CloudPhone Blog

As a business owner or professional, chances are you’re being pulled into 10 different directions throughout the day, meaning you’re running around and outside the office, away from your desk. So what happens when an important client unexpectedly calls your office number or a colleague sends you an urgent email?

Well we hate to break it to you; if you have a legacy phone system, you’re just plain out of luck. However, with cloud communications you don’t ever have to experience FOMO (fear of missing out) again.

With a cloud communications application like Cloud Phone, business leaders can break away from the shackles of their desks. You can easily conduct business per usual while on the go and Cloud Phone gives you a fully featured phone platform that’s 100 percent “in the cloud.” That means there is no expensive hardware to buy, nothing complex to maintain, and no reason to worry about downtime or other complications.

Cloud Phone connects your incoming business calls to you wherever you choose, on any device whether it’s a smartphone, tablet or laptop. The best part? You can also have calls routed to multiple employees simultaneously to ensure no call ever goes unanswered.

The voicemail to email notification feature delivers voicemails instantly to your email, so you never have to dial in to access your voicemail again. What’s more, its voicemail transcription feature automatically transcribes voicemails, so you can read important messages when you can’t listen

Stop living in the past with legacy communication technology and step into the “now” with cloud communications. You’ll never experience FOMO again. 

Picture this: You’re sitting in a meeting when your phone buzzes indicating that an important voicemail just arrived. Unfortunately, you can’t pick up your device and listen to it. So you’ll spend the next 40 minutes tapping your fingers until you can get the information you need.

It goes without saying that multitasking in the business world can be extremely difficult. There are often a variety of tasks that need to be accomplished and no time to get them done. But with the right technology, you can be pulled in 40 different directions at once and not have to worry about maintaining stellar communications. The key to accomplishing this is a cloud-based phone service.

Using a cloud-based phone service, incoming voicemails and faxes can be transcribed to email so you can read your message right over your mobile device or laptop. And for calls that require immediate action, you can route them to anyone on your staff, in any location you choose.

Another great feature of small business phone systems is the ability to customize outbound messages on the fly so you can stay in touch with important contacts as you move from the board room to the taxi to the airport.

The best part is that you can get access to all of these features without having to maintain any on-premises equipment. A cloud-based phone system will provide you with essential communications tools that will be updated and maintained by a third-party host.

So if you are looking for a way to focus more critical business processes and less on making sure you’re getting all of your phone messages, perhaps it’s time to give the cloud a try. You’ll be multi-tasking like a champ in just a matter of minutes.

Voicemail transcription is a modern day convenience. Not only does it allow users to easily read, manage and delete voicemail messages, it also saves time and reduces stress about missing out on important info. While the days of scrambling to jot down dates and numbers are long gone, there was a time when even traditional voicemail seemed liked a luxury. 

Here's a brief history of voicemail and the development of voicemail transcription: 

1877– The first public records describing voice recording were reported in a New York newspaper and the Scientific American in November of 1877, with the announcement of the phonograph by Thomas A. Edison, saying "the object was to record telephone messages and transmit them again by telephone." (Source: Wiki)

1877– In December of 1877, Edison applied for a patent and demonstrated the machine recording and playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb” and other popular tunes at the time. (Source: Wiki)

1914– Edison's phonograph business included a dictating machine (the Ediphone) and the Telescribe, a machine combining the phonograph and the telephone, which recorded both sides of telephone conversations. (Source: recording-history.org)

1970's– Judah Klausner pioneered several patents central to voicemail transcription while doing work on early PDA technologies for his company Klausner Technologies. (Source: digitaltrends.com)

1974– The mid 1970's saw the introduction of a simple, pager/beeper that was generally offered in conjunction with answering services that handled busy, no-answer overloads and after hours calls for businesses and professionals. Rather than recording a voice call, operators manually transcribed the caller's message, sent a page alert or "beep" and when the party called back, an operator dictated the message. (Source: Wiki)

