HostMyCall.com, VOIP for your Small BusinessHostMyCall.com, VOIP for your Small Business

A Hosted PBX Service or VoIP Services Costs Less Than You Might Think!

Because of the unique method iMS uses to manage and distribute HostMyCalls, small businesses can benefit from awesome PBX communication capabilities without buying them.

 

Affordable on Almost Any Small Business Budget!

Siemens Gigaset and ACD Give Your Parts Desk Staff Added Mobility

March 11th, 2011

The Problem

Companies, who sell parts to the general public, may have parts desk employees who have a difficult time checking parts, processing calls and handling walk-in customers. Employees frequently have to leave the desk and place calls on hold checking for part availability. While they are away from their desk and phone, calls are left on hold for extended periods of time and other calls are missed. Potential customers, left on hold, may hang up and call a competitor. Unanswered calls may go to a competitor and waste the marketing money used to get the call.

The work environment creates stress on parts desk employees. As they return from checking on a part, they may be faced with customers at their desk and new calls ringing their phone while they are responding to the original caller. Upset customers may add to their stress and deter future business.

HostMyCalls Solution

HostMyCalls Hosted PBX Service offers several potential solutions for parts desks. Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) can stack waiting calls and distribute them in the order they were received to the next available employee. This process ensures calls are handled efficiently and encourages callers to be patient.

Our Hosted PBX Service also features the widely popular Siemens Gigaset cordless phones. These phones have a usage range of up to 175 feet from their base station indoors and 900 feet outdoors. Their range will allow parts desk employees to continue processing calls while they are away from their desk. Calls managed by the Hosted PBX ACD application can be delivered to the Gigasets.

HostMyCalls Hosted PBX Service also offers its Flexicall feature. Flexicall integrates mobile phones to ring simultaneously with desk phones. Mobile phones can handle calls similar to a desk phone. Flexicall allows employee access to company calls anywhere they can find cell service.

Customers are no longer put on hold while checking parts availability with the use of ACD, Gigaset cordless phones and/or Flexicall. In addition, calls can be answered while the parts staff are away from their desk. As they return, they are ready to answer the next call or walk-in customer. Calls spend less time on hold and are handled more quickly. Each employee can process more calls and generate more business for the company. Fewer callers are turned away to competitors by long hold and ring times. Quicker call processing leads to more satisfied callers and a less stressful work environment.

Hosted PBX services offer the ability to implement advanced solutions such as those mentioned above with little or no capital expenditure. In many cases, companies can save money overall on their telecommunications costs while implementing these solutions.

 

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Posted in ACD, Cell Phone, Hosted PBX, HostMyCalls Services, Mobile PBX, VoIP SIP Telephone | No Comments »

Call Recording for Business Telephone Systems – Advantages and Benefits

March 10th, 2011

Recording all business voice calls, once only deployed in large call centers and the financial sector, is becoming popular among an increasingly diverse group of industries. The following is a partial list of some of the many uses and benefits of recording calls:

Reduce Customer Conflict When customers and employees know that their calls have been recorded, they are less likely to embellish the details of conversations related to conflict. If an employee is accused of rude behavior, the call can be heard by management and sent to the customer or the employee for review.

Increase Employee Professionalism Employees will focus on handling calls correctly, if they have an expectation that their calls will be monitored by management. To build that expectation, managers should routinely comment on the recorded calls that they have heard. Managers do not need to hear every call, they only need to listen to one periodically for each employee and give some feedback.

Improve Customer Service Recorded calls are an invaluable tool for customer service training. Specific calls can be replayed with feedback. Superior call examples can be used in training classes as well as examples of what not to do. Skills assessments can be performed on calls to rate performance. And managers can determine which skills need training the most.

Legal Support Recorded calls can aid in legal proceedings. They are easily emailed to counsel or copied to memory stick devices. It is wise to make sure the calls were recorded in accordance with federal and state laws. If the parties were located in multiple states, make sure the laws of every state involved were followed.

Create Discipline for Making Calls Departments, like outside sales, are frequently required to make prospecting calls. One of the toughest jobs of sales managers is getting salespeople to make these calls. The problem can be exacerbated when the salespeople work out of their homes or other offices. Managers can listen to recorded calls to make sure each salesperson is making the required quantity and quality of prospecting calls. IP enabled phone systems and some Hosted PBX Services can record calls giving managers the ability to listen to calls of salespeople working from home or other offices.

