Posts Tagged ‘virtual office’

How Can An Internet Phone System Lower Business Costs?

Monday, September 6th, 2010

An Internet Phone System or VoIP system can help small businesses lower operating costs. Some costs are absolutely necessary to do business while others are superfluous. Your success as a small business is dependent on your ability to increase profits. One way to lower costs is to find a cheaper solution to essential expenses.

Telephone communications is quite often a large chunk of a small business’ overhead. Before the advent of the internet, long distance charges, fax lines, conference calling and caller ID were very expensive. Traditional phone companies still charge for these basic features.

Earlier versions of Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP services were unreliable. New innovations in communications has dramatically improved. In order to survive, small businesses must lower overhead and out communicate their competitors. One way to do this is to seek alternative low cost options for essential services, such as telephone service.

Since most companies already have the basic infrastructure needed to get going with a VoIP service: internet access, set up fees are minimal at best and can be done in minutes. With an Internet phone system, you can use your internet connection to make a call and stay in instant contact with employees and customers. Many of the tools are now available for free.

By moving communications to a complete Internet phone system, small businesses can lower overhead costs without compromising communications. In reality, many options and features are gained since these services can integrate video conferencing, messaging, data file transfers, call forwarding, call logs, call recording and much more.

The cost of an 800 vanity number and your own dial-by-name directory need not cost a fortune. Integrating VoIP with a complete virtual office will put you one step ahead of your competitors. Small businesses must look at new marketing strategies in order to not only survive, but rather to strive.

An internet phone system can decrease your overhead, while increasing your professionalism and efficiency. A virtual office can bring a big business feel to your small business.

Want to find out more about Internet phone systems, then visit Laurence Brette’s site on how to choose the best VoIP for your needs.

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The Five Ways Your Business Will Grow With a Great Answering Service

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

We’re not talking about saving money by eliminating staff or outsourcing a key part of your business to a machine — no, this is about saving a ton of money by making a key part of your business (customer communication) work smarter and faster. Read on to see why a 24 hour answering service can save you money while earning it for you, too.

#5: Hold onto customer leads

It’s fundamental — you need an actual person available to pick up the phone, responding to your customers’ demands and being able to keep those all-relevant leads. Even if you’re not in a sales business, a customer calling your number is a fundamental opportunity to make a new customer, or at the very least, retain an old one.

#4: The real sound of the human voice

Computers aren’t really that great when it comes to interacting, over the phone, with people. After many years of endless frustration, most of us have given up on the fact that a computer can ever replace a real person. Now, thanks to answering services, you don’t have to choose between an expensive or a terrible solution.

#3: Staff = Confidence

It’s not so much the amount of staff you have directly working for you as the amount of ’staff’ you have available to capture leads and answer phonecalls that matters when it comes to those initial moments of contact with a new customer. As long as your answering service staff can do it right, you’ll be better off.

#2: Efficiency doesn’t mean frustration

Those automated computers answering our calls were clearly thought up by people who looked at spreadsheets and crunched some numbers for a while, until they decided that an entire division of actual voices and people could be eliminated in order to save money, and that the technology would pick up the slack. Hiring an answering service is just far better than that.

#1: Make sure the right people answer the right calls

If you have important figures in your company as it grows, you want to make sure that every phonecall they take is important and necessary. As a result, getting a real live answering service helps in that prioritization of time — one of the essential ways your business can grow.

Has Telephone answering been a problem while running your own business? It’s not anymore! Office Answering Service is a great way to keep in touch with your clients without spending your working day in front of the telephone. Dedicated 24 hour answering professionals will make sure you never miss a client call again!

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It’s 2010. Why Would My Company Need an Answering Service? 5 Reasons Why, That’s Why.

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Think technology has absolved your business from needing an answering service? Think again — today’s answering services are more sophisticated than ever, and the best of them have evolved into perfect, simplified solutions that solve your telephone answering headaches easier than ever before. We’ve put together 5 reasons your business needs an answering service this year.

#5: Simplicity is Key.

