CloudPhone Blog

Effective communication with clients is key to long-term business success. Small business owners are always thinking about new ways to reach and stay in touch with their customers – from social media to text to email to video chat. But even with all these new communication channels, savvy entrepreneurs know that their phone etiquette is critical to initiating and maintaining strong customer relationships.

So what exactly do your customers expect from your business with regards to phone communications and how can you provide it?  Here are three expectations that customers have and how to address them...

1. Customers Expect Businesses to Answer Promptly

• 3 out of 4 people think that calling is the most effective way to get a quick response – NewVoice
• 85 percent of people whose calls aren’t answered will not call back – message-direct.co.uk

Solution: Rather than relying on traditional business phones that require special equipment, professional setup, and a wall jack, switch to a virtual PBX service. Virtual PBX services (like Cloud Phone) enable you to get a dedicated business phone number online and route it to your mobile device. With some services, you can do this in just a few minutes. Virtual PBX features allow you to be responsive to your clients anytime, anywhere – giving them the service they crave.

1. Create a Professional Phone Presence

• 25 percent of customers feel they’re kept on hold too often – NewVoice
• More than half of callers get irritated if they don’t speak to the right contact immediately – NewVoice

Solution: Consider virtual numbers. Say you have several Etsy shops -- you can easily sign up for multiple virtual numbers and assign them to the different shops or product lines. Virtual numbers can be routed to the most relevant colleagues for each designated area of your business, even if they just have a mobile phone as their sole calling device. Virtual numbers are also very useful for geographically disbursed businesses. The seamless call routing, regardless of location, makes your business look ultra professional.

1. Provide Excellent Customer Service

• 66 percent of customers will switch companies because of poor customer service – Accenture
• 40 percent of customers will look to purchase from a competitor because of their reputation for great customer service – Zendesk

Solution: While we don’t know the answers to all of your customers’ questions, we do know that in many fields and types of business, providing a clear and simple way to reach you via phone is essential to having a strong reputation for customer service. Some questions are too complex to look up online, so customers prefer to call. Some customers like to sound out their questions and/or confirm they are getting the right information by calling. For the simpler inquiries, features like custom voicemail messages can be very useful as they allow you to share important information upfront, which, at times, takes care of the question right

1. Solve Problems Fast

• 62 percent of customers have to repeatedly contact a company to resolve an issue – Harvard Business Review
• 86 percent of people are happy to pay up to 25 percent more if they get the right customer experience – RightNow

Solution: Use features like "reach me" call forwarding, which dials multiple numbers on your list to reach you, as well as voicemail transcription with email and SMS notifications so that you are on top of the calls and voicemail messages you are receiving from customers. Take advantage of modern telephony conveniences to be instantly made aware of any major issues that your customers are experiencing and calling you about. With all these ways to stay in touch, there’s no reason to let a call go unanswered.

Phone etiquette is vital to the overall health of your small business. It does not take a lot of effort (nor money!) to provide effective, fast customer service, and the benefits will surprise you. Do you have any tips on effective voice strategies? Comment here or visit our social pages!

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.

As more employees use their personal devices for work-related purposes—known now as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)—the benefits and potential pitfalls of this trend are being debated. But the reality is that many workers are simply adopting the policy without asking anybody and companies are finding out on the fly that BYOD is now a part of their workplace environment.

If you have decided to embrace BYOD for your business—or if some of your employees have made the choice for you—there are a few key points to keep in mind: 

Adopt device agnostic technology
The point of BYOD is to give workers the chance to work on whatever device they feel comfortable with, thus increasing productivity. The strategy doesn’t make a lot of sense if your employees can’t access the information they need from a wide variety of devices. Consider a cloud-based phone service, for instance, that allows employees to access information from a laptop, smartphone or tablet. 

Establish best practices
Oftentimes, security issues and information breaches are the result of employees who simply aren’t aware of the risks inherent in accessing private, company information on a company device. Make sure workers understand their responsibilities with regard to guarding any device they have used for work and the importance of strong password protection.

