CloudPhone Blog

It’s summer again, which means the options for family activities are innumerable. Should you take your kids to a water park, a mini golf course, or on a ferry ride? 

You are thrilled to be on a day trip, but as a small business owner you are also slightly worried about being out of touch for the entire day. As you know all too well, in the business world missing an important call or message could cost you a key opportunity.

With a cloud communications application like Cloud Phone, a small business phone system maintained completely through the web, you can fully enjoy a trip to the zoo—or anywhere else for that matter--without worrying that an opportunity is flying past you.

 A cloud-based phone system can provide you with features that maximize your mobile capabilities, such as:

• Auto Attendant: Callers are greeted professionally by your company’s name and then presented with menu options that can expertly route your callers to the correct department , even if every department is really just one person at the zoo with his or her kids
• Voicemail Transcription: Voicemails are automatically transcribed before they’re delivered, allowing you to be able to read your messages just like email. So if there’s a ruckus going on at the baboon exhibit and you’re unable to hear an urgent message, simply check your email where the voicemail will be made readable.
• Reach Me Anywhere: Cloud Phone connects your incoming business calls to you or your staff wherever you choose, on any device. If you know you’ll be unable to answer a call, you can have calls routed to multiple employees, ensuring that someone will be able to answer.

 As if those features weren’t enough, because a cloud-based system doesn’t require any hardware it’s far less vulnerable to hurricanes or other disasters as well. Calls to your business-specific number—provided when you sign up for Cloud Phone—rings to your mobile phone so that when that fierce afternoon thunderstorm rolls in and knocks out power in your office, your system stays right as rain.

 Communicating with an application like Cloud Phone is easier, less costly, and more efficient than a legacy wire-based system—an impossible combination to beat. And you need all the help you can get, because like the animal kingdom, the business world is survival of the fittest. So if you’re looking to do better business this summer, consider taking a closer look at Cloud Phone from Voxox.

According to a report from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), there are an estimated 27 million entrepreneurs in the US starting or operating new businesses. With so many companies’ vying for success, your business should be leveraging every possible advantage to stand out from the competition. Your business voicemail greeting is often the first point of customer contact, so it's important to have one that projects professionalism and reliability. A professional voicemail greeting not only leaves a positive impression and builds trust, but also helps you effectively and efficiently manage your communications. 

There are a number of options for customizing your business voicemail greeting. A unique professional greeting helps your company appear personable and knowledgeable. You can organize your message to share information about your company's products, direct callers to the appropriate department, or even provide directions to your location.

These could be details about the hours you’re out of the office or how to reach the appropriate employee to assist the caller. Eliminate the need to repeat information when it can be automated. Having your business information readily available will save time and money. 

The old cliché "time is money" plays an important role in investing in a professional voicemail system. Small businesses cannot afford to waste time or resources on inefficient communication. Helping customers’ access information instantly and efficiently through a professional voicemail system, helps ensure that your company can meet their needs, expeditiously and professionally. Staying ahead of the competition means your business must have organized systems in place to serve a customer from initial contact through providing  the solution to the client’s needs, the way the client wants it and most importantly when the client wants it. Contact us today to learn more about customizing your voicemail with our virtual phone system.

To survive in today's fast-paced business world, companies need to stand out. While some leaders are focusing on ways to differentiate their brands online through social media, content marketing, and other digital marketing efforts, smart businesses are also nurturing their voice channel. Having a brand-appropriate phone presence gives your business a personal voice.

The telephone is an old-world communications medium, but customers, clients, and partners expect businesses to have a voice channel, and for that channel to reflect the professionalism of the business's brand. Simply listing a phone number isn't enough to get your "voice presence" across the right way. Neglecting your voice channel can have a negative impact on your brand image, causing customers to question your professionalism and potentially shift their business elsewhere. 

Here are 5 mistakes small business make when it comes to their phone service, and ways to avoid them...

