Phone.com Virtual Office Merchant Deal Feed
Have You Used Your Phone.com Conference Call Bridge Yet?
By Jeb
When I call a company I have some expectations. I was shocked when I called an established businesses conference call bridge and heard something along the lines of “this is a free conference call service”. My initial thought was doesn’t their phone service include conference calling like Phone.com? Besides this is a horrible image to portray to me, that your company can’t afford a conference call bridge.
Don’t get me wrong, every penny counts when running a small business and I don’t suggest anyone should spend those pennies without a need but there’s no reason to use a service that announces that it’s free, making your company look cheap. Every Phone.com extension gets it’s own conference call number or bridge as it’s commonly referred to. I’m always ecstatic to host calls because I get to use my Phone.com bridge, it’s a bit of a pride thing now, knowing I’m not using some free service. The really sad thing was these companies can definitely afford a proper bridge.
If you use Phone.com service then make sure to check out our HD Conferencing. You can access it from the box on the left of your extensions control panel right under the Settings option. If you have any questions message us on Facebook or Twitter.
Adding a Phone.com Extension to an HTC One Tutorial
I got an HTC One last week from AT&T to review and of course I wanted to install the Phone.com Mobile Office app on it as well as see if it had an open SIP stack so I could program a Phone.com extension.Our Android app works perfectly on the One and if you watch the video you’ll see a short tutorial on how to program a Mobile Extension onto the phone.
This definitely isn’t necessary if you have our Mobile Office app but it’s nice to have options, plus I like push the limits of these phones along with fiddle.Enjoy the video and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask on Facebook or Twitter.
New Feature Alert! Call Notifications Are Changing The Way Our Customers Do Business
One of my favorite new Phone.com features is call notifications.It allows our customers the ability to receive an email or text message (SMS) notification upon receipt of an inbound phone call to a phone number and/or an extension.
I had the opportunity to speak with one of our awesome customers, John Savidge of Montron LLC.His company specializes in advertising campaigns via electronic media (radio and television) in the education and the medical, legal and automotive industries.They use Phone.com phone numbers in their advertisements and gauge the success of a campaign by the number of calls they receive.
Prior to the release of call notifications, John and his team would send a weekly report to their clients listing the calls that were received in response to a particular ad campaign.Clients would then call anyone back that they may have missed.The problem with this model is that any missed calls are missed leads and when addressed on a weekly basis, are likely very cold.
With call notifications, John’s clients now receive an instant notification of a call and have the ability to call that lead back while it’s still hot.John’s clients are happy, John is happy and Phone.com is happy.I call that a win-win-win!
Please check out our new call notification feature in your telephone number and extension settings.I saved the best part for last.It’s totally FREE!ALL of our customers can take advantage of it today.
Jeremy Watkin is the Director of Customer Service at Phone.com and co-founder ofCommunicateBetterBlog.com (and on Twitter: @commbetterblog ); a blog dedicated to learning about good and bad customer service with the intent of providing awesome customer service for Phone.com.
Can’t Live Without Voicemail to Text Transcription
By Jeb
I’ve been in Europe all week for a mobile phone trade show plus some meetings and as life continues at home I was getting calls that I had to take.In particular I’m helping plan a wedding reception for my cousin so the family and friends can meet his new wife.Lucky for me, I’m doing all the planning including working with the catering company as well as the facility.Some staff needed to talk to me but because of the time difference they kept missing me and left me voice messages.
I’m happy to report that by having my voicemail transcribed by Phone.com and emailed to me I was able to read them and then respond as needed when they called my Phone.com number.No more paying for roaming to listen to voicemail when I’m outside the US.I was able to read my message, I could text that person back or call them directly from my email.This saved me a lot of time and money but more importantly, it made my life just that little bit easier.
Voicemail Transcription from Phone.com costs 25¢/message for human transcription and for our less expensive automated system it’s just $1.50/month.This is one of those services that can really ease some stress and if it’s out of your range every month you should
Jeff Pollak of RadioActive Media and his Phone.com Secret Weapon
Jeff Pollak was looking for a way to advance his radio advertising business and lower his costs at the same time.Phone.com has become his secret weapon helping him with his analytical needs for each of his customers.Jeff’s company RadioActive Media based in Orange County, California uses different phone numbers for each ad.
Let me explain, Jeff advertises for his clients on the radio, “We use Phone.com to get unique vanity lines for many of our radio campaigns.It allows us to uniquely source our direct response radio campaigns so that we can show our clients verifiable results on a station-by-station basis.”
So instead of utilizing only one phone number for a radio campaign, he implements multiple lines, so that each station which his ads are running can be sourcedon a station-by-station basis.For example the radio add for the client runs on 2 different radio stations this month, so each station gets a similar ad just with different phone numbers in it.
Phone.com and Bluefin – Small Business Phone Service and Merchant Credit Services for Reduced Costs and Increased Value!
