CloudPhone Blog

Natasha Grach

The Hidden Cost of Missed Calls & How to Avoid Them

Nov 1, 2019 8:30:00 AM

Whether you’re in a meeting, with a customer, on the other line, or are just too busy to pick up the phone, missing business calls can mean missing out on sales and customer service opportunities.

Just how much does a missed call really cost your business? While the exact figure depends on your cost of product or service, if you're constantly missing calls from prospective clients or current customers looking for service, it could add up quickly. In fact, with brand loyalty at an all-time low, customers who receive poor service don't think twice about trying out your competition–or even hitting review sites and social networks to air their grievances, further damaging your ability to gain new business.

Voxox missed calls

If you have ever thought that missing a call, or not getting back to a customer fast enough, has had negative effects on your business, you may want to try out one or all of these phone features. These tools can help you answer the calls you need, reject the ones you don’t and stay on top of your business communications no matter where you are.

Call Routing

This powerful feature acts as the cornerstone of communications management. In the most basic use case, simply route your business phone number to your smartphone. In more advanced scenarios, you can route your number to multiple locations, ring several extensions simultaneously, or ring them in a specific order to ensure important calls don’t get missed. More on this below...

Reach Me Anywhere

With Reach Me Anywhere, you can create a customized list of phone numbers you want to be contacted at (think home, office, cell). Your numbers will be called in the order they are listed or all at the same time depending on your settings. This is an amazing feature that lets you answer calls at your convenience, no matter where you are—and your caller is never the wiser!

International Call Forwarding

International phones used to cost a fortune, but with International Call Forwarding you can forward your regular phone calls to any phone, anywhere in the world for a low(er) fee. So, no matter where you do business (or vacation), you’ll still be connected!

Voicemail Transcription

If you just never get around to listening to voicemails or constantly have a full inbox, this is for you! Voicemail transcription automatically transcribes voice messages before they’re delivered, so not only can you listen right from your email, you can also READ your messages. Yes, that’s right, you can read your voicemail just like email—simple and fast. Plus, it doubles as a note pad for later reference and you can save or delete with just the press of a button.

Professional Greetings

When all else fails and you just can’t get to the phone, a professional greeting will show your callers you care and adds a touch of personality. Record a customized greeting for your callers, use an automated digital greeting, or upload your own professionally recorded greeting—whatever feels right for your business. If you’re not sure what to say, here are a few ideas.

Whether you’re looking to improve customer service or want to capture new business, these simple tools can help you ensure you’re answering all your important incoming calls and gaining all the potential business your calls have to offer—and Voxox CloudPhone has them all! Stop leaving money on the table and start taking control of your business communications.

Topics: Cost Savings, Mobile Productivity, Business Phone Number

Podcast: Kevin Hertz Speaks on Digi Deal and Omni Hotline

Posted by Natasha Grach

Aug 20, 2018 1:54:38 PM

Voxox CTO and co-founder Kevin Hertz recently spoke on a podcast with Telecom Reseller's Doug Green regarding the company's partnership with Malaysian carrier Digi and the roll out of Cloud Phone in Malaysia under the brand Omni Hotline. Click on the podcast link above to listen to the 16 minute podcast.

Topics: Cloud Phone, Business, Phone Number, Unified Communications

Voxox Includes Outbound Calling to Mexico within All Bundled Cloud Phone Subscription Plans

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:50:51 AM

Exciting news! Voxox announces Cloud Phone subscription plan update that enables outbound calling to Mexico at no additional cost! This is a game-changer for many entrepreneurs who regulary have to conduct business with contacts in Mexico. Read the full press release below...

Voxox Includes Calls to Mexico at No Additional Cost within All Bundled Cloud Phone Subscription Plans to Help Foster Cross-Border Entrepreneurship

Inclusion of outbound calls to Mexico is typically not offered within standard calling plans by competing virtual PBX services

SAN DIEGO – April 11, 2017 – Voxox®, innovator in cloud communication solutions for businesses with the most comprehensive unified communications Platform as a Service, today announced that it has added Mexico calling within its bundled subscription plans for Cloud Phone, the cloud-based virtual phone system for entrepreneurs and very small businesses. The bundled subscription plans, which range from 1,000 to 5,000 monthly minutes to unlimited calling, previously included United States and Canada calling. All bundled plans now also include Mexico calling (outbound as well as inbound) in the minutes pool.

