CloudPhone Blog

Above all else—including even financial resources—small business owners are short on time.  After all, when you are in charge of customer service, billing, sales, product development and everything else under the sun, the 24 hours in a day don’t seem like enough. 

A small business phone system can help you reclaim some of that precious time. Here’s how: 

1. If you’re concerned that you might miss a critical call if you step out of the office for a client meeting, cloud communications helps alleviate that fear. The technology lets you forward calls to any of your devices, meaning you’ll never miss anything important. In other words, you can do business without being chained to a desk all day with a simple small businss virtual phone number.
2. Instant conference calling allows you to set up meetings on the spot and collaborate with colleagues seamlessly.  This allows you to have meetings without being in the same room and increases your ability to multi-task.
3. Whenever the word “installation” is mentioned people tend to think of technicians spending hours in the office.  But with a cloud communications application, all you need is a mobile phone number to get up-and-running in just one minute.

Getting some time back in the day will take some pressure off and perhaps even give you a chance to eat your lunch sitting down every once in awhile. The popular saying holds that “time is money,” but for small business owners, a little extra time may also mean sanity.   

Virtual numbers have some powerful features that can help you convey a professional image and drum up business. From giving the impression you’re a local business in more than one region, to creating the perception of a larger corporation overall, to keeping your personal and work lines separate, virtual numbers allow you to create the type of "phone presence" that your business needs to succeed—without breaking the bank.

If you’re not savvy to all the ways virtual numbers can improve your business communications, or even what a virtual number is, read on for answers to all your burning questions…

1. What is a virtual number?

A virtual number is a telephone number (or "DID") that is not directly associated with a calling device or telephone line. Typically, virtual numbers forward incoming calls to pre-set mobile, landline or VoIP phone numbers that are associated with specific calling devices. Business professionals can opt to have one or many virtual numbers route to a single phone or multiple phones, based on their business needs.

2. How does a virtual number work?

Once you choose your virtual numbers, you must set them to route to phone numbers that are directly linked to a calling device, such as your cell phone. The virtual number provider typically has a portal for the set-up process. With Cloud Phone, for example, this takes less than a couple of minutes to set up.

Once the virtual number is set to forward to your calling device of choice, callers will be able to reach you through that number at that device. If you don't pick up the call, they typically will be routed to a separate voicemail that you can set up with the appropriate message, based on the goals of your virtual number strategy.  Some services, like Cloud Phone, also offer voicemail transcription for virtual numbers to make retrieving voicemails as easy as possible.

3. How do I make calls from my virtual number?

It's also possible to make a call from a virtual number. Some services will allow you to dial the virtual number and then, when prompted, dial the number of the person you’d like to call. Another option that may be offered through your virtual number provider is "web call back" where you enter both numbers into a web form and the two calls are bridged together instantly to create an outgoing phone call. The recipient will see your virtual number on their caller ID – just like any other call.

4. Why do I need a virtual number?

Having a separate phone number (or numbers) for your business can be essential to maintaining a professional image, but carrying around two mobile devices or being tied to a desk just isn’t convenient or cost-effective for many types of businesses. A virtual phone number lets you stay connected on business matters, while still keeping your personal communication on the same device. Also, you can gain strategic benefits through virtual numbers. For example, when selecting numbers to represent your business, you can choose phone numbers with area codes you want to do business in to help you build relationships with customers and potential clients in those areas. You can also opt for toll free numbers if there is no regional benefit to you, but you'd like the number to be memorable and professional.

From looking bigger to appearing local, virtual numbers can give you the edge your business needs to grow. Here are some additional resources on the benefits of virtual numbers for business:

Make Your Small Business Look Bigger With Virtual Numbers

4 Reasons You May Want a Virtual Number

The holiday season is a time to put work aside in favor of fun with friends and family, but sometimes, especially for small business owners, that’s not always possible. Luckily, with Cloud Phone, you can travel for the holidays and do work too!

Since Cloud Phone is a virtual phone system that connects directly to the mobile device you already own, it doesn't matter where you go to celebrate the holidays!  Whether you're on your couch with a warm mug of eggnog or in the Bahamas getting a winter tan, you can stay connected with your team and your clients, if you need to be.

Because Cloud Phone was made for business communications it comes with a ton of professional features that are perfect for travel and most importantly, features that allow you to enjoy your time with your friends and family. Here are our favorite features for getting business done when traveling:

Auto Attendant: The Auto Attendant is the center of automation for your virtual phone system.  With an auto attendant answering your calls, you don’t have to do a thing until you’re ready (quite handy during the holiday season, right?). Callers are welcomed by your company greeting and then presented with menu options in order to reach company extensions that route to other members of your team or forward to other phone numbers where you may be traveling to (even international). This can be particularly useful when you have VIP clients who need help over the holidays and you've promised to be available, or perhaps switching off "on call duty" with a business partner.

Voicemail Transcription: Voicemails are automatically transcribed and sent to your email so you can candidly read the message and decide if it’s urgent enough to pause Elf or to put down the hot toddy.

