BEAST Printing

Few companies can afford the luxury of being away from the office, but many small companies don’t have a support staff to back them up when away.

Here are a few tips to provide great service while away, even without a support staff:

1. Call Forwarding. Have your business line forwarded to your cell phone when your not in the office. Most companies allow you to forward your calls for a small fee and sometimes this feature is included in your phone package. Use it. You can be reached by your customers directly this way, without having to include another number for them to remember.

2. Voicemail Notification. Sometimes you do have to miss a call from a customer and they have to leave a message. The key is not to have them waiting for long. Some voicmail systems have built in notification features. This could be a flashing light or a specific ring/beep to your phone or maybe it can be programmed to notify you on your cell phone. See what your system can do for you.

If automatic notification isn’t an option for you, you’ll have to go with an “old-fashioned” method of checking your messages manually several times a day. All messaging systems have a feature for you to call into your system and retrieve messages.

3. Check out the new technology…have you heard of Google Voice? Google Voice is currently available by invite only, but you can request an invite if you are interested. With this setup you can change the times when a number is forwarded and/or when it goes to voicemail. For instance, maybe you want to receive calls only between 7am and 7pm M-F, then the rest of the time have the calls go direct to voicemail, you can do that with this system.

If you use it with your existing number, you get features like:
• Google voicemail: voicemail like email
• Voicemail transcription: read what your voicemail says
• Custom greetings: vary voicemail greetings by caller
• International calling: low cost calls to the world
• Notifications: read voicemail messages via email or SMS
• Share voicemails: forward, embed, or download voicemails

If you add a Google number, you get these features too:
• One number: a single phone number that rings all your phones
• Free SMS: send, receive & store text messages online
• Block calls: send unwanted callers straight to voicemail
• Record calls: record phone calls and store them online
• Conference calls: join several people into a single call
• Screen callers: hear who is calling before you pick up

With these tips you should be able to provide faster, more reliable service to your customers, regardless of the size of your company.