Cool Tools For Your Tool Box

• Posted by:
• Whitney Brooks
• No Comments

If you haven’t yet decided to make the switch to VoIP service for your business telephone needs, here are a few tools that your business toolbox desperately needs:

Voicemail to Email
Do you know anybody these days that actually checks their voicemails regularly? I surely don’t and I personally tend to put off checking voicemails until I absolutely have to, as if the plague is going to be seeping from my phone to my ear when I do. It’s terrible really, but I honestly prefer to read a text message or email over listening to somebody talk endlessly on a voicemail. For personal life, this isn’t an issue for me and everybody who calls me has seemed to get the hint. For business life though, my phone is my lifeline and voicemails are a necessary part of it. However, having my voicemails sent directly to my email, to listen to with the click of my mouse has given me a new appreciation for those little nuggets of gold. I don’t even have to be in my office to check my voicemails now, or dial into my voicemail from my cell phone afterhours, remembering what my code and passcode are. Without this feature, the plague would surely have me.

Simultaneous Ring & Find Me Follow Me
Plenty of great and ingenious business folk are able to sit still and quietly work away at their desks, solving the problems of the world with each click of their computer. I am, however, not made from the same great stuff. I pace, and think out loud, listen to the breeze in the air outside while trying to think of solutions, and all in all spend little appreciable time working in my actual office. My cell phone rests nicely in my pocket, and when my business phone rings I no longer have to make a mad dash to my office only to answer the call panting and out of breath while wincing in pain from inevitably stubbing my toe on the corner of the chair. Now, when my I get a call on my business phone, I have my cell phone set up to ring 5 seconds after if the call isn’t answered. My toes have become some happy piggy’s with this feature, and I don’t always sound out of breath anymore.

Conference Rooms
I can’t count the number of times I’ve had meetings scheduled and rescheduled, only to be rescheduled again. It is increasingly difficult to get everybody together at the same time and day to meet face to face to have a quick one hour weekly meeting. There is definitely still a need for those in person meetings in business life, but it is becoming less and less important in day to day business affairs. I would rather take advantage using conference rooms through my VoIP service and be able to make those meetings happen each and every time, ensuring that my team is always on the same page, than have to waste time on finding a time where everybody can be present, on the same day, and in the same place. I don’t have to work around people’s travel schedules anymore and can get a conference call started within minutes if I need to and everybody simply has access to a cell phone if not their business phone.

Auto-attendants
Now that I am spoiled with how easy it is to utilize to an auto-attendant for business purposes, I can’t imagine life without one (or 5!). Business life would simply just have to end. I remember years ago while at work, and the phone would ring, over and over, and the customers on the other end of the line would ask the same question. I would have the same conversation 3o times an hour, to answer if we would be closed on this holiday or if our hours changed, whatever the reason was, and that would be it. The customers who were calling with other inquiries never seemed to make it through. Fast forward to now and you better believe that when you call my business, an auto-attendant is the first thing you hear, greeting and thanking you for calling us and prompting you to make your selection on who you need to speak with. If anything changes that I need anybody who calls to know, I add it to my auto-attendant. If we close early for an unforeseen reason, my auto-attendant will inform you. If we are going to close for an upcoming holiday, HELLO auto-attendant, you are my best friend. My business sounds professional and legitimate with it, and I reap the benefits of not having to answer ‘house-keeping’ questions over and over again.