The inclusion of Mexico outbound calling in bundled minute plans is not typical for virtual PBX service providers. While landlines in Mexico tend to be affordable to package into bundled plans, Mexican mobile numbers can be on the high end for most providers. Voxox has established strong relationships with global carrier partners to bring costs down for customers. Furthermore, the company's sophisticated cloud technology built entirely in-house enables Voxox to bypass expensive licensing fees that competitors have to pay, allowing Voxox to give customers more price breaks with some of the most competitive rates in the industry.

"In adding Mexico calling within our standard bundled subscription plans, we hope to make communications more cost-effective for entrepreneurs who regularly have business dealings with colleagues in Mexico," said Bryan Hertz, CEO and co-founder of Voxox. "We've prioritized securing incredible calling rates to advance entrepreneurship, not just in Mexico but all around the world."

Cloud Phone enables “micro-businesses” (businesses that operate on a very small scale), as well as individuals and small organizations seeking a business-grade telephone presence, to easily obtain local and toll free numbers that support unlimited extensions and advanced call routing capabilities. With Cloud Phone, users can place and receive calls, manage call activity, access features such as voicemail transcription, call recording, device transfer, faxing, and much more -- all within a sleek, elegant design. No special equipment or advanced skills are necessary to use Cloud Phone. Once a Do It Yourself (DIY) set-up is completed online, all that a user needs is a calling device (e.g., mobile or landline phone) to which calls can be routed. The effortless user experience and set-up process, which can be completed in less than a minute, along with highly competitive global calling rates and exceptional call quality, are key differentiators as compared to alternative solutions.

Cloud Phone comes with a complementary mobile app for iOS and Android. The Cloud Phone mobile app leverages Voxox's new breakthrough VoIP codec, a technology used to encode and compress voice signals into digital form for transmission. This is particularly significant for small businesses with a disbursed or traveling workforce, as the codec dramatically improves voice quality in poor bandwidth settings, such as hotels, convention centers, rural locations, etc. To hear the dramatic difference visit, www.voxox.com/codecdemo.

To view subscription plan pricing and/or to sign up for Cloud Phone, please visit www.cloudphone.com.

About Voxox

Voxox is an innovator in unified cloud communication solutions for businesses. The foundation of the company's offerings is its award-winning unified communications Platform as a Service, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable applications and services. For end-users, Voxox provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including its flagship business app, Cloud Phone, as well as SIP trunking, hosted PBX, and a wide array of wholesale services, such as high volume SMS. For service provider partners, Voxox delivers cutting-edge mobile and desktop applications that integrate voice, video, messaging, fax, media sharing and more. Voxox is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.voxox.com.

Topics: Voice Communication, Company Announcements, Cloud Phone, Improve Your Business

Marketing Your Small Business on Social Media: Tips to Get Started

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:47:15 AM

Now that you've started your own business, you know you need to start marketing it on social media. But where do you start?

First you need to determine what social platforms work best for your target market. Should you be on Twitter, Facebook, or SnapChat? Then, develop a following by showing value in what you post and who you connect with. Curate, create and post content with intention, and re-share and schedule out material whenever you can -- this will save you lots of precious time. The last tip? Complete your profile! Be sure to include contact information (like your Voxox Cloud Phone number) so clients can get in touch with you on the fly.

Diving into using social media to market your business can seem hard and time consuming, but with the right strategy even very small businesses can achieve social media success.

Want more details? Read our social media tips guide for the smallest businesses on the Cloud Phone blog. It only takes five steps to start heading down the road to social media success for your small business!

Five Smart Uses of SMS for Small Businesses

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:44:53 AM

It's often a bit awkward having to give out your personal cell phone number so that clients can send you text messages about business matters. Luckily with technologies like virtual PBX services, you can give out a "http://info.cloudphone.com/blog/5-clever-ways-to-use-phone-numbers-to-grow-your-business" target="_blank">business phone number and have both your business calls and texts instantly routed to your existing cell phone. You maintain a professional image and separate work/life identities via your dedicated business line, while also evading the extra cost and hassle of having to manage two devices. How often do business owners find themselves texting back and forth with their clients and employees? It's so informal, right? With 90 percent of people reading a text message within the first 3 minutes, according to MobileSQUARED, it's the fastest and most effective way to get in touch!

Here are some uses of two-way business texting that can be highly impactful, while also not encroaching as much on your work life balance as handing out your personal cell number might.

1. VIP Customer Support

Providing great customer service is essential for keeping clients happy, but sometimes phone and email communications just won't cut it. That's where text messaging comes in. Giving your VIP client contacts -- the ones with the killer accounts -- access to text support through your business phone number (aka ability to reach you anywhere at anytime) is a sure way to keep them happy and coming back for your products or services.