Call Screening:  Advanced call settings allow you to customize how your inbound calls are handled. You can require callers to speak their name before the system connects them to you. This allows you to discretely screen unwanted callers, particularly if you are only taking select business calls while with family. Alternatively you can set up your system to immediately connect callers to you without screening. In either case, simple controls allow you to accept or reject the call.

Business SMS: Texting is a fast and easy way to communicate, and now with Cloud Phone’s free two-way business texting, you can use it without having to check your business email (and get fully engrossed in work) during the holidays. If an urgent matter arises, try to tackle it via text as not to disrupt your family’s annual gingerbread house building competition.

For a list of all Cloud Phone features, go to the Features page.

Peace of mind is important during the holidays, and small business owners deserve it too!   Comment here to tell us your favorite Cloud Phone features that will help your business run smoothly during the holiday season - we'd love to hear from you!

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!

As a small business owner and budding entrepreneur, you may live in a world of trepidation and skepticism. After all, securing VC funding, identifying angel investors and fine tuning your value proposition are no small feats. Throw in the fact that you need to determine which route to take technologically and your journey becomes even more challenging.

But one decision you make without worry is going all-in one the cloud, because the truth is that we are just scratching the surface when it comes to cloud communications. Just consider the following statistics aggregated by Silicon Angle: 

• By 2015, end-user spending on cloud services could be more than $180 billion
• By the end of this year, US businesses will spend more than $13 billion on cloud computing and managed hosting services
• 80 percent or cloud adopters reported improvements within six months of moving to the cloud

The benefits afforded by cloud communications run deep, which is why the cloud is no longer a possibility for the future but very much a movement of the present. One of the first moves fledgling companies are making in migrating to the cloud is adopting cloud-based phone systems. After all, businesses live and die by their ability to remain connected with their key stakeholders.

Entrusting your phone system with a cloud provider does not have to be a daunting task. In fact, teaming with the right provider opens up a door to infinite possibilities and advantages such as:

• Cost savings—instead of paying for the hardware, upgrades and maintenance associated with supporting your own business phone system you can rely on your provider to handle the CAPEX spend
• Increased functionality—such as a local telephone number, professional greeting and toll free number are all possible thanks to cloud communications
• A Leveled Playing Field—cloud communications lowers the barrier to entry for small businesses, allowing them to enjoy the same differentiators as large enterprises at the fraction of a cost.

Are you ready to make the jump into cloud communications but unsure of where to begin? Then click here so we can help you get started!

All signs indicate that the mobile forecast for the next few years is cloudy and getting cloudier. According to a recent Cisco study, we’re looking at an 11-fold increase in mobile cloud traffic by 2018. And cloud applications will account for 90 percent of mobile data by that same year. Business leaders everywhere are embracing cloud technology and trusting it to facilitate an increasing number of essential services 

So, what’s all the fuss about cloud technology? For starters, the cloud is incredibly easy to install and maintain. An enterprise might have several apps and thousands of end users spread across the globe. Apps need to be updated and installed on mobile devices—and this can easily be accomplished right in one location and distributed to remote employees or customers.

The cloud is also cost effective. Without the cloud, a company has to pay for the necessary licenses for each end user in order to grant access to software. But with cloud technology a company can purchase licenses on an as needed, per usage basis. This number can be easily scaled when needed to accommodate sudden spikes or lulls in business.

Cloud communications are of course a big driver of mobile cloud traffic growth as remote working picks up speed and home offices become increasingly common. Cloud-based phone services are ideal for these mobile and remote workers, creating a seamless transition from traditional brick-and-mortar environments to effective collaboration from almost anywhere.

 The bottom line is that for a host of reasons, mobile cloud data traffic is booming with no end in sight. Are you ready to get your head in the cloud?

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.

Summer is the most popular time for couples to say “I do.” But while wedding vows are meant to last a lifetime, the technology that powers your business shouldn’t stick around for better or for worse.

Just like marriage, communications are complicated. Consider everything involved with wedding planning. Coordinating all of that is enough work to keep the bride, groom, their families and a few hired professionals busy for months, but your small business phone service doesn't have to be. 

Similarly, business communications can be frighteningly complex. In a globalized marketplace, vital information is exchanged over a wide swath of channels, often at a frenetic pace. Legacy phone systems— which frequently experience downtime – are challenging for many businesses.

Enter solutions like Voxox’s Cloud Phone. These cloud-based phone systems are served over the Internet, meaning they are significantly faster and more accessible than their legacy competitors. With integrated features like peer-to-peer voice and video calls, large file transfer and total access to a company’s directory, they provide all the benefits of legacy systems and then some.

But the biggest perk of cloud-based phone services is their price. Unlike many weddings, where you get what you pay for, solutions like Cloud Phone offer their array of features under a monthly service rate that might be as little as one of their legacy competitors’ fees. Also consider that their monthly rate includes reliable support and troubleshooting, without any of the added expense of hardware maintenance. 

All told, cloud-based phone systems can be a match made in heaven for businesses of any size. Partnering with a provider like Voxox might just lead your business to a happily ever after.

