As companies cut back to respond to current economic times, receptionists are burdened with even more responsibility. Managing multiple calls and greeting visitors at the door diminishes the patient attention they are expected to give. Stress from the additional responsibilities may change their tone from kind and motherly to “I need to get you out of my way.”

Here is a list of 7 ways the telephone system improves a caller’s experience and give the receptionist more time for other duties:

1. Calls to departments should be transferred to Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Groups and distributed to the next available or longest idle representative. Receptionists frequently perform the same functionality as an ACD which can be time consuming and perceived poorly by the caller. An example is the service department at a car dealership. The caller calls and asks for service. The receptionist places the call on hold while she pages and hunts for a service representative. She frequently returns to the caller with words similar to “Let me page for them again.”

ACD automatically stacks callers like a teller line at the bank and efficiently distributes them to the longest idle or first available representative. The receptionist simply transfers the call to the ACD group and is done.

2. Give the most frequently called employees and departments Direct Inward Dialed (DID) numbers. DID numbers are 10 digit telephone numbers that can be published or private. By dialing the “Direct” number, callers skip the receptionist and go straight to the person or department of their choice. DID numbers remove call volume of the company’s most frequent callers from the receptionist and enhances perceived customer service to the caller. DID numbers are affordable to any company of any size. Even small companies can economically benefit from DID numbers with VoIP services such as SIP Trunking, Hosted VoIP, Hosted PBX and Virtual PBX services.

3. Use voicemail system for taking messages. Taking handwritten messages is time consuming and tedious work for the receptionist. Most callers prefer leaving messages in voicemail system as they can give more information, know their message will be accurate and believe it will be promptly delivered. Voicemail systems actually improve a caller’s perception of the company assuming the caller can “zero out” to a live person as needed.

4. Combine multiple office locations into one communications system. Companies with multiple office locations employ primary call handlers at each location. Using Hosted VoIP, Hosted PBX and VoIP telephone systems, all offices can be unified behind one single communications platform. Call handling can be centralized. Individual offices no longer need to employ their own receptionist.

5. Use station status indicators such as Busy Lamp Field (BLF). Station status indicators tell call handlers who is busy on the phone, saving them valuable time in locating personnel.

6. Answer primary or secondary numbers with Automated Attendants. Automated Attendants can answer primary published number or secondary numbers allowing frequent callers to self-direct to the party of their choosing. Automated Attendants can relieve 50-75% of the call traffic from the receptionist.

7. Use Mobile PBX to complete calls to mobile employees. Mobile PBX links desk phones and mobile phones together through Hosted PBX and Hosted VoIP services as well as some VoIP telephone systems. By seamlessly completing calls to employees on their desk phone or cell phone, the receptionist will take fewer messages and callbacks. More importantly, customer service will improve dramatically.

As companies trim staff and reduce expenses, receptionists must juggle more calls, visitors and duties. Implementing one or more of these communications services can reduce the burden on the primary call handler, improve customer service and frequently reduce telecommunications or other expenses.

A:  Hosted VoIP/Hosted PBX service provides advanced telephone system features as a service over the Internet.  Many advanced features are uneconomical to include as part of a traditional telephone system.  Hosted service providers host the costly central equipment of the telephone system on their premise and use the same equipment for many of their customers. By hosting equipment, advanced features are delivered for a fraction of the normal cost.  Businesses no longer need to invest in the expensive central equipment of a telephone system.  In most cases, only phones will need to be purchased or leased.

Q:  What are the advantages of Hosted VoIP/Hosted PBX service?

A:  Hosted VoIP/Hosted PBX services offer many financial, operational and service advantages.  Financial advantages include lower capital expense, monthly payments are expensed instead of depreciated (phone system lease), more predictable and lower monthly recurring bills, easier and less expensive to expand, reduced maintenance and repair costs and scaled down office space from sending employees to work from home.

Beyond financial advantages, operational advantages boast improved call capacity, sending and receiving multiple faxes at a time, effortlessly distributing faxes, Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) for handling calls, easy telecommuter set-up and private and departmental telephone numbers.  Service advantages add quicker service response and diagnostics, 24 hour a day monitoring, easy disaster recovery and Mobile PBX.

Q:  Why is it so inexpensive?  What’s the catch?

A:  With many quality Hosted PBX/Hosted VoIP providers, there is no catch.  Delivering telephony services within the hosted model is simply more efficient and affordable than purchasing telephone system hardware and paying monthly for telephone lines.  Be wary of hosted plans that charge per minute for local and domestic long distance calls.  These plans can charge unpredictable, exorbitant usage charges on their monthly bills.

Q:  What are the common problems?

A:  The most common problem of Hosted VoIP users is their Internet connection.  The Internet connection must be large enough to handle the highest number of simultaneous calls and must be stable.  Read my article “Will Your Internet Connection Destroy Your VoIP Service” for more information.

Another common problem is occasional long delays in porting numbers.  If the porting paperwork is filled out incorrectly, delays can result.  In most cases, your old carrier and not your new Hosted VoIP provider cause the delays.  There are workarounds to porting delays such as call forwarding.  Your service provider should be able to help you.