2. Escalation

Texting with clients and colleagues is a fast and efficient way to escalate an urgent matter. Sometimes you have to explain a situation in depth, whether it's an email or a voicemail, but the person you're trying to reach is not in front of a computer or can't pick up the phone and listen to a message (in a meeting, perhaps). A text can be incredibly useful to notify someone about an urgent communication that you've sent them -- and also a quick way to receive a response.

3. Company Announcements

With hundreds of emails coming in each day, it's inevitable we will overlook one here and there -- even if it's internal, and from the boss. Plus, with teams working remotely and with little time to spare for distracting and long group meetings, text announcements just make sense. So, next time you have a company announcement like a new initiative, sales incentive or social event, try SMS. You'll be able to communicate the details effectively without upsetting workflow.

4. Subscribing to a Work-Specific SMS Marketing List

There are times when you need to subscribe to a work-related marketing list. But there's that fear of using your own personal cell phone number, in case you start getting unwanted communications, reminders, marketing offers, etc. If you have a virtual PBX service providing your SMS-enabled business phone number for your company, you can always add a temporary virtual number to your account for things like this. The cost is low and this additional virtual line can be canceled fast.

5. Take Orders

If you're buying something for business purposes, you might want your business-related texts to be captured separately from your personal texts -- another handy use of a virtual PBX service. Say you're ordering supplies, or even pizza for an office party...always good to have a separate record of your business expense-related communications.

SMS is an essential part of our everyday lives -- it's how many people connect these days and it's accessible to nearly everyone. SMS can be a very useful tool to keep in touch with clients and colleagues when phone and email just won't do -- but keeping your business identity separate from your personal identity is typically a good idea.

Topics: iPhone, Android, Cloud Phone, Texting, Mobile Productivity, Business SMS, Cloud Phone Mobile App

Cloud Phone Wins Prestigious Tabby Award Alongside Adobe, Autodesk, PepsiCo and others!

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:41:09 AM

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Big news! We just announced a new award win for Cloud Phone - this one's a big deal as it's associated with Tab Times, a well-respected media outlet, and some big name judges participated in scoring the entries. Also, some big names among our fellow winners.
Check out the official press release below...

Voxox Cloud Phone Named Winner in Best Android IT or Business Tool Category of 2014 Tabby Awards /Business Competition
Cloud Phone is one of 26 business tools selected among well-known companies including Adobe, Autodesk and PepsiCo
SAN DIEGO – November 3, 2014 – Voxox®, the most comprehensive cloud-based rich communication service for consumers and businesses, today announced that its virtual PBX service, Cloud Phone, has been named the winner in the Best Android – IT or Business Tool category of the 2014 Tabby Awards /Business competition, the only awards program to recognize the best tablet apps worldwide on the Android, iOS and Windows OS platforms. As an HTML5-based web application, Cloud Phone was also eligible to enter due to its robust usability on tablets. Other winners include notable brands such as Adobe, Autodesk and PepsiCo.
”We are honored to see Cloud Phone take home a Tabby Award in this prestigious annual competition highlighting business and productivity applications,” said Bryan Hertz, co-founder and CEO of Voxox. “The Cloud Phone web app was designed to help small businesses with growing communications needs. This award is a great honor and testament to Cloud Phone’s usability and rich functionality.”
Comprised of 20 international professionals, The Tabby Awards /Business panel of judges have expertise in app development, design and/or publishing, with the additional contribution of analysts, journalists, expert users, tablet industry professionals and business people.
“The winners demonstrate the focus that has been placed on developing functional, feature rich business and enterprise apps with user centric design,” said Jeff Klaumann, former Head of Samsung Apps US, Samsung Electronics.
“I was inspired by the innovative apps submitted, especially the winners,” added Alex Bratton, author of Billion Dollar Apps and CEO & Chief Geek of Lextech Global Services. “They are indicative of the type of game-changing apps that will take over the enterprise by solving real business problems in a way that engages the user. Reviewing them was a great reminder of why we, mobile entrepreneurs, do what we do — to deliver solutions that have the potential to change lives.”
Cloud Phone empowers small business owners with a dedicated toll free or local business telephone number that can be forwarded to a user’s existing phone. Cloud Phone supports multiple employee extensions worldwide, and offers convenient telephony features, such as sophisticated call routing, transcribed voicemail-email delivery, web callback and more. The all web-based service is managed through a sleek user interface and can be set up in under a minute. Since its introduction to the market in February 2014, Cloud Phone has won multiple awards for its simple yet effective phone solution for one-to-10 person businesses. A 30-day free trial is available to all new subscribers.
The list of winners is published on the Tabby Awards /Business website at http://tabbyawards.com/business/2014-winners, where most apps can be downloaded.