Start a dialogue
If your workers are in favor of brining their own device, have an open conversation about their expectations for privacy. At some point, you may need to adopt monitoring solutions to protect your information and the quickest way to start workplace trouble is to do it without talking to employees first.

BYOD can provide companies with major benefits, from employee satisfaction to reduced expenses for company devices. If you take the necessary steps toward a successful policy, your company can reap those rewards. Now you are on your way!

Whether you are new in the field or a seasoned professional, working as an IT consultant presents a unique set of challenges. This line of work rarely conforms to a 9 to 5 schedule and because networks and computers are now an integral part of so many businesses and homes, customers seem increasingly demanding.

With this in mind, consultants need to equip themselves with the proper tools to successfully juggle the needs of all of their customers. One such tool is a small business virtual phone, which can be extraordinarily useful in helping you meet the challenges you face. Here’s how:

Stay reachable

Whether it's a concern about costly downtime or a fear of losing important data, computer problems can evoke an incredible sense of panic from customers. These issues don’t always crop up during traditional business hours, but many times they need to be resolved quickly. With a virtual business-specific phone number, you stay reachable at all times without giving your personal cell number to clients. This is crucial to achieving a better work-life balance.

Look professional 

Projecting an aura of professionalism is critical even for small and microbusinesses with limited resources. A small business virtual phone provides the features of a legacy system—digital text greetings, extensions, auto attendants and more—without all the hardware and complexity. This way, when a new corporate prospect calls while you are busy on another job, the potential client forms a good first impression.

Conserve your cash

As any independent consultants knows, maintaining a trim budget is critical to success because company expenses come out of your pocket. Renting an office and paying for a legacy PBX system can eat away at money that would be better used on new equipment or expanding your client base. A small business virtual phone like Cloud Phone by Voxox, can help slash your overhead and boost profit.

Even for tech wizards like you, a convenient solution like a virtual phone can help you operate more efficiently and as you know, everybody needs a little help sometimes. 

Have any questions or stories? Leave a comment below or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Google+.

When you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur, time is money, so wasting time just isn’t an option. If you are looking for tools that will help you handle all aspects of your business, from the mundane to the must-do, you’re looking in the right place.

New cloud-based software, apps and mobile technology built for all aspects of small business operations are the perfect solution to increase productivity and get more done in less time. They allow you to run your business like an enterprise, without the high price-tag. Here are our top picks for SMB tools that can save you time:

Communication

Virtual numbers, like those available through Voxox Cloud Phone, are convenient for small business owners and entrepreneurs who don't have a receptionist or the time to sit in an office and field phone calls. It’s like having a professional phone service right in your pocket! Phone calls to your business number (virtual number you select) are simply routed to your cell phone. Virtual numbers can come with flexible features like call forwarding, faxing capabilities, extension options, and auto assistant, to name a few - so make sure you check with the service provider to see what perks are available with their virtual numbers solution.

Transportation

Meeting with clients and business partners can be stressful, so using an app like Waze to make sure that you're never late for meetings and don't waste time in traffic can be very useful. Even Uber can be a great time saver when it comes to transportation. Set up a pick up time, plug in your destination, and pay all in just a few clicks -- plus, you won't have to worry about parking!

Accounting 

We all like to get paid, but creating invoices and expense reports are rarely at the top of our to-do list. Luckily, there are apps and software that make it easy to keep track of incoming and outgoing funds – TouchSuite, ZenPayroll and Xero are a few of our faves. Xero, for example, let's you send professional invoices, accept payment, track sales and income, create expense reports, and reimburse employees all from an app you can access from both your computer and mobile device -- perfect for those on-the-go. 

Marketing

Marketing is essential to growing your business, but without a dedicated marketing team it can be a lot of work and not something most business owners can dedicate time to. Automation apps and services, like Hootsuite, MailChimp and WordPress, have given us the ability to schedule social media posts, newsletters, mailings, blogs, etc. ahead of time, rather than having to stop everything and hit the "send" button, saving small business owners countless hours each week. 

