CloudPhone Blog

Now that your small business has built a substantial local customer base, the next step in your master business plan is likely to begin offering your product to customers in different parts of the country. To showcase your offering to prospects in other areas, however, is likely to require significant travel for you and your employees.

Photo Courtesy of Flikr User Sebastiaan ter Burg

As your workers spread themselves to each corner of the U.S. you’ll want updates about sales; information about customers that may require a follow-up call to close a deal; ideas from your employees about how to improve the company sales pitch and more. While collaboration is crucial for your team, however, you worry about the possible complexities and high cost of deploying communications solutions that give you the capability you require—that’s where the cloud comes in.

The cloud is re-shaping the way small businesses communicate by providing simple, cost-effective solutions. For instance, a cloud-based phone system can offer your business features that until a few years ago were only available with complex, wire-based enterprise phone systems. For instance, a cloud service offers: 

• Auto attendants
• Easily customizable digital text greetings
• Voicemails sent directly to email so calls to clients are returned promptly
• Settings accessible at anytime through the Internet

Of course, cloud-based solutions designed for small businesses are priced accordingly. In some cases, you can adopt technology that can make you look like a large corporation for a monthly fee just slightly more than the price of a movie ticket. Cloud-based phone systems don’t require hardware and are maintained by the vendor, eliminating all installation and maintenance expenses as well 

So if you are a small business with big plans, the cloud might be just the thing to ramp your company’s collaboration to a new level. As the Beatles once sang, come together—right now.     

We’re all familiar with the old adage that the three most important aspects of real estate are location, location and of course…location. Of course, we would never be so bold as to dismiss this tried-and-true idiom, but we do have a little something to add. 

As a self-employed real estate agent, you probably spend much of your time running from open houses to apartment showings all over town. Working in a service industry also means you have to devote your full attention to each client and can’t afford to answer calls or listen to voicemail messages during an appointment. 

But as an independent contractor that barely has time to sit down during the day, maintaining a brick-and-mortar office doesn’t make much sense. So how can you ensure you don’t miss important communications about a client’s newly accepted offer or a great new property just coming on the market?

A cloud communications application can help you keep in touch with clients and project a big business presence even if you don’t want to spend money on physical office space or a legacy phone system. Top-shelf services offer a company-specific phone number that rings to your mobile number so there is no need to give out personal contact information. Additionally, a cloud communications application can also provide:    

• Business-class voicemail-to-email functionality
• Easy-to-configure professional greetings
• Extensions for different departments, even if each department is only you
• Settings that can be accessed and adjusted via the Internet

We’d like to reiterate that it is not our intention to rebuff one of the principle tenets of the real estate industry, but rather to add our own little touch. A cloud-based small business phone system can’t improve a property’s locale, but it can certainly help with your business communications as you move from location to location.

Maybe location is the key after all.

Spring means different things to different people, but in America, one of the grandest spring traditions is Opening Day in Major League Baseball. The tradition dates as far back as 1876 and signifies new hope and promise for every team, regardless of last season's performance. 

Spring can be the start of something new for small businesses as well. If your company is still tethered to a wire-based, legacy phone system it might be worth considering starting this season with a small business phone service based in the cloud instead. 

Best-in-class cloud-based phone solutions can help you shed your old system without losing the functionality—like auto attendants or voicemail to email—that you need. Because cloud communications is maintained by the provider you don’t have to worry about a major installation or ongoing maintenance costs. Changes to greetings, extensions and other features can be made seamlessly over the Internet in no time, even if your tech knowledge is minimal. Settings can be accessed from the device you choose whether a smartphone, laptop or tablet.

Whether you are a baseball fan or don’t know home plate from a lunch plate, it’s easy to see why a small business virtual phone system can be a home run (sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves) for small and microbusinesses. So as the season heats up, consider giving cloud communications a tryout.

As longtime Dodgers’ managed Tommy Lasorda once said, “There are three types of baseball players: Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder what happens.”

That goes double for business.

If you’ve been checking in with us here at Voxox recently you may already have read about how our new application, Cloud Phone, can help small business owners do more efficient mobile work. Now we’d like to provide some real-world examples of professionals that could use a cloud-based phone service and the advantages it delivers. Here are four examples of on-the-go business pros and how Cloud Phone can transform their businesses. 

Bob the handyman

Bob is a genuine Mr. Fix-It who does everything from cleaning gutters to fixing furnaces. He also spends a lot of time traveling from home to home, meaning he can’t always answer his phone when a client or prospect calls. No prob Bob, because with Cloud Phone you can configure a professional greeting and present a professional image to customers.

Carla the computer technician

Like Bob, Carla is in business for herself but often collaborates with companies to help them set up their systems. She works out of a home office, but with a virtual phone system no one will be able to tell. If she decides to make a new hire as the business grows she can add extensions quickly and easily, all from the Web.