Reduce Personal Calls Personal calls not only distract the employee from their work, but they may also take up valuable office resources including use of telephone lines and long distance minutes. Recording calls virtually eliminates all personal calls from the company’s telephone system.

Capture Threatening Calls Threatening calls can be recorded for further analysis or be passed on to law enforcement.

Verify Order Details Companies that take orders by telephone may record calls to verify order details. Inaccurate orders can reflect poorly on customer service, damage customer goodwill, lose business and increase delivery costs including product manufacturing and shipping. Calls can be reviewed randomly or systematically to ensure each agent’s order accuracy and improve customer service.

Reduce Management Managers can more efficiently supervise and train their employees with call recording. More efficient managers can either handle additional employees or focus on improving the productivity and skill of each of their workers.

Regulatory Compliance Some financial service industries are now mandated to record calls. Other industries may not be subject to a required call recording, but doing so has become a defacto practice of the respected companies in that business sector.

Once only available to companies with large wallets, technology advancements have made call recording and storage economically available to many businesses. Hosted services such as Hosted PBX systems have bridged the gap to the small business. Regardless of the company’s size, call recording offers efficiency, accuracy and protection.

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Posted in ACD, Hosted PBX, Hosted VoIP, HostMyCalls Services | 2 Comments »

Hosted PBX – Top 8 Reasons It is Perfect for a Startup Business

March 8th, 2011

Startup businesses need services that are inexpensive, scalable in design and will promote their growth.  Further, they need a communication system that is easy to manage, provides seamless communication even when all workers are not in the same office, gives outside callers the feel of a company with depth, moves easily and enables its users to wear many hats.  Enter Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP services.

Here are 8 reasons Hosted PBX services are perfect for a startup business:

1.  Most services only require the purchase of VoIP phones instead of central equipment including cabinets, cards and the labor to install associated with a traditional telephone system.  Without the central equipment, Hosted PBX services significantly lower capital required for a new phone system.

2.  Some Hosted PBX service bundle free outbound long distance making monthly telephone service costs more predictable and steady.

3.  They connect users in diverse locations into a seamless communication system reducing or eliminating the need for office space.  Less or no office space translates to reduced rent, utility bills, furniture and insurance.

4.  If the startup entrepreneur can work out of their home, then they spend less time in the commute and more time on developing their business.

5.  The addition and deletion of phones is effortless.

6.  The startup can test new market areas by simply publishing a local number in that area.  The local number can ring on any of their phones located anywhere.  For example, a company located in Atlanta can publish local telephone numbers in Dallas that ring on their phones in Atlanta.

7.  The Mobile PBX option of premium Hosted PBX services will pass calls on to mobile phones when the called party does not answer their desk phone.  Enabling the Mobile PBX feature will increase the chances of calls being answered by a live person without having to hire someone to be assigned to a desk.

8.  Startup businesses must not appear as a new company with limited resources.  Calls answered by general company voicemail boxes project a small company appearance.  Hosted PBX services increase the chances of calls being answered by a live body.  In addition, they provide auto attendants and individual voicemail boxes which convey a professional image.

Hosted PBX services from VoIP providers are perfect for the startup business.  They provide communication services that are inexpensive, scalable in design and foster the growth of the business.  They are easy to manage, provide seamless communication even when all workers are not in the same office, give outside callers the feel of a company with depth, move easily and enable its users to wear many hats.

 

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Posted in Hosted PBX, Hosted VoIP, Mobile PBX, VoIP | No Comments »

Net Neutrality – The Pot-holed Road to Nowhere

March 1st, 2011

If you have been following the Net Neutrality drama that started at the FCC and has now spread to the courts and Congress, you may find yourself emotionally attached to one side of the argument. Pro-Neutrality observers side against the large telecommunication conglomerates that control large portions of the Internet and can identify with the common man wanting unhindered Internet. Others do not like government meddling and want the FCC and Congress to keep their hands off especially when nothing seems to be broken.

Setting emotions and biases aside, one must recognize that both sides have good arguments. The rules passed by the FCC do seem to be carefully crafted. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operate in a near monopolistic environment which creates the opportunity for abuse. ISPs could hamper the traffic of rivals and effectively squash any innovation that they oppose.