Scheduling 

Online scheduling tools like Calendly are not only convenient for customers and clients, they are also a time-saver for busy business owners and employees. Body shops, hair stylists, nail salons -- basically any business that runs by appointment-- can benefit from an automated scheduling system that allows customers to see what times are available and claim a spot without ever calling into your business, holding up the phone line or even worse, taking up your or your employees’ time. 

Do you have a favorite tool that allows you to devote more time to your most important projects? Share with us on social media –  Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn.

It’s Friday afternoon and the beautiful weather has you dreaming about sneaking out of the office to meet your buddies for a quick round of golf. You’re entitled to a little work-life balance; you work hard to keep your company thriving.

But what if a critical business call comes in while you are out smacking that little white ball around? You simply can’t afford to leave your small business office without remaining reachable to clients and colleagues.

A cloud communications application lets you enjoy your afternoon round without worrying that you might be missing a crucial or message back at the office. When customers call your business-specific phone number, they are greeted by an auto attendant that presents them with menu options. If they need to speak with you directly, they simply punch in an extension—the same way they would with a wire-based enterprise system—and the call rings to your mobile device.

Additionally, a cloud communications application provides features like:

• Business-class voicemail-to-email notification
• Voicemail transcription
• Instant conference calling   
• Easily accessible and adjustable web-based settings

A cloud-based system is maintained by a third-party vendor, meaning it is inherently reliable even during storms or other disasters. Best of all, with just one low monthly service fee to pay each month, you avoid installation and maintenance costs as well.

So as you’re making pars and birdies this summer, ensure you have the tools necessary to keep your company headed straight down the fairway. Because sometimes when you sneak out of the office and onto the golf course, important business follows you right out onto the first tee.

When you call your cable provider with a billing question or a major retail corporation for product information, what do you expect to hear?

First, you will probably receive an automated greeting, thanking you for calling the company’s contact center. Next, there will probably be a list of extension options to help you reach whatever department you need. At that point you’ll be connected to the department you choose and will either speak with a company employee or leave a voicemail if no one is available.

As the owner of your own microbusiness, you’d love it if you could greet your customers like a Fortune 500 Company. Unfortunately, there simply isn’t room in your budget to project that kind of corporate image…right? As a matter of fact, a small business phone system can give you a big business presence at a price you can manage. With a phone system designed specifically for businesses like yours, you can get:

• A free business-specific local phone number you can give to customers instead of your personal mobile number
• An auto-attendant that welcomes callers with a greeting you can customize digitally
• Extensions you can designate for various departments or individuals within your company 

In addition to this impressive functionality, cloud-based phone systems are maintained by the vendor, meaning you will avoid installation and maintenance costs. You pay one low monthly bill for a suite of features sure to impress prospects and existing clients alike. Systems maintained in the cloud also make settings accessible through the Web which allows you to access and adjust your settings at any time.

So if you’ve been holding off on adopting a small business phone system for your company, keep in mind that although the best things in life might not always be free, they aren’t prohibitively expensive either.

Starting your own business can be thrilling, nerve-wracking, and terrifying—all at once. While no secret formula for guaranteed success exists, common characteristics are pervasive in many of these startups and the entrepreneurs who created them. Here are a few:

Discipline

Most new businesses have limited resources and have to disperse them with great care. Don’t waste money printing 5,000 business cards for two employees operating a company from a living room and don’t waste cash on a complex, legacy phone system when a small business virtual phone has everything you’ll need.

Delegation

You are going to learn pretty quickly that once you have even a bit of success, it’s going to be difficult to do everything yourself. You have to be able to delegate work and trust that it will get done correctly and to do that, you have to make the right hires. Don’t skimp on background checks and the interview process  so that you can be as close to 100 percent sure about a candidate before making a commitment.

Drive

A strong work ethic is important in any job but is particularly pervasive in founders of new businesses. You have to be willing to put in some long days but also have the focus to know where your energy needs to be directed at any given time.