Bluefin Payment Systems and Phone.com have entered into a partnership to make Bluefin merchant account services available to Phone.com customers. Bluefin Payment Systems specializes in providing secure payment gateway solutions. In essence, they help companies get paid by customers, which – as we know – is high on everyone’s list of priorities. Phone.com has a reciprocal relationship with Bluefin offering their customers our phone service.
Bluefin Payment Systems provides debit/credit card acceptance, Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing, recurring billing and more, all backed by secure solutions including end-to-end encryption for Point of Sale transactions. They were ranked as the 6th fastest growing private company in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine in 2012, and today serve over 15,000 North American merchants. “(Bluefin) focuses on the smaller end of the market. Small businesses need affordable and flexible payment processing. This fits perfectly with the Phone.com strategy,” according to Joel Maloff, Phone.com’s VP of Channel Development.
“This is our first partnership with a web-based telephony provider and we are excited to have formed a partnership with such a leader as Phone.com,” said John M. Perry, CEO of Bluefin Payment Systems. “They have an extensive customer base of small businesses, which is a prime focus for Bluefin, particularly in the software space.”
Phone.com wants to offer our customers every possible benefit and we believe this partnership can enhance your business. “Bluefin’s payment services allow us to present secure payment processing as a value-added service to our customers,” said Ari Rabban our CEO and co-founder. “Phone.com recognizes that small businesses need comprehensive solutions to allow them to compete in today’s challenging global markets, and most companies need the ability to accept electronic payments. We are thrilled to be able to provide Bluefin’s services to our customers, and delighted to offer our communications solutions to the Bluefin universe.”
This is a win for customers of both companies and we intend to have a long and fruitful relationship with Bluefin. If you’re interested in getting some additional information or want to get started click here and begin exploring your options – http://bluefin.com/phone.com/.
Customer Service Matters
By: Jeremy
I am currently reading the book “Start Something That Matters” by Blake Mycoskie, founder and Chief Shoe Giver for TOMS shoes.If you haven’t heard the TOMS story, very simply, for every pair of shoes they sell, they give a pair away to someone in need.It is truly an inspiring story and business model.
An Epic Search For A New Phone
By Stuart Zipper
Nothing lasts forever, and the two-line Uniden phone I have pluggedin to my Phone.com VoIP adapter has finally given up the ghost, after years ofservice as my home office phone, starting long before I got home office VoIPservice. Indeed I can’t even begin to count the number of interviews I’ve doneover the years using that phone.
Why a two-line phone? After all, there’s just one of me.
Once upon a time I needed two lines for my professional usein case an important call came in while I was on the line, but that was beforethe advent of call waiting. The call waiting feature first appeared as anextra-cost option on traditional landline service years ago and freed me fromthe need for two lines for business. (As an aside, where I live to get callwaiting from Century Link still requires a service plan that costs $18 a monthmore than basic phone service. With any Phone.com plan it doesn’t cost a pennyextra).
But I still need two lines since, being a small office-homeoffice (SOHO) business, my wife is liable to be on one line at the same time Ineed another for business. With standardPhone.com features, for either outgoing calls or incoming, via the use of menusI can do that with just one number. Basically, the two incoming lines to my Phone.comVoIP adapter are simply two different extensions on my virtual PBX.
(Okay, really I have three numbers, but the second a number isused mainly for calls to my kids around the world, who each have Phone.com VoIPadapters, and the third is an overseas number for people to reach me, an add-onthat costs just $4.88 per month at Phone.com for a long list of countries.)
But back to the real issue – my trusty phone has aspeakerphone base with dial pad and a wireless handset into which I can plug aheadset or use as a speakerphone. Despite a new battery the handset drains thebattery in something like half an hour of use. Some of my business interviews,though, last an hour or more.
So as I write this I’m searching the Internet for areasonably priced (i.e. less than $100) high quality replacement. A key featureis a wireless handset that not only accommodates two lines, but also has a standardheadset jack – a requirement that’s already eliminated more than one contender.It’s really tough to do an interview and take notes if you’re holding the phonein one hand.
Then there is the issue of the speakerphone base. Ideally itwill be full duplex, and have a keypad. That’s an issue that’s eliminated morethan one other contender (although in the end I may have to settle for asimplex speakerphone).
Basically, I’m describing my old 5.8 GHz phone. To mysurprise, and disappointment, I’m having trouble finding a new-generation DECT6 phone that matches those features – and from the comments I see on the webabout various phone systems, other folks are complaining about the same thing.So, if anyone knows of a worthy candidate for me to try, please send a responseto this blog.
Change your Business Perception with a Vanity Toll Free 800 Number
Perception is everything in business, but have you ever stopped to think how your phone number may be impacting your quality of service?A good example of what I mean is our friend Chris.
Chris is a photographer…
He has gigs across the U.S. but his local telephone number tells another story…It says, “I’m limited.”
“I may not be able to serve your event, because I’m all the way over here….and you’re way over there.”
When the economy is strong and you have no choice but to turn local customers away, it’s not something you worry about.But when markets shrink, and you need to capture every lead – you need greater reach within the market.