Doug the real estate agent

Self-employed real estate agents often struggle to find the time to sit down let alone set up an office desk and make phone calls. Doug needs to be reachable anywhere, but giving out his mobile number makes him seem a little small time. Not to worry, because with Cloud Phone, Doug can turn his cell phone into a business-dedicated phone in less than a minute.

Kristen the developer

Kristen has been working for months on a concept revolutionary new app. Now all she needs to do is secure a little seed money for development and advertising and she’s on her way. With the volume of calls she needs to make during her company’s infancy, however, installing and maintaining an on-premises phone system is simply too expensive. With Cloud Phone, however, she’ll pay a low monthly rate and be on the cover of every tech magazine in America in no time at all.

Have your own story to tell? Let us know in the comment section.

The entrepreneurial spirit is catching fire amongst U.S. business owners. According to the most recent Census, in 2012 the number of businesses without paid employees reached 22.7 million—an increase of 1.1 percent. 

All signs indicate this number will keep on growing over the next few years due to the high cost of worker benefits and the unstable economy. Many companies simply do not have the resources to provide for staff.  

One market that will certainly benefit from the growth of domestic non-employers is small business phone systems. That’s because the demand for strong customer service exists regardless of the number of employees within an organization. Calls need to be handled professionally and efficiently to convince customers that a business is at the top of its industry. And of course, missed calls mean missed business opportunities.

A cloud-based small business phone system provides all the features a small business needs to establish credibility and operate like a much larger one. This includes an auto attendant that greets callers with a list of options. The auto attendant can then route customers to virtual extensions.

Additionally, messages can be forwarded as a voicemail to email. These features are easy to access and update right over a Web browser. A business owner simply has to log in and they can have complete control over the system.

If you are one of the newly minted non-employer businesses out there or are looking to become one in the near future, check out options for small business phone systems that project a big business image and increase productivity at the same time. After all, just because you are in business for yourself doesn’t mean you can’t get a little technological help from time to time.

On Father's Day, sons and daughters everywhere will pay tribute to their dads on Father's Day with candy, breakfast in bed, fancy dinners and a host of other traditional celebrations. Unfortunately, it is a simple fact of life that not everybody will be able to celebrate this annual holiday in person. As a small business owner, sometimes important meetings or conference take you far and wide, even if the only place you really want to be is close to dad.

If you are going to be traveling for business this Father's Day—or at any other time—you might want to consider adopting a cloud-based phone service designed for small businesses like yours. Leveraging cloud technology, these systems are configured and maintained by the provider but allow you to adjust settings online. You also get some top-shelf features like:

• A digital text box for customized greetings that can be adjusted quickly on the fly
• Extensions for other employees or departments, even if the department is just you
• Voicemail to email service that ensures critical messages are returned in a timely manner

Additionally, the service can provide you with a company-specific phone number that rings to your mobile phone. With this feature, you can project big business presence even if you work alone out of a home office.

As long as you are going to be away from your dad this Father’s Day, you might as well call to wish him well from a phone system that will help your business thrive and grow. After all, you’re going to need all the money you can get so you can make up for missing dad’s day by showering him with gifts. 

Regardless of your age, you most likely grew up with the idea of office buildings as business hubs. But while physical office space certainly remains a part of how many companies operate, it’s not right for all organizations. Renting space in a building is expensive and for small or mobile-heavy companies spending a sizeable chunk of a tight budget simply doesn’t make sense.

In an effort to cut unnecessary expenses and boost mobile productivity, business owners are increasingly turning to virtual offices. A recent study by online market research firm uSamp revealed that 62 percent of small businesses allow employees to work remotely. Separate research conducted by the office research firm Instant shows that the global flexible workplace market increased by 9.1 percent from July 2012 to July 2013.

One of the most important cogs in any virtual office is a phone system that provides the features of a legacy enterprise system. Completely web-based and maintained in the cloud, a small business virtual phone is designed for mobile and at-home workers. Using an existing mobile number, business managers can obtain a separate, business-specific number, professional greetings, extensions for individual employees and more. System settings are accessible from smartphones, laptops and tablets and because the vendor is responsible for the service installation and upgrade costs are non-existent. 

In business, one-size-fits-all is rarely a sound strategy because companies of varying size, budget constraints and goals have varying needs. In time, small or new businesses may find they need office space, but if it’s not a necessity today, spending money on rent and hardware only makes turning a profit more difficult—and no business, small or large, wants that.    

Over the past several years, business experts have increasingly touted the idea that trust has evolved from a feeling to a crucial element in business. Depending on the level of service they provide to consumers, businesses either stockpile customer trust in bundles or begin to lose it until almost nothing remains.

The numbers support this assertion. For example, according to a Zendesk survey, 39 percent of customers continue to avoid vendors for two years after a bad customer service experience. Furthermore, 48 percent said they had recommended that others not buy products or services after having a bad customer experience. What these numbers illustrate is that a reduction in consumer faith in a company is directly correlated with revenue loss. 