1. Voice Greeting Not Brand-Aligned

Small business owners often don’t have the resources or the need for a sophisticated phone system, so they rely on personal cell phones to connect with team members and customers. While combining work and personal lines does save money, it can backfire when it comes to your brand image. If a customer, client, or business partner calls your personal cell phone number and reaches you at a bad time (like during happy hour) or is forwarded to a personal message (like, “Hey, it’s Jim. I never listen to voicemail so I probably won’t call you back!”), they probably won’t be impressed – or worse, never call back.

2. Forgettable Number Makes Business Look Smaller Than Intended

Choosing a business phone number with repeating digits or a pattern not only makes it easy for your customers to remember, but can also impact perception -- a brand that has invested in its voice channel feels more established and professional. Utilizing a toll-free number (e.g., virtual number) can also help small businesses appear larger and more credible, even if it’s just you and a small team working from home.

3. Choosing the Wrong Area Code Can Cost Your Business

Trying to sell over a wide geographic region can be difficult if you’re calling or offering phone support from an out of area number. Customers are more likely to answer incoming local numbers and are also more likely to do business with local businesses. Choosing area codes within your target geographic region or using a toll free number sends a certain signal about your business goals and could help your conversion rate. You can easily obtain multiple virtual numbers so you have a presence in more than one geographic area.

4. Lack of Extensions May Confuse, Irritate Callers

Telling callers that they need to dial a different phone number for their billing or support inquiry because you don't have extensions can confuse, irritate, or even anger callers -- deterring them from calling back. By utilizing a phone system with extensions to route incoming calls to other departments or offering a touchtone menu, you can provide convenient, professional service while also freeing up your own time!

5. Missing Messages & Slow Response Times Reflects Poorly on Your Brand

No one likes listening to voicemails, but what good is a message if you never retrieve it? Choosing a business phone service that offers voicemail transcription makes it easier to manage and view voice messages, ensuring you can help customers when they need it. Responsiveness is key to your brand's reputation. It's much faster to review a voicemail transcription than to find the time (or remember!) to listen to the voicemail. Voicemail transcription helps you get back to the customer faster, earning your brand top marks for customer service.

Having the best social media or email campaigns will not help if your voice channel is out of order. All businesses that rely on voice communications in any way must consider their phone presence to ensure that this element of their brand matches their overall business goals and image.

Have you employed any interesting voice channel techniques to support your business brand? Do you use virtual numbers in your voice presence strategy? Share your comments, questions and challenges with us in the comments below or on our social media channels –  Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

Whether you are a freelance writer, graphic designer or interior decorator, your creativity and imagination is what keeps your services in demand with customers. The quality of your work speaks for itself and you take great pride in making a client’s vision come to fruition.

When it comes to adopting the right business communications system, however, you may be having a difficult time making a decision. Fortunately, small business virtual phone systems exist just for successful entrepreneurs like you.    

A virtual—or cloud-based—phone system gives you much of the functionality you’d get with a legacy enterprise system at a much lower cost. You can set up professional greetings, designate extensions and have your voicemail sent to email so you won’t miss an important message. Furthermore, because your system is in the cloud your settings are easily accessible and you avoid installation and maintenance costs. Last but not least, all you need to get started is a mobile number!

Another advantage of adopting a cloud-based phone system is that if you decide to expand your freelance business into a full-fledged company, you’ll be sending a signal to millennials in the workforce that you are committed to running a modern business. When considering the emphasis younger workers place on a potential employer’s technology these days, attracting the best and brightest can be a challenge—one a virtual phone system helps you meet.

Being your own boss has many advantages, but one of the potential drawbacks is dealing with aspects of business outside of your comfort zone. Fortunately, today’s best-in-class technological solutions offer freelancers more tools than ever before. Yes, that is opportunity knocking at your door. Will you answer?

Let’s be honest: owning a one-person business can be overwhelming. Not only do you represent every department—from sales to marketing to accounting—but you are also wholly responsible for earning your own living. Given the challenges you face, any product or application that can make your life a little easier is probably more than welcome. As it happens, we have one in mind—a cloud-based small business phone system.