About Voxox
Voxox is an innovator in unified cloud communication solutions for consumers and businesses. For consumers and its operator partners, Voxox delivers cutting-edge mobile and desktop applications that integrate voice, video, messaging, fax, media sharing and more. For businesses, Voxox provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including hosted IP-PBX, SIP Trunking, a wide array of wholesale services, such as high volume SMS, and the company's new virtual PBX service, Cloud Phone. The foundation of the company’s offerings is its award-winning unified communications platform in the cloud, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable applications and services. Founded in 2006, Voxox is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit www.voxox.com.

Topics: Company Announcements, Cloud Phone

Cloud Based Phone Systems Stand Up to Bad Weather

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:40:54 AM

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We’ve written in the past about how virtual numbers can help you avoid a dangerous winter commute, but there are many other ways to leverage the benefits of a cloud based phone system in order to "weather the storm". Lately, we've been witnessing the power of Mother Nature at work, from the wet El Nino rain in the western states to the heavy snowfall in the east which has left many workers stranded. This has no doubt affected SMBs, forcing some businesses to close the doors early. In many cases though a cloud based phone system could have prevented any lost revenue by allowing them to keep the “doors” open virtually. Here’s how a cloud based phone system can help winter proof your business:
Call routing with a professional auto attendant. The Auto Attendant is the hub of automation for your cloud based phone system. It answers, routes, and manages your calls for you so your company always sounds professional. Easily add more numbers or extensions and control when and how your calls are routed and answered. This is particularly useful when your workforce is dispersed or when changes to the system need to be made remotely.
Call forwarding with features. You can connect your incoming business calls to you or your staff wherever you choose, on any device. You can also have calls routed to multiple employees simultaneously. No more worrying who made it into the office, you can make sure no call gets missed. Although even if it does, the cloud based phone system also comes with Professional Greetings to give an optimal experience for callers.
Outbound calling to make office calls from home. With some cloud based phone systems, you can place outbound calls directly from within the management console. For example, with Cloud Phone, you can simply enter the number you want to call and the number where you want to connect from. The system will dial the number, and once connected, it will also dial you. Why is this important? Well if you are snowed in at home you can still make calls to customers as if you are sitting at your desk miles away. (Hmmm, come to think of it maybe we shouldn’t wait for a snow storm to use this feature. Making office calls from the beach sounds even better!)
Virtual numbers can offer temporary or permanent coverage. As we covered in our recent post, virtual numbers are phone numbers that are routed to an existing calling device, such as your office phone and/or mobile phone. If a call is missed, callers will be forwarded to voicemail, which can be personalized with a professional business greeting. These can be particularly helpful for seasonal promotions, special events or perhaps an after-hours support number that you publish to your customers.
Disaster recovery: if a storm takes down your office, you won’t lose everything. Another perk of the cloud based phone system is when an outage occurs or natural disaster strikes, calls can be automatically rerouted to another office. Creating even more peace of mind and preventing financial loss, since the managed solution involves storage of activity, all of the call data can be backed up.
Taking advantage of a cloud based phone system can offer big upside for small businesses, especially during these winter months. These are just a few of the ways offerings such as Cloud Phone can help keep business communications flowing. We’d love to hear how a cloud based phone system has helped your business this winter. Share your stories in the comments here or on our social media pages - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Topics: Cloud Phone, Virtual Phone System, Mobility

5 Ways Voice Technology Can Save Your Sanity During The Holiday Season

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:40:12 AM

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The holidays are a stressful and busy time for a lot of people. And for those of us that live life as a small business owner or freelancer we especially feel pulled in several directions as we manage communications from all directions in our personal and business lives. But the good news is that voice technology can be our friend to help us manage the stress and the communication channels in our dual lives. Here are 5 ways voice technology can help you this holiday season:
Manage smarter (and safer) with virtual numbers - ever consider assigning and tracking a different number for personal versus work calls, but have them ring one location? Now you can with virtual numbers. But even more you can use one a number for events you might be planning or hosting. Or better yet, they could help avoid a dangerous commute.
Simplify your day with voicemail transcription – there are many benefits of being able to read your messages with voicemail transcription when you’re in a hurry and multitasking – and if you’re an iPhone® user, you don’t have to wait for the voicemail transcription feature to be available on your phone, if you're using a virtual PBX service (like Cloud Phone!).
Don’t miss a beat with call recording - when we are distracted and multi-tasking we might miss something important, don’t lose important info on your calls – record them so you can play them back later if needed.
Work from anywhere with call forwarding – if you are working in various locations either for personal or business reasons, you can use a virtual number for your business, which enables you to easily set up call forwarding. This way you can be reached where you are at the touch of a button, and your contacts don’t have to know that you are working from your family’s mountain house this week and the office next week, they just dial the same number.
Share the workload with call routing – with powerful features of a cloud phone solution such as call routing and "reach me anywhere," you can assign calls to co-workers or employees when you are busy, i.e. when you’re taking your kid to the mall (to see Santa!) on your lunch break but you don’t want to miss that important call from a client. Simply send calls to your co-worker for that hour all with the touch of a button.
There are many ways that technology can lower your stress rather than add to it with time-saving features like voicemail transcription. Just take a few minutes to get set up now before the holiday season is in full swing and you’re wondering how to manage it all. It’s easier than you might think!

