitors offering immediate solutions.

To put your remote-work worries at rest, we found some tools that help you and your employees stay connected and productive no matter where they hang around.

Here are some tips and tools to set your remote-workspace up for success:

 Stay Connected 24/7 with Cebod Telecom’s Mobile App

 Cebod Telecom’s mobile app allows you to make and receive calls using your business number. Looking at your varying choices of data-connected devices, Cebod  Telecom offers apps for Android, Apple, desktop, and laptop. That means you can connect with your colleagues and customers from your on-hand devices and vice versa. Screen-sharing meetings become a piece of cake with Cebod Telcom’s uninterrupted apps. Our apps enable you to keep a keen eye on your employees and their work.

 Build a Virtual Office with Remote Features

 So, what if you don’t have a physical office to roam around? You can build a virtual office and virtually pat anyone’s back for their achievements. Cebod  Telecom lets you copy your business phone features in your home phone or smartphone from where you can call employees and inquire about their progress – an experience similar to a physical office.

Quickly Forward Your Business Numbers with Call Forwarding Feature

If you are required to shut down the entire office on a moment’s notice, you need to forward all your business numbers to your mobile or home phone. With call forwarding feature, it takes seconds to forward business numbers and enjoy seamless communication with customers from home.

If you are not comfortable with forwarding business numbers, you can simply take your Cebod Telecom phone at home, plug it in the switch, and continue your business at home the same way.

 Ring Multiple Numbers at a Time or in a Sequence

Want to talk to a group or a team? Cebod Telecom’s phone allows you to ring multiple numbers at a time or in a sequence to continue your urgent discussion or give further guidance to your employees. No matter whether the receivers are available on a smartphone, desk phone or any other device, our phone connects with anyone at any time from any corner of the world.

Cebod Telecom is keeping track of the situation and guidance given by the WHO and the Centre for Disease Control. Our plans always stay ahead to help you stay in the loop, keep increasing customers, and enjoy a productive environment regardless of your workplace location.

Content Source: https://www.cebodtelecom.com/how-to-effectively-transition-your-business-communication-to-home/

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