One of the ways businesses can simultaneously increase trust and provide a better customer experience is by getting a company-specific, local small business phone number from a small business phone service. First, if you are a small business owner at a trade show passing out business cards, you don’t want to have to give your personal cell phone number out to potential customers. Your trustworthiness may be in question from the beginning, decreasing the chances of generating new business with that prospect.

Additionally, if you have employees spreading the word about your product in targeted locations throughout the country, each of them can also adopt a local number that gives your company a local feel. 

What some small or microbusiness owners may not know, however, is that these small business numbers are available with little hassle and almost no setup time. With best-in-class technology, all you have to do is enter your mobile phone number into a little box on the web and you are ready to go.

When it comes to trust, you’re either putting it in the bank or spending frivolously in a way almost certain to come back to bite you—saving seems like the better option.  

Oftentimes, the size of a company is inversely proportionate to the amount of downtime the owner gets. The fewer employees the business has, the more responsibilities fall to the person in charge. 

If you own a small or microbusiness, we understand you shoulder a lot of the burden for getting things done. Still, in order to stay productive during the hours you do work, you need some time away for yourself. So here are five things you can start doing right now to achieve better work-life balance:

Find time to get away...completely

We understand that sometimes a 15-hour day with no lunch break is simply unavoidable. But it becomes a problem when those days become the norm. Finding time to shut off all your devices, turn your brain off and just relax will get you recharged when it’s time to get back to work.

Work from home

Even if you’ll be busy conducting business, it’s nice to spend time in comfortable surroundings and with people you might not see as much as you’d like. Working from home gives you more face time with loved ones, which is invaluable. Today’s technology makes telecommuting easier than ever as well. You can use a small business virtual phone, for instance, and none of your customers will have the slightest idea that you’re talking to them from your living room.

Let others carry the load

As a business owner, you may have the urge to make sure you work closely on every project. But if you hired employees, you have to trust your own judgment and believe they can handle the responsibilities you throw at them. Not only will working yourself to the bone burn you out physically, the quality of your work will suffer as well. Simply put, nobody can be two—or 20—places at once.

Figure out when you work best

For whatever reason, some people do their best work at 6 a.m. while others are more productive at 10 p.m. It doesn’t really matter as long as you know when you work best and schedule accordingly. Don’t schedule a crucial client call during a time you usually feel a little low energy.

Take care of your health

In the short term, skipping meals or cutting down on sleep might seem like a way to increase productivity, but it’s likely to come back to hurt you down the line. Cutting out lunch, for instance, may just leave you with less energy during the afternoon hours. Not sleeping enough can hurt your productivity on a given day, but it also weakens your immune system. When your defenses are down, you’re more likely to get sick and miss significant chunks of time.

Some of these practices may be difficult to put into place, especially if you have contradictory habits deeply ingrained already. But these suggestions will put you in a better frame of mind and help you achieve better focus. In turn, your business will grow and thrive—and that’s the reason you work so hard in the first place.

Often times, the size of a company is inversely proportionate to the amount of downtime the owner gets. The fewer employees the business has, the more responsibilities fall to the person in charge.

If you own a small or microbusiness, we understand you shoulder a lot of the burden for getting things done. Still, in order to stay productive during the hours you do work, you need some time away for yourself. So here are five things you can start doing right now to achieve better work-life balance:

Find time to get away...completely

We understand that sometimes a 15-hour day with no lunch break is simply unavoidable. But it becomes a problem when those days become the norm. Finding time to shut off all your devices, turn your brain off and just relax will get you recharged when it’s time to get back to work.

Work from home

Even if you’ll be busy conducting business, it’s nice to spend time in comfortable surroundings and with people you might not see as much as you’d like. Working from home gives you more face time with loved ones, which is invaluable. Today’s technology makes telecommuting easier than ever as well. You can use a cloud-based small business virtual phone, for instance, and none of your customers will have the slightest idea that you’re talking to them from your living room.

Let others carry the load

As a business owner, you may have the urge to make sure you work closely on every project. But if you hired employees, you have to trust your own judgment and believe they can handle the responsibilities you throw at them. Not only will working yourself to the bone burn you out physically, the quality of your work will suffer as well. Simply put, nobody can be two—or 20—places at once.

Figure out when you work best

For whatever reason, some people do their best work at 6 a.m. while others are more productive at 10 p.m. It doesn’t really matter as long as you know when you work best and schedule accordingly. Don’t schedule a crucial client call during a time you usually feel a little low energy.

Take care of your health

In the short term, skipping meals or cutting down on sleep might seem like a way to increase productivity, but it’s likely to come back to hurt you down the line. Cutting out lunch, for instance, may just leave you with less energy during the afternoon hours. Not sleeping enough can hurt your productivity on a given day, but it also weakens your immune system. When your defenses are down, you’re more likely to get sick and miss significant chunks of time.

Some of these practices may be difficult to put into place, especially if you have contradictory habits deeply ingrained already. But these suggestions will put you in a better frame of mind and help you achieve better focus. In turn, your business will grow and thrive—and that’s the reason you work so hard in the first place.