Topics: Voice Communication, Mobile Productivity, Improve Your Business

Mobile World Congress Update: Cloud Phone Availability for Operators & OEMs

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:34:46 AM

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The Voxox team is having a great time at Mobile World Congress. Today we've made our second show news announcement: we're enabling our operator and OEM partners to white label or co-brand our award-winning Cloud Phone service. Check out the official press release below:

Voxox Announces Availability of Cloud Phone for Operators and OEMs

Operators and OEMs can white label or co-brand award-winning Internet telephony service from Voxox designed for small business professionals
BARCELONA (MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS) and SAN DIEGO – March 4, 2015 – Voxox®, the most comprehensive cloud-based rich communication service for consumers and businesses, today announced the availability of Cloud Phone for operators and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to white label or co-brand services in order to address demand from small business users. Cloud Phone is an award-winning virtual PBX service that provides professionals with a dedicated toll free or local business telephone number that supports multiple extensions per account, sophisticated call routing, and transcribed voicemail-to-email delivery, all managed within a sleek, simple Web-based user interface. Cloud Phone is ideal for businesses that may not have a physical location and it is compatible with the Voxox mobile app suite.
“Since its introduction last year, Cloud Phone has been addressing a need in the small business community for a powerful yet easy-to-use business phone solution that centers on the smartphone; now, we are enabling our operator and OEM partners to take advantage of this market opportunity and realize a significant new revenue stream," said Bryan Hertz, CEO of Voxox. "White labeling a solution like Cloud Phone will not only allow operators to deliver added value to their existing customers, but it will also help them earn new customers who are seeking advanced business features from their service provider."
According to a Voxox user survey, the results of which were announced earlier this week at Mobile World Congress, Voxox has found that nearly half of its consumer survey respondents are using consumer app features for business purposes. This supports the notion that there is strong demand for more advanced business functionality that operators and their service delivery partners can offer to boost revenues. Cloud Phone provides users with a business-grade phone solution with all the relevant features of an expensive new phone system. Despite its advanced business features, Cloud Phone can be set up in just a couple of minutes, and requires no specialized equipment or skills to manage. As an HTML5 application, Cloud Phone offers a seamless user experience for toggling between mobile and desktop environments and can scale quickly with an easy transition to an advanced VoIP system that supports hundreds of phones if business growth demands.
To learn more about Cloud Phone and its availability through the Voxox For Operators Program, please visit the Voxox booth in Hall 1, 1H31 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For more information on Voxox, please visit www.voxox.com.
About Voxox
Voxox is an innovator in unified cloud communication solutions for consumers and businesses. For consumers and its operator partners, Voxox delivers cutting-edge mobile and desktop applications that integrate voice, video, messaging, fax, media sharing and more. For businesses, Voxox provides an extensive suite of carrier-grade business phone solutions, including hosted IP-PBX, SIP Trunking, a wide array of wholesale services, such as high volume SMS, and the company's new virtual PBX service, Cloud Phone. The foundation of the company's offerings is its award-winning unified communications platform in the cloud, which enables the company and its customers to build powerful, scalable applications and services. Founded in 2006, Voxox is headquartered in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.voxox.com.

Topics: Company Announcements, Cloud Phone, Unified Communications, Small Business Productivity, Improve Your Business

Cloud Phone Headed to Middle East and Africa with New Partner Agreement

Posted by Natasha Grach

May 10, 2018 10:32:14 AM

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Voxox announced today that Cloud Phone will be getting a big push in the Middle East and North Africa region through new partner Virtustream. As detailed in the press release, Virtustream will be working closely with operators and other service providers in the area to partner with Voxox to resell Cloud Phone under their own brands. Check out the announcement ef="http://info.voxox.com/posts/1000" target="_blank">here..

Topics: Company Announcements, Cloud Phone, Business Phone Number