1976– Robin Elkins, a blues-rock saxophonist, invented what became an important backbone to voicemail—a digital/analog storage technology—while trying to figure out a better way to record his music. His invention found a duel use, allowing paging and telecom companies to handle client messages electronically. Operators recorded a 5-6 second message which was delivered automatically when the client called the answering service. (Source: Gawker)

1979– The first modern day voicemail application was invented by Gordon Matthews. When he was on a business trip, he became frustrated that he was playing telephone tag while trying to contact the office. After the incident, he mentioned to his wife that he needed to invent a telephony system where people can send each other recorded messages and voicemail was born! (Source: Wiki)

1980– The term voicemail was coined and trademarked, but eventually became a generic name for all automated voice services. (Source: Wiki)

2000– Voicemail had become a ubiquitous feature on phone systems serving companies, cellular and residential subscribers. (Source: Wiki)


2007– Voicemail transcription was introduced to mobile users by Apple's iPhone. (Source: Wiki)

2007– Access to voicemail transcription from email or web browser through a third-party application was introduced by YouMail, a multi-platform visual voicemail service for mobile phones. By storing voicemail in the cloud rather than the mobile carrier's network, users were also able to access it through any web browser or by e-mail. (Source: Wiki)

2011– In January of 2011, Voxox consumer app launched voicemail transcription – the first ever to be integrated into a desktop messenger style application. (Source: voxox.com)

2014– Voxox Cloud Phone, a virtual PBX Service for one-10 person businesses, added voicemail transcription to its services on July 24, 2014 (Source: voxox.com) 

Do you use voicemail transcription? Tell us why you love voicemail transcription and how it helps you keep your messages (and life!) organized – Twitter and Facebook.

Ever been caught daydreaming and someone jokingly tells you to “get your head out of the clouds?” Well, when it comes to your small business phone system, the cloud isn’t a distraction—it actually provides major benefits like: 

Big Savings: With a cloud based phone system, you don’t have to worry about complicated, expensive equipment. You avoid unnecessary spending on hardware installation and maintenance, and also receive just one low monthly bill, meaning it is convenient as well as inexpensive.

Improved customer service: A small business phone system allows you to collaborate with customers and colleagues through your mobile device, significantly improving your ability to promptly answer important calls. With Reach Me Anywhere you can have calls routed to you or any of your staff anywhere, on any device, so customers get the service they need when they are in a pinch.

Professionalism:  Oftentimes small businesses struggle to project an established image, but with a small business phone system these organizations are indistinguishable from large corporations. From the business-specific phone number, to the professional auto attendant greeting, you get everything the “big boys” in your industry have. 

So if you’re in the process of re-examining your phone service, consider the fact that these small business systems were designed for companies just like you. So chances are they are going to be a better fit for your needs. So again, feel free to keep your head in the cloud—your bottom line will thank you later.

Did it finally happen for you? After months upon months of wishful thinking and fruitless efforts, have you solidified your business idea, secured VC funding and honed your value proposition? Are you ready to transform your startup idea into a fully-baked reality? Congratulations!

So now what?

The truth is that for the 543,000 new businesses that get started each month, a vast majority fail due to poor planning, a lack of forecasting and a failure to embrace innovation. But you don’t want to go down that path. After all, you have worked too hard and you have a killer idea. So what do you do after you get the big idea? To begin, you need to immediately consider the gold-standard technology that will take you from fledgling to full-forced in a matter of weeks. Let’s take a look at where you need to begin when it comes to 21st century technology:

• Assess Your Limitations: You can’t identify what services and offerings you need until you understand your limitations. For example, are you currently one-man shop, unable to support the payroll of multiple employees? Or perhaps you are operating your business out of your basement, even though you want to establish an international presence? Restrictions like these, for example, suggest the need for a robust business phone system, one that boasts a wealth of features from auto attendants that can greet your calls professionally to voicemail-to-email notifications that can allow you to handle calls on the go. Once you understand your setbacks you can identify the technology that will allow you to level the playing field.
• Evaluate Your Expertise: Are you all thumbs when it comes to technological installations, upgrades and compliance requirements? Then perhaps you need to go the cloud route and entrust these daily tasks with a third-party provider, especially when it comes to your phone. A cloud-based phone service for example, allows you to focus on critical business processes—such as growing your customer base and conceptualizing best-in-class marketing tactics—as opposed to mundane administrative tasks such as upgrades, maintenance and troubleshooting. You can leave all that to your third-party cloud provider.
• Consider Your Budget: As any budding entrepreneur can confirm, planning and sticking to a budget is of the utmost importance. While the big-ticket items like startup financing and office leases can steal your attention, don’t lose sight of the fact that other considerations—like technology—can eat up your budget. Therefore, after you get the big idea it’s important to take a look at your finances and determine where you want to place your spend when it come to technology. If you go the cloud-based phone service route, for instance, you can enjoy a reduction in CAPEX/OPEX spending—since you need less physical equipment and personnel to support your phone system. As a result, additional dollars can be allocated to other innovations such as WebRTC, UC and M2M technologies.

So now that you have technology considerations of your checklist, what’s next on your list?

Ah, the tail end of summer time and the living is easy…or at least it should be. But let’s face it. As the owner of a fledgling company, summer is really just another season. That’s because securing VC funding and identifying the avant-garde technologies that will take your company to the next level is much more important than picnicking and beaching.

Photo Courtesy of Flikr User Steven Depolo

But what if you could achieve a perfect work-life balance and do both? Thanks to cloud communications you can. Whether that summer lunch takes place during the work day with a prospective business partner or on the weekend with your kids, you can remain connected thanks to the functionality afforded by cloud communications applications. For example, by leveraging Cloud Phone for your small business system, you can take advantage of the following capabilities while enjoying the nice picnic spread:

• Auto attendant, or the virtual receptionist that can professionally route your callers to your mobile device to uphold the guise that you are at the office
• Voicemail-to-email notification so that your voicemails can be delivered as voice packet attachments to your cell phone so you can respond to calls in real time
  
  
• Reach Me Anywhere, a capability that connects incoming business calls to you and your staff wherever you choose across any device

With spending on cloud services expected to surge to more than $180 billion by 2015, now is the time to cast your eye toward such technology if you have not already done so. Moving critical applications to the cloud—like your small business phone system—will not only save you money by allowing you to forgo expenses related to maintaining hardware and systems upgrades, it will also augment your productivity.

To learn more about Cloud Phone, a best-in-class cloud communications technology, and to try our service for free for 30 days, click here!

With communications coming over a dizzying array of channels it’s no wonder that many companies can quickly become overwhelmed and fragmented. But there is hope. In fact, there’s more than that—there are cloud communications applications!

Cloud communications applications are the perfect way to seamlessly integrate your telecommunications strategy and tools into one intuitive system, and your one stop shop solution for a small business phone number. But even if you’ve heard a little about the technology, you may have missed a few things along the way:

1. Wires are O-U-T: When you leverage cloud communications you essentially put an entire enterprise PBX system in your mobile phone. When that happens, there is no need to keep a legacy wire-based system around the office. So it’s time to rip it out!
2. Set up in a flash: Did you know that with a cloud communications application like Cloud Phone you can start configuring your system in one minute? Yes, it may sound too good to be true, but it’s as real as the mobile phone you can use to get a business-specific number and get cranking right away.
3. Always affordable: Getting rid of on-premises hardware does more than make life easier—it helps you cut costs as well. Without equipment to maintain and keep updated in your office you cut out on recurring costs—forever!

Benefits like these make cloud communications an easy choice for small business phone system your business. And now that you know what these applications are all about, it’s time to get started!

There’s a reason movie studios target summer for their biggest releases: customers are in a positive frame of mind and ready for the spectacle of a summer blockbuster.