One final common problem is loss of common features.  Although Hosted PBX services offer many new powerful features, some services lack common features that are taken for granted with smaller phone systems.  Busy Lamp Field (BLF), paging and off hook voice announce are examples of a few features that may not be offered by certain Hosted VoIP providers.  Before you select your provider, survey for the most common features used and make sure your provider delivers those capabilities.

Q:  What kind of Internet do I need?

A:  Your Internet connection can be DSL, cable modem, fixed broadband or wireless.  The type of Internet is less important than the size and stability of the circuit.  Click the link Four Steps to Determine Whether Your Internet Connection is Ready for VoIP.

Q:  If my Internet is down, are my phones down?

A:  If your Internet is down, all the phones behind that Internet connection will be down as well.  But it does not mean that you cannot receive your phone calls.  Your Hosted VoIP automated attendants and voicemails will still be functioning.  Some Hosted PBX services can automatically re-route calls in the event of an Internet failure to your other phones that may be using a different Internet connection or to other 10 digit telephone numbers such a cell phones.  Some advanced VoIP providers can shift calls to back-up or secondary Internet connections as well.

Q:  How easy is it to relocate the service?

A:  For most Hosted VoIP providers, moving the service may be as easy as plugging the phones into the LAN at a new location.  If the service provider has installed any routing equipment, then that may require some additional programming.  Regardless, when compared to moving a traditional telephone system, Hosted VoIP services are extremely easy to move and much less costly.

Q:  Can I take my phone home with me or on the road?

A:  If the Hosted VoIP service works over the Internet and does not require a VPN connection, then the answer is usually ‘Yes.’

Q:  What will the voice quality be like?

A:  Excellent assuming the following:

1.  The Internet bandwidth is sufficient to support the maximum number of simultaneous calls required.  You can check for this by reading “Four Steps to Determine Whether Your Internet Connection is Ready for VoIP” linked above.

2.  Voice packets are correctly prioritized going out to the Internet.  (Your provider may have to manage voice prioritization for you.)

3.  The Internet connection is stable.

Following is a partial list of issues from having a work force under more than one roof:

1.  Calls can not be transferred between locations.  Asking an outside caller to hang up and dial another number within an organization includes the risk that they will not call.

2.  Many companies have redundant positions at each of their locations because they cannot easily transfer calls.  Redundant positions may include call answering points, sales, customer service and accounting.

3.  Communication among employees is strenuous as it is harder to get someone on the phone than it is to see them in the hallway or catch them at their desk.

4.  Departments that are geographically spread apart cannot be grouped together for answering calls and incoming calls cannot be fairly distributed between locations.

5.  Call answering positions do not know whether or not someone is already on the phone.

6.  Key personnel who travel between offices frequently miss their important phone calls when they are away from their main desk.

7.  Employees cannot page people in other locations.

Hosted PBX or Hosted VoIP services are the solution to all of these issues and more.  Here are the ways they can help:

1.  Calls can be transferred between locations as easily as they are transferred within the same building.  Now callers can always get to the right person by calling the company only once.

2.  Some premium Hosted VoIP providers offer Busy Lamp Field (BLF) which show who is busy on other phone calls.

3.  Call answering points can be centralized into one location since calls can be transferred anywhere and BLF features show who is on the phone.  Other redundant positions such as sales or customer service can be centralized, eliminated or reduced.

4.  Mobile PBX option integrates the desk phone with the mobile phone.  Employees can receive and process calls whether they are sitting at their desk or away from the office.

5.  Camp On feature provides an alert when an extension becomes idle or is used again.  Hosted PBX users do not need to hunt for each other as the phones will do it for them with Mobile PBX or Camp On.

6.  Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is furnished by some Hosted VoIP providers.  ACD evenly distributes calls among several people within a department.  It also stacks calls that are waiting to be answered similar to the teller line at a bank.  People in comparable departments such as customer service that are spread apart in multiple locations can be included in the same ACD group and answer any of the department’s calls.

7.  Hoteling allows a user to go to any desk phone, enter a code and that desk phone is now their main extension.  Hoteling is beneficial for employees that travel between office locations and need to receive their calls no matter where they are.  Since their extension is the same, call receptionists never need to hunt for them.

8.  Overhead paging systems can be accessed in other locations.  In some instances, multiple paging systems in multiple buildings can be used simultaneously.

Whether a business has single user multiple locations or stand alone satellite offices, Hosted VoIP services and Virtual PBXs solve many communication challenges.  Separate phone systems will cause disjointed communication and the sales and customer service experience of the outside caller will suffer.  Hosted VoIP providers deliver one cohesive telephone system for all locations.  Businesses can save money by centralizing, streamlining or eliminating redundant positions while simultaneously improving the caller’s experience.  In addition, advanced features such as ACD, Mobile PBX, Hoteling and Camp On will significantly improve the service a company delivers to its callers.