Chris noticed that his call volume began to drop, and all but fell silent the further potential customers were from his immediate area code.Even though he was willing to travel, was his local telephone number giving the wrong perception?Was he sending the wrong message to customers before he ever met them? Being a savvy entrepreneur that he is, Chris called his friend Jeb at Phone.com and asked how a toll free number may impact his business.
Toll free numbers are not limited to geographical locations.They represent a well-established business, and they allow a greater reach.Now when Chris hands someone his business card, he knows he is not immediately dismissed based on location, and in today’s competitive world this may give him an advantage.Just as a customer has freedom to reach companies outside their local community via the web, so too companies should have the freedom to reach beyond their geographical location and appeal to out-of-the-area customers.And in today’s have-it-your-way world, Phone.com offers Vanity Toll Free numbers that can spell out your business name within the number.
Try it Yourself with a Coupon Code
Try our vanity search option below to customize your toll free number today, and use either coupon code when you check out: “FreeVanity” or “Free800″.
Getting Ready For NEMO Just Another North East Blizzard
I guess we need to get used to these blizzards now.
In late October we were getting ready for Superstorm Sandy. Luckily Nemo is nothing like it. We at Phone.com just wanted to let all our customers that we are ready and to remind you that if your local phone service is disrupted you can always use your Phone.com account to forward calls to other phones. Here is a link to what we posted back in October regarding call forwarding settings
Stay safe!
May Your Experience Be Magical
Close your eyes for a moment and think about a time where you have called a support line only to get lost in a sea of menus and voice prompts, leaving you to rapid fire zeros until you get to a human being. Now think about a time you have spoken with said human being and they were either completely unhelpful or even worse, had a terrible attitude. Undoubtedly you can think of countless instances where this has occurred.
Logging into the Bria app for Phone.com
Here are the basics of logging into the Bria app for Phone.com.
- Create a Mobile Extension in your Phone.com control panel. Then go into the settings for the new extension and click the words View Server Details that’s on the right side.
- Download the Bria app from the Apple iTunes store to your iPhone or iPod Touch (I’ll continue to just refer to both the iPhone and iPod Touch as just the iPhone).
- Open the newly downloaded Bria app on your iPhone and scroll down to the Phone.com settings and tap on it.
- Once you’re in the settings page
- A. Fill in the Display with your phone number
- B. Input your Username and Password found on the Phone.com Control Panel when you tap on View Server Details in the Settings.The password is case sensitive.
- Click Done and then Register at the top.You may have to hit the Accounts button at the top left of the app to go back 1 level but then click the little arrow to the right of Phone.com and click Register.
You should be logged in and ready to make calls.If you have any questions or comments please feel free to reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter anytime.
New Use Case from a Professional CEO
By: Jeb
I just came across an entirely new use for Phone.com. I was on a short flight last night and met one of our customers named Travis, he’s a professional CEO. He’s been doing this since the late 90′s and has built up a little empire. His job is to come into a struggling company and lead it for a few months to a few years into a position of profitability or to a sale/acquisition.
Travis is on the phone a lot, at his current company he has at least a dozen one on one calls every day and he’ll spend hours and hours a day on conference calls. Part of his job is training so many of these calls are counseling and teaching. Travis transferred his cell phone number to Phone.com and set up 3 extensions. One extension rings to his cell phone another rings on one of our IP phones (the Polycom IP 450) he has on his office desk and the third extensions rings the other IP phone on his desk at his home office.
Travis prefers this over just using his cell phone for all his calls. He still only gives out one number to everyone but now he doesn’t spend hours and hours everyday with a cell phone pressed against his head like he did before. Travis got one of our really nice high definition IP phones and spends his days on it. I know from experience that the speaker phone is amazing and he agrees. Travis explained he doesn’t have a knot in his neck every day from holding the cell phone to his ear with his shoulder and he’s happy to not have a radiation producing cell phone less then an inch from his brain and he told me his favorite thing is that he now has both hands free to work, organize his desk or do anything else he wants. I guess it’s the little things.
I was so happy to hear from another satisfied customer and learn of a new use case for Phone.com. Do you have an interesting way you use our service? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter and maybe I’ll write it up.
Conscious Business
“A business that generates financial wealth but destroys other forms of wealth (which can have greater impacts on people’s well-being) adds far less value to the world than it is capable of” (John Mackey, Founder of WholeFoods)
Yesterday afternoon i attended a great event held at the NASDAQ offices in Times Square. The INC. Business Council hosted the WholeFoods Market Founder and CEO for a great interview session primarily to discuss ideas from his new book Conscious Capitalism.
Without getting into politics (which one can easily) there are two things I would like to take away from the book (which i just started reading) and the interview:
1) Quoting Mackey, same as we dont measure doctors by the bad ones but rather by the great ones and what they do for medicine and our lives we should also judge business owners (and especially the big businesses who have a much larger impact on our lives) by the good they do as a company or the their owners and their contribution to society (not the business itself but rather the deeds that are unrelated to the business, the wealth that leads to philanthropy and sponsorship of innovation.