Recently, Voxox Director of Marketing, Ron Kinkade, was quoted in a report by telecom comparison team Software Advice on how technical language could influence VoIP adoption and utilization.

Software Advice sat down with Ron for an in-depth interview on this subject. Some of the key points discussed were:

• If you're in the market for a service and feel like you don’t understand the tech language for the solution it provides, it might not be the right fit for your business. 
• The size of your business matters when determing whether you need to be more familiar with the jagon of service level requirements. The larger your business, the higher your understanding and knowledge will have to be as well.
• Technology services have improved to provide better tools for small businesses without dedicated experts of technical lanuage.
• In order to get the most ROI, you have to understand all the costs involved in VoIP. SIP trunking could save you money, if it's properly managed. 
• The language of Unified Communications becomes more simplified as it gets widespread. The message to reach more markets successfully. 

Here's the full Q&A:

1. How much of the technical language of VoIP do businesses need to understand to make an informed decision when purchasing an IP telephony solution?

For the mass market (<20 seats) I think it’s less about the language and more about why a business is looking for a solution in the first place. Is it lower cost? Features? Mobility? Most of these consumers are focused on cost & reliability first, features and functionality second. I think companies in this space should focus on finding a partner with a strong reputation for simplicity, excellent support, and straight-forward pricing.

When you get into the larger markets, where you might be dealing with IT professionals, multiple locations,  or with additional service needs - the same reasons ‘why’ still apply. However, companies are putting more at risk in choosing a provider and as such, should educate themselves more before finding the partner that provides them with the service level requirements they need.

In short, as a customer if you feel you don’t understand what a company is selling you - then they might not be the right fit for your business. 

2. How much of the technical language of VoIP do businesses need to understand to administer their phone systems and manage their voice networks? What solutions are available for businesses that don't have the resources to perform these tasks themselves?

Again, it depends on the size of the business and what type of solution they are looking for. Most businesses with less than 10 seats aren’t going to need a high level of knowledge, while larger businesses will want to familiarize themselves with service related language. There are a wide variety of Hosted PBX options in this space that simplify the management of devices and numbers. VoIP providers offer a variety of options for small or large businesses when it comes to administration or customization, including dedicated support, onsite training/installation, and SLA’s for some businesses. There are 3rd party consultants in the space that are available as well.

3. How are technologies and services evolving to serve smaller businesses without dedicated IT staff to help with purchasing and administering solutions? How do app-based models like Voxox's help to address the needs of this market segment?

While technology can sometimes complicate an offering, when done right it automates and simplifies. Support is making a comeback and better tools are available to help customers. Online management portals are getter better UI’s, support is becoming more accessible with social/helpdesk/crm tools. The entire purchase process can now be done online without the need for a quote and timely. At Voxox, we offer a full range of telephony services including mobile/desktop apps for consumers, Cloud Phone and Hosted PBX for small business, as well as wholesale/carrier services.

4. What aspects of VoIP technology do businesses need to understand to maximize ROI with SIP trunking?

Now we’re wandering into acronym land… Anytime you talk about ROI, you need to understand all of the costs involved. Cost of hardware, cost of service, cost of support, cost of maintenance. At a high level, you save with SIP because you don’t have to over provision lines at your locations and reduce hardware costs. Fewer PRIs (primary rate interface) or T1s. SIP offers affordability and flexibility. However a poorly managed SIP setup can be just as costly. The real ROI comes from adopting a centralized architecture, improved security, and the benefits of a well managed SBC (session border controller)

5. How will the language of Unified Communications shift as providers expand their offerings in the SMB space? Will this expansion also involve technological innovations?

It becomes simplified and more widely understood. To reach more markets successfully, providers have to simplify the messaging. There will likely be technical innovations, more automation, more controls. Not long ago, the concept of “the cloud” didn’t exist - now it’s a mainstream term. Saas, Big Data.

It’s no coincidence that all phone commercials stress their competitive pricing, but only cloud-based phone services really provide just that.

Phone systems are an expense many businesses consider a foregone conclusion and a sunk cost. Additionally, downtime, hidden fees, and lackluster support are considered norms. But traditional providers sticking to that old-fashioned model are in for a rude awakening, because there’s a new sheriff in town—small business virtual phones.

By offering service maintained by a host over the Internet, a small business virtual phone lets businesses slash hardware installation and maintenance expenses. Cloud technology also makes the service more reliable and less vulnerable to disasters. Better yet, the monthly fee associated with the service is peanuts!  

Small business phone service also take all the business features of a legacy enterprise system and make them accessible from the one thing professionals almost always have in front of them: their smartphones. Those features include:

• A digital text box for customized greetings that can be adjusted quickly on the fly
• Voicemail transcription that lets you read messages when listening isn’t an option
• Reach Me Anywhere call forwarding that ensures you are reachable anywhere
• Instant conference calling that facilitates better collaboration
• A business-specific number that you can start giving to clients right away

To review, small business virtual phone systems are less expensive than legacy service, and they are feature-rich. They are easier and faster to install and more convenient to use and maintain.

Remind us: why exactly would any business want to stick with a legacy system?