So what exactly do you get with a cloud phone service? How about all the features of a wire-based system from a large provider at a price your single-person company can afford? With leading-edge cloud-based systems you can setup extensions to simulate different departments to enjoy the appearance of a mega corporation. Customizable digital text greetings, conference calls and voicemail to email are available as well!

Not only can a virtual phone system offer top-of-the-line communications features at a low monthly cost, top-flight services are exceedingly easy to set up using just a mobile phone. Furthermore, because the system is Internet-based, it requires no hardware, no ongoing maintenance and is less vulnerable to downtime. 

The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau reported that there are 22.5 million one-person or “non-employer” businesses across the country—so we know there a lot of you out there looking for any edge you can get. Cloud technology can remove some of the burden of running a one-person business from your shoulders—you just have to let it. So consider adding a cloud-based phone system to your top-notch product, work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. You’ll come away with a winning business equation.   

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.

As a successful freelance graphic designer, you’ve relied on your creativity and freedom of expression to build a solid customer base. Maybe you like to work on the train, from a home office or in a coffee shop. Regardless, of your work location the end result is always a beautiful design your customers love.

Photo Courtesy Flickr User Paul

As your business begins to expand, your needs also start to change. For instance, you don’t feel comfortable giving some of the newer, bigger clients your personal mobile number for fear of appearing unprofessional. As your client base grows, you also are doing more traveling to meetings in other parts of the country.

Maybe you are even considering bringing on an employee or two, perhaps for billing or other administrative tasks. You are a little concerned, however, about extending your communications capabilities on what is still a relatively tight budget. Cloud Phone, is the perfect solution for any type of growing business. Cloud Phone turns your mobile phone into a small business phone system with all the bells and whistles.

A modern cloud-based phone service will help you to obtain a business-specific phone number that rings directly to your cell phone, meaning you no longer have to give out your personal number. If you hire new employees, the system lets you set up extensions for those workers which also rings directly to their mobile phones.

Cloud Phone has an easy to use web interface that lets you set up a customized company greeting simply by accessing your settings through the web interface and typing the message into a text box. You’ll no longer have to worry about what customers are hearing when they call and you can’t answer because you’re doing business “on the go.” If you’re worried about installation or maintenance costs, don’t be: The system is maintained in the cloud by Voxox, meaning setup and upkeep expenses are nil.

As you continue to grow your business, keep an eye on the technological tools that can make life and business easier for you. We may not have your talent for design, but hopefully we’ve made life a little easier and even helped to create a bright picture for your future.

INTRODUCTION:

The list post is one of the most popular and readable blog formats on the web. It is composed of -- you guessed it -- a list, and includes short explanatory paragraphs about each item.

Use your introduction as a way to tell the reader how this collection of ideas will help them. Keep it light by including a personal story. If you have any data that you can include relating to your list, include that in your introduction, too.

Here are some examples of how we use list blog posts here at HubSpot:

• The 7 Worst Types of Headlines (And How to Fix Them)
• 5 Major Challenges Marketers Face (And How to Solve Them)
• The Top 10 Qualities of High-Quality List Posts

BODY:

Now deliver what you promised in the first section. This is the longest part of the post, so make it easy to read. Use short paragraphs, bullet lists, and bold headings to set different sections apart.

Some common section headers include:

1. Reason #1 why writing a list-based post is helpful

2. Reason #2 why writing a list-based post is super helpful to your marketing

3. Reason #3 why everyone should be writing list-based posts

You can use bulleted lists, numbered list, or multiple headings. Include as many steps, numbers, or bullets that will allow you to discuss your topic thoroughly.

Here are some pointers to make the best possible body of your blog:

• Include visuals
• Include short explanatory phrases in your headers
• At the end, transition into your conclusion

CONCLUSION:

Now it’s time to say goodbye and wrap up your post. Remind your readers of your key takeaway, reiterate what your readers need to do to get the desired result, and ask a question about how they see the topic to encourage comments and conversation. Don't forget to include a Call-to-Action!

Congratulations! What a lovely list post you've created!