The best of the services realized, some time ago, that businesses didn’t want to have their answering service do everything — just some things. That’s why they offer ultra-simple solutions that get you the message as quick as possible, without wasting time or money.

#4: It’s Outsourcing, Without the Hassle.

The top answering services aren’t trying to fully replace your expertise or business experience — if you’re dealing with a company that suggests they can completely replace everything you currently do on the phone, they’re probably over-promising something. It’s about basic-level outsourcing, the simple, everyday questions that don’t need valuable, highly-paid employees of yours to answer them.

#3: Technology Has Made it Possible.

Thanks to the rapid scaling down of hardware, it’s really not important to have a room (or an entire floor) of your corporate HQ dedicated completely to responding to telephone calls. Thanks to modern servers, it doesn’t even have to be in the same area as you.

#2: It’s Much Less of a Hassle Than It Was.

There’s no calling in to a homebase number in order to figure out a complicated, proprietary system that stores your voice mails and call transcripts. Now, using the internet and the ubiquity of mobile devices, it’s so much easier to get the information you need in seconds. This is an answering service — evolved.

#1: Measuring Costs is a Cinch.

Finally, one of the other great benefits of the technological revolution in telephony means that 100% of your answering service transactions are tracked. You’ll know exactly what you’re spending, right down to the very last second, and can adjust accordingly. Budgeting an answering service into your finances just got a whole lot easier.

Live Answering Service is not all what Call Answering Service Companies have to offer. They will also assist with Order taking or ad response and will fax, email or text you all the received message texts.

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Creating a Cheap Virtual Office

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

A cheap virtual office is pretty easy to start if you know what tools you’ll need, where to look, and how to get some of them for free even. I’ve been running a small business now for the last two years. We started this company partly as a result of the bad economy, but also because it is truly a great small business. The business is Internet marketing. Now, if you think about it, Internet marketing is truly the epitome of a virtual company. The work that we do, obviously, requires Internet marketing skills, but more importantly, you need to know how to leverage Internet based tools. Another key component of Internet marketing is the ability to use resources that are not necessarily right next to you or in the same “office.”

A cheap virtual office is truly an idea whose time has come. Cheap technology has really helped to create an environment where you can truly have a “virtual company.” I can attest to that because I am in the Internet marketing business and my team is literally in northern and southern California, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Costa Rica. The team is made up of personal assistants, webmasters, graphic artists, audio specialists, and business development people.

In my company I use a product called RingCentral. It is what some people call a virtual PBX. It took me a long time to research and settle on this service. I must have looked at over 10 different solutions, including some inhouse hardware versions which, of course, were far too costly and hard to maintain.

This means that you don’t have to maintain any hardware or software. RingCentral is the perfect solution for a cheap virtual office phone system. You get one 800 # and, if you prefer, a local number. In addition, you also get a dedicated fax number. And, that’s not all. You get extensions, voice mail, call conferencing, hunting, rollover, follow me and all those cool features you’d get with a much bigger, more expensive dedicated system. Best of all it’s all virtual.

Here’s a tip should you decide to try out this cheap virtual office PBX. Think of your extensions as “virtual” numbers. Each extension can dial an “employee”, who may or may not even be in the same physical office.

I have many more tips to share with you at my website, David Chan. Frankly, the reason I am sharing this info with you is for two reasons: Yes, I am an Internet marketer and am an affiliate for RingCentral. But, I am also an avid small business owner and personally use this product for my company. I want to help you succeed in your business as well. I feel that if I help you succeed, you’ll send more people my way. The tips that I’ll share with you will be features in RingCentral that will make you more productive and were downright difficult to find.

As I explained I’m an Internet Marketer and yes, I am an affiliate for this product. But, I am also a huge small business proponent and want to help other small business owners become successful. If you visit my site, I share more tips with you about how to create a cheap virtual office and plan to reveal even more tools that we use to keep expenses low, stay competitive and make money.

Taking advantage of the technology can help you create a cheap virtual office. You can find more tips and tools to grow your business and save money on David Chan’s blog at http://davidkchan.com.

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