On the other hand, there is a lack of any significant detrimental network management practices affecting the Internet experience. From personal experience, my company’s Hosted PBX service, which competes with the services of many large ISPs, has thrived without any regulation whatsoever. In fact, the Internet has developed to where it is today without any Net Neutrality rules. No one has been able to argue that the Internet would be better if these rules were in place at any point in the past.

Both sides have their problems, as well. The federal government has an unmistakable knack for making a mess of anything it touches. On the flip side, a member of the United States Congress, sounding eerily similar to a Verizon lawyer, can make the least judgmental shift uncomfortably in their seat.

After reading dozens of opinions both for and against Net Neutrality and much careful consideration, I have come to the opinion that there is no right answer. The whole debate is a road covered with teeth-rattling, bone-jarring pot holes that leads to nowhere.

Len Grace seems to agree. In his article Abandon Net Neutrality Rules and Focus on Broadband Proliferation, he says “the FCC continues to go down a dead-end road with Net Neutrality rules which increases distraction and turmoil within the telecommunications industry.” In fact, the Net Neutrality argument may be distracting the FCC from a more worthwhile objective of increasing broadband competition and broadband access to all Americans.

Increased broadband access will benefit all Americans, commercially and privately. That is obvious. Increased broadband access and competition should have another impact. If Internet consumers have multiple ISP choices, will they be as likely to choose an ISP that is blocking, slowing down or manipulating Internet traffic? If prices and plans are equal, the answer is probably not. In other words, free market forces can regulate Net Neutrality if healthy competition is in place.

Right or wrong, the FCC started the Net Neutrality debate and it is getting a lot of time, attention and money from both public and private interests. The debate may last for months if not years creating an extended period of uncertainty. Uncertainty in broadband regulation will not encourage broadband investment. Broadband regulation will not likely encourage it, either. Regardless, the argument has become a distracting spectacle. Instead, what if the debate in Congress with guidance from the FCC was centered on how to increase broadband access and availability through public and private investment in these economically challenging times? That could foster healthy broadband competition, help secure America’s competitiveness and would be positive, forward-thinking leadership.

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Top 7 Causes of for a Slow Internet Connection

February 15th, 2011

Here are the most frequent causes of a slow Internet connections:

1. Faulty electrical connection near Internet modem/router. Faulty electrical connections can be caused by bad cabling and loose connections. If it’s a cable modem, the modem must be attached to the first cable split and preferably the connection with the greatest signal level. If it’s a DSL circuit, no other cables should attach to the circuit between the telephone company box and the DSL splitter.

2. DSL circuit frequency interference. If it’s a DSL circuit, interference from other circuits in the telephone company’s cable bundle can cause packet loss, latency and outages. T1 circuits are prone for causing problems. T1 circuits installed in neighbors’ offices can interfere with DSL.

3. Interference from WiFi radio in Internet Modem/Router. Some Internet companies supply modems and routers with built-in WiFi access point capabilities. The built-in access point can be convenient, but it can play havoc with the modem/router itself. WiFi operates in the 2.4 Ghz frequency range. That is the same for many cordless phones and microwaves. Using any 2.4 Ghz device in close proximity to the WiFi enabled modem/router can overload the receive side of a WiFi radio and could cause many problems including device resets. This is true even if the WiFi is not being used as long as the radio is turned on. Make sure the WiFi radio is turned off in software programming for any Internet modem/router. If WiFi is needed, install a stand alone access point.

4. Virus, Worm or Trojan on a PC. Viruses, worms and Trojans can do more than just slow down a PC, they can slow down an entire network. Depending on what they are doing, they can be sending out significant network traffic that can slow down an internal network and give the appearance that the Internet is slow. They can also be sending traffic out to the Internet which would indeed slow down the Internet because they are consuming such a large quantity of bandwidth. It is wise to check PCs for malware anytime a network is slow for no apparent reason.

5. Quality of Service (QoS) Parameters Are Not Set Appropriately for the Available Internet Speed. When Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is being used as well as other realtime data applications, many companies install/program QoS parameters into their Internet routers. One field in the configuration is the amount of available bandwidth. The router must know this in order to know when it is time to employ packet prioritization. It also means that the router will not pass through any more bandwidth then this availability setting even if more is available. If QoS settings are active in router configurations, make sure they are appropriate for the available bandwidth.

6. Congested ISP. ISPs frequently become congested during heavy traffic and sometimes during normal traffic use. Congestion can also happen between routers in their network and are especially prevalent in meet points between two ISPs. Detecting ISP congestion requires monitoring the Internet circuit with an ISP Packet Loss and Delay Test Tool. If the problem is intermittent, then the tool must monitor over an extended period of time such as several days or even a week.