Similarly, this summer could be a blockbuster success for your business—and cloud communications might just be the way to achieve it. As mobility and connectivity reach new levels of sophistication and power, cloud communications has become the name of the game. Its blend of galvanizing tools and easy-to-use interfaces empower businesses like never before.

With a cloud communications application like Cloud Phone—a new offering from Voxox designed specifically for small businesses—you get a myriad of benefits, including:

• Consolidation of communications tools, making them easier and more intuitive to use
• Low price points and no additional service or hardware maintenance fees
• Anywhere access
• The reliability of a system maintained over the Internet

Add to those benefits features like a professional auto attendant, virtual extensions, Reach Me Anywhere call forwarding and voicemail transcription and you can see how a cloud communications application provides the functionality of a Fortune 500 small business phone system at a fraction of the cost.

So don’t settle for poorly produced sequels this summer like upgrades to a dated legacy phone system or costly downtime. You’ve seen that film before and it’s played out.  Instead, harness the power of cloud communications this summer and make your company a box office smash!

Are your pockets heavy? Are your pocketbook strings tethered from all the equipment you are toting around? Does a typical dinner out involve your three cell phones sitting next to your flatware? Ah… the trials and tribulations of being a one-man business.

The fact is that today’s budding entrepreneurs are forced to do more with less. They wear the sales, marketing and operations hats—in addition to the CEO cap. Moreover, they tend to technical support problems in addition to investor meetings. And the only way they can manage all of this is with three or four phones on hand.

Trying to figure out how you can get down to just one phone? Then say hello to Cloud Phone, your small business virtual phone system. Let’s take a closer look at what Cloud Phone offers:

• Scalability: Today you may be a one-person show, but three months from now you may have four individuals on payroll. Instead of paying for extra seats every time you scale—or for multiple phones—choose a small business virtual phone system that scales with you. With Basic, Plus and Pro plans, Cloud Phone allows you to easily add users to your system.
  
  
• Value-Add: Your personal iPhone may be great when it comes to Siri and apps, but you need a phone for your business that has enterprise-class features and capabilities. Cloud Phone allows you to compete aggressively with the big boys in your space with its plethora of value-adds. Features include instant conference calling, voicemail-to-email notification and professional call greetings, among others.
  
  
• Cost Savings: Keeping up with several phones is not only a nuisance; it can be a budgetary nightmare. With Cloud Phone, your fledgling company can enjoy initial and ongoing cost savings because your phone system is operated and maintained by Voxox, creators of Cloud Phone. This means you can say goodbye to upfront investments and repair and maintenance costs. You can also say goodbye to that hassle of managing multiple phones (which also affects your bottom line).

So… you ready to head to the trash can? Simplicity and affordability await!

As a small business owner you are probably an expert in turning a consistent profit even with relatively thin margins. By stretching your resources as far as they’ll go without overextending your bandwidth you’re able to strike a balance that allows you to thrive in a difficult market.

Photo Courtesy of Flikr User Sebastiaan ter Burg

But what if you could take a little bit of the pressure off? Wouldn’t it be nice to worry less about expenses and more about expanding your company? If you’ve been asking these questions recently, a cloud communications application may hold the answer. 

A cloud communications application gives you all the functionality of a traditional enterprise system without the hassle and cost. The system is maintained over the Internet, so you won’t have to pay for an expensive installation visit from a technician. You can get up-and-running in a matter of minutes and because you don’t need any hardware to use the phone service, you’ll never have to pay for equipment upkeep. 

A cloud communications application can also give your company a boost in productivity by sending callers to the right departments or extensions the first time through the automated attendant. With a fully-baked solution you get big business features like:

• A toll free business-specific phone number to give to customers and contacts
  
• Reach Me Anywhere technology that connects incoming business calls to you and your  
           employees anywhere you choose on any device
• Voicemail transcription that lets you read your voicemails when you can’t listen

Clouds typically reside in the sky, but with a cloud communications you can send your profits soaring skyward as well. With entrepreneurs like you adopting this technology in droves there is no doubt that cloud communications is the future of business.