Dedication

It’s a near certainty that you are going to hit some hiccups as a startup and that some sacrifices will be necessary. Although the most successful startups have created billionaires, initially founders and CEOs don’t rake in the big bucks. In fact, 66 percent of Silicon Valley founders pay themselves less than $50,000 per year. But if you truly believe in what you are selling, after a few years of modest earning you may find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

‘Daptability

OK fine: We cheated a little here. But adaptability is so important we couldn’t leave it out. To achieve startup success, you have to be flexible in your approach to product development, branding strategy and pretty much anything else. No business plan goes 100 percent perfectly; the key is making sound adjustments as you go.

Have another ‘D’ that’s essential for startups? Let us know in the comment section! 

Independent consultants are busy people. Phone calls are coming in, client requests are being made and keeping up with the workflow can be a challenge in itself. So, when it comes to business communications you need something reliable and professional -- with customization capabilities that work for you. 

To get all these features, you might think you're stuck with an expensive centralized phone system, but you're wrong. We know independent consultants have unique schedules and work environments -- whether you're on the go, or have co-workers all around the country who connect remotely, or because it's just you in your home office. With all these factors in mind, you probably don't have the need for a phone tied to a physical location. So,what's the solution to your individual situation and communication needs? A customized phone system that connects directly to the mobile phone you already have.

Here's how phone customization can help improve the life of a busy consultant:

1 - Separation of business and personal identities

Many consultants often have one or a couple of co-workers in the business, but would prefer to have the image of a bigger business. Having a distinct business phone line and voicemail greeting that establishes your consulting business as a separate entity from you personally with a voicemail greeting that speaks to a more professional image, and may win customer trust more easily.

2 - Improved focus balanced with communication needs

Oftentimes, consultants are working on a project that requires a chunk of time with heavy focus. Customization of phone settings allows for minimal disruptions at the times that matter most. This includes receiving voicemail transcriptions, instead of picking up calls and setting notifications to email only so that texts don't distract from the focus-heavy project.

3 - Time savings through efficiency and better coordination

When a consultant has multiple co-workers or business partners working for the same clients, it might be easiest to set up extensions through the business line so that the caller can use the auto-attendant to reach the appropriate person at the business, without having to look up a bunch of phone numbers. Oftentimes, consultants work from their home office, so these extensions can be life-savers in coordinating communication without a "middle-man".

4 - More professional business image

There are many ways that customizing your phone presence can make your business look bigger and more professional. Perks to customization include: getting your business a toll free number that's easy to remember; routing your calls to multiple calling devices, if that's your preference; customizing your business message to say exactly what you need it to say right now, and more.  

Does your current phone system let you do all this? If not, it's time to make the switch and see how customization can help you boost your productivity and provide better communication between you, your team and your clients. Comment here if you have more ideas on how to improve business phone communications.

Contrary to what you’ve heard your entire life, when it comes to business, what you don’t know can hurt you. If you own a small business and haven’t taken time to investigate how a cloud-based phone service can benefit your company, that lack of knowledge is most certainly hurting your bottom line.

A cloud communications application essentially replaces a legacy wire-based phone system, giving you all the same functionality and none of the hassle or unnecessary expense. With just your personal mobile number you can start to configure the system immediately over the Internet. You don’t need any technical expertise or savvy—all you need is a desire to improve your critical business processes. If you are intent on sticking with a traditional phone service, you’ll miss out on:

Big savings

A cloud communications application is maintained by a third party over the Web, meaning you don’t have to pay for installation or equipment upkeep. In exchange for a full suite of features you receive just one low monthly bill.

Customer satisfaction

Features like an auto attendant, virtual extensions, voicemail-to-email notification and voicemail transcription ensure your customers can reach you when an important issue crops up. Your key targets will feel comfort knowing you’re within arm’s length if an emergency occurs, meaning they’ll likely stick around for the long term.

Mobility

Mobile working is a staple of today’s business environment. A cloud communications application facilitates smarter on-the-go business by giving you access to your phone system from anywhere on any device without dialing into a complex office system.

If the idea of adopting a cloud communications application hasn’t occurred to you until now, have no fear, because today is as good a time as any to get started. While the summer is a great time to hit the beach, as a business owner, you simply can’t afford to bury your head in the sand.