7. ISP Not Delivering Promised Speed. Unless the Internet connection is a fixed circuit such as a T1, the delivered bandwidth from an ISP can vary throughout the day. Typically, the varied rate is due to congestion but it can be other factors as well. Still the rate can frequently be below the expected bandwidth. Speed tests can help determine the delivered bandwidth at a precise moment in time. Be careful, as speed tests results can frequently be misleading and they measure only what is happening at one moment versus an extended period of time.

If you are connected to the Internet but it is not performing as it should, the first step is to start a ISP Packet Loss and Delay Test on the IP address. This test will determine whether the problem is predominantly in or around the home/office of the IP address or somewhere within the ISP.

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Posted in DSL Modem, Internet, Internet Testing Tools, ISP, QoS, VoIP, WiFi | 5 Comments »

HostMyCalls Announces Equipment Upgrades and HD Voice Support

February 14th, 2011

In a recent press release, HostMyCalls revealed new system upgrades that added support for enhanced features that are available on a new line of SIP telephones which provide HD voice support.  Follow this link to read the release:

http://prweb.com/releases/2011/2/prweb8132754.htm

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Posted in HD Telephone, HD Voice, Hosted PBX, HostMyCalls Services, Press Release, SIP, VoIP, VoIP SIP Telephone | No Comments »

Are Your Sales Calls Really Getting Through to a Sales Person?

February 8th, 2011

The Problem

Do you run a small business with a few staff members attempting to market nationally or internationally over the web? If you do and are publishing a telephone number, your potential customers can be calling anytime during the day or night. When potential sales leads make the effort to call on the phone, they want to talk to a live person who can give them immediate answers about your product or service.

Most small businesses do not have the staff to answer phones 24 hours a day or even the extended hours required to take calls from both coasts of the United States. Further, sales personnel could be on other calls, conducting sales appointments or traveling in between – making limited sales resources even less available. When potential clients do not get a knowledgeable person on the phone, the lead is lost and the resources expended to get that lead become wasted time, money and effort.

What Not to Do

Do not answer the calls with voicemail boxes. Callers who are seeking immediate information are unlikely to give contact information before they get the information they seek. Callers will hear the voicemail greeting and hang up. The lead is lost.

Automated Attendants will encourage callers to hang up as well. Time and pain navigating automated attendants results in caller impatience. The caller’s goal is to talk to a live person. The more difficult it is to do that, the more leads will be lost.

A better option than a voicemail box or automated attendant is to answer the calls with less knowledgeable staff during work hours. Live people are far more likely to get contact information from the caller. However, lack of knowledge can frustrate the potential client and leave them with a bad image. Further, it is not a solution for after hours.

What to Do

One advanced solution is to answer the call with a recorded message stating that a salesperson is being located. The call will ring the first salesperson’s desk phone and mobile phone simultaneously. If the first salesperson is unable to answer the call in a certain period of time, the call is then sent to a second. Should neither salesperson answer their call on their mobile or desk phone, then the call is sent to a live phone attendant during working hours and a specific salesperson’s voicemail box during off hours.

The solution requires Hosted VoIP or Hosted PBX service, mobile PBX, uniform call distribution (UCD) hunt groups and “guaranteed” recorded messages. The Hosted PBX service can place company phones on a salesperson’s desk no matter where they are located including homes and offices across town, in other cities, states and around the world. Mobile PBX integrates their mobile phone with the desk phone allowing both to ring at the same time enabling the salespeople to answer calls even while they are away from their desk.

UCD will ring a sales person from a list. Should they not answer in 15 – 20 seconds, then it can redirect the call to the next salesperson. Although it can be done, sending the call to a third salesperson is not advisable as callers will only wait so long. With UCD, the phone system remembers who received the last call in the list and will send the next call to the next person on the list. The recorded message explains the call process to the caller and encourages them to leave a message if a salesperson is not reached.

This solution is designed for businesses with limited sales resources to answer call in leads. It greatly increases the chances of a live answer by a knowledgeable person, improves the caller’s experience and captures the sales lead.

Flexible Hosted VoIP providers can solve many communication problems similar to this one. They can tailor solutions to your available resources and specific needs.

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Posted in Hosted PBX, Hosted VoIP, Mobile PBX, UCD | No Comments »

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