Last week we wrote about the convenience of having a virtual PBX service in your pocket when you travel. From on-the-go account management to call recording and much more, most virtual PBX services have a slew of travel-friendly features for entrepreneurs. This week we are talking about travel features that help keep costs down-- specifically: avoiding those pesky international roaming charges on your mobile phone.

Traditional business phone systems are not so easy to manage once you leave the confines of your office and roaming charges on mobile can rack up in no time. A virtual PBX service provides several ways to stay in touch without extra charges or being tied to a landline—despite the fact it works directly through your mobile phone.

Here are a few creative ways to use your virtual PBX service to keep in touch with business contacts while enjoying a little R&R and keeping costs low:

1. Forward business calls to your hotel room number

While on vacation, why not take a little vacation from your cell? You can set up your virtual number to forward calls to your hotel room phone. If you're expecting a business call, it's a great way to eliminate any chance of roaming charges, especially if you don't have WiFi or your connection is down. Setting up call forwarding to your room’s landline is a sure way to keep your entrepreneurial ventures uninterrupted while also being able to enjoy all that this world has to offer when you're off the clock. This can also work with extensions for your work colleagues when they are traveling!

2. Check voicemail without roaming charges

Not only is visual voicemail convenient for those who don’t want to (or simply don’t have time to) listen to multiple voicemails, it’s also available to view over WiFi—which means if you can pick up a WiFi signal you can read it for free through an app, assuming the virtual PBX service provider offers this feature (Cloud Phone does!). An added bonus is that visual voicemail lets you reference the call’s information without having to go back and sift through your old messages.

3. Voicemail transcription

Similar to the perk above, you can connect to WiFi and retrieve your transcribed voicemails via email or you can also get texts with voicemail transcriptions, if you so choose. Best part: you can then forward the voicemail transcriptions to your business partners or colleagues back home! After all, you can’t be expected to take care of everything.

4. Conference calling via WiFi

Sometimes meetings just can’t wait, even if you’re in the middle of enjoying a pina colada. That’s where conference calling comes in. Find a quiet space (away from the tiki bar), connect to WiFi and dial in the gang —it’s that easy! Make sure your virtual PBX service provider has a solid conference calling feature. Voxox Cloud Phone, for example, will let you conference in 5 people through the Cloud Phone app.  

5. Professional greeting 

Say you forgot to record an out-of-office voicemail greeting before you went abroad. With a virtual PBX service, you can easily swap your greeting anywhere you are via mobile app -- no need to call your business number and incur roaming charges. You can change your greeting as many times as you need based on your fluctuating travel schedule and availability, all without roaming!

Leaving soon? No problem! If you already use a virtual PBX service, then just make sure you have the service's mobile app on your smartphone and you're all set. When you get to your destination you can manage your settings, forward calls to your hotel number, etc. If you haven't signed up yet, check out Cloud Phone! There's a 30 day free trial, so all the more savings. Some texting is included for free with your bundled plan, so savings there too. After a few easy steps, you’ll be ready to hit the beach – or wherever you choose to go – all with your business contacts in the palm of your hand.

Increasingly, business owners and employees want the comfort and ease of using their preferred device for work-related purposes. For small business owners like you, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend can actually be a major benefit because it means not having to purchase expensive work-specific equipment for you or your employees. 

Photo Courtesy of Flikr User Sean MacEntee

That being said, if you want to embrace the BYOD revolution your phone settings have to be accessible from these mobile devices. As an entrepreneur you probably spend quite a bit of time traveling to trade shows, client meetings and more. You need to be able to change your company greeting or add an extension quickly and if you are like most Americans— 44 percent of whom have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any communications—the easiest way to make those changes is with a mobile device because at this point it is practically an appendage! 

With legacy phone technology, adding a line would require a technician to show up and changing your greeting would probably involve dialing in and rooting around in a complex system. Fortunately settings on today’s best-in-class cloud-based phone systems can be accessed from mobile devices. You can change your greeting digitally just by typing a message or add an extension in real time.  Additionally, with a web-based system you don’t need any special technological skills or knowledge to make adjustments—you just need a connected device.

Want to chime in about BYOD? Let us know in the comment section below!