Home » Archive by category 'blog' (Page 42)

Blog

The blog for Global Call Forwarding has articles on the latest customer service trends, telecommunications technologies, and business news.
Can VoIP Change Your Sales Game? Tips for Sales Teams
7th October 2019 blog, Cloud Telephony

Can VoIP Change Your Sales Game?

marketing strategies for finance company
3rd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

Marketing Strategies for Your Professional Finance Company

Order fulfillment company for ecommerce
2nd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

How to Start an Order Fulfillment Company for E-commerce Business

Managing Your Professional Finance Company Sales Team
2nd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

Managing Your Professional Finance Company Sales Team

Things To Know When Starting a Medical Answering Service
2nd October 2019 blog, Call Center

Things To Know When Starting a Medical Answering Service

How to Get a Business Number
1st October 2019 blog, Business Phone Numbers

How to Get a Business Number

Challenges of being a call center agent
19th September 2019 blog, Call Center

The Daily Challenges of Being a Call Center Agent

MetroPCS phones for busness
12th September 2019 blog, Business Insights

Using MetroPCS Phones for Business

Is It Illegal to Record Phone Calls?
9th September 2019 blog, Business Insights

Is It Illegal to Record Phone Calls?

Can VoIP Change Your Sales Game?

7th October 2019 blog, Cloud Telephony

If you have an active sales team, you know how offering any advantage to exceed your competition is crucial. Cutting edge technology – particularly VoIP — can be just what is needed to step up your sales game, for more profits and better overall efficiency.

So, if you are wondering how VoIP service from Global Call Forwarding can change how your sales team performs, we will explore such topics, including:

  • More Efficiency with Directories
  • VoIP Supports Remote Work
  • Taking Advantage of Add-Ons and Functionalities
  • Scalability
  • Variety of Phone Number Options

More Efficiency with Directories

The more efficient you can make your sales team, the better they can perform. Conclusion: Your business performs better. By including VoIP into your sales model, you gain access to a number of features that can boost your sales team’s efficiency. And instead of the hassle of dealing with redundant calls, you can use a directory system known as a PBX, or Private Branch Exchange. Aided by VoIP, inbound callers can be met with an automated service that allows callers to self-direct their inquiries.

For instance, callers that simply want to know your business hours can find that information by dialing through the directory. This saves time the time of your sales personnel that would otherwise be lost. Similarly, you can create direct extensions to your sales personnel so that recurring clients don’t have to be transferred on follow up calls.

VoIP Supports Remote Work

For your sales personnel, they may be on the road for extended periods of time. Working out of the office can be tricky, where sales personnel may be reluctant to give out their personal phone numbers. However, VoIP’s routing capabilities change this, enabling your team to use virtual phone numbers to call important clients as needed.

And for those sales members that work better on their own, VoIP can reroute calls directly to your salesperson’s device. This can be a godsend for sales personal that may be feeling “under the weather” after wining-and-dining important clients to close deals.

Can VoIP Change Your Sales Game? Tips for Sales Teams
Source: Depositphotos.com Lic#161051176 ID#5699524

Taking Advantage of Add-Ons and Functionalities

Furthermore, VoIP service is part of evolving technology trends due to the integration and advancements in cloud computing. As the cloud evolves, so do the capabilities that VoIP can offer your sales team. Global Call Forwarding offers a number of these developments as add-ons and built-in functionalities designed to streamline your telecommunications. These include:

Time of day routing: Automatically routes calls to different destination numbers depending on the time of day that a call is received. This can help establish a positive work-life balance, particularly when your sales team seems overworked

Call recording: This add-on enables you to store and review recorded calls made with your sales team. Call recording is essential for most industries, as it can help with liability issues, miscommunications, employee training materials with direct examples, and so forth.

The Scalability You Need

VoIP enables your business to scale as its needs grow and you find better ways of processing increasing numbers of clientele. Therefore, by choosing Global Call Forwarding, you can scale by choosing different payment options as your usage increases. Therefore, this ensures that your sales team is never without open lines of communication.

Variety of Phone Number Options

As you may be aware, Global Call Forwarding offers a wide variety of phone numbers in over 150 countries worldwide. For instance, this includes countless cities and regions to access hyper-specific markets. Additionally, you can choose which type of phone numbers best suit your sales approach, including:

  • Toll free numbers
  • Local access numbers
  • Vanity numbers
  • ITFS numbers
  • UIFN
  • DID numbers
  • And much more

In Closing

Above all, VoIP offers a wealth of benefits that can drastically change your sales game for the better. For more information, contact Global Call Forwarding to get started today and reach new heights.

Marketing Strategies for Your Professional Finance Company

3rd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

Of all the tasks that a professional finance company faces, marketing consistently proves to be the most challenging. Separating your company from the pack while ensuring that your company runs efficiently is the goal. This is where virtual phone numbers from Global Call Forwarding can offer numerous strategies to capture the best customers. In this article, we’ll cover some of these marketing strategies for professional finance companies, including:

Raising Your Professional Image with Toll Free Numbers

Your finance company thrives on how well it can project a professional image to new customers and long-term clients. In fact, this is non-negotiable. After all, when money is at stake, an unprofessional image can make your customers unsure whether they should trust their financial future with your company.

Luckily, Global Call Forwarding offers the answer to this common problem facing your professional finance company: toll free numbers.

How Toll Free Numbers Can Enhance Your Company’s Appeal

Toll free numbers immediately impart a professional aesthetic easily. Because your company is footing the bill for calls as the subscriber, customers inherently trust your company’s integrity. Especially when it comes to solving their problems. Additionally, many professional organizations that deal with high-volume and high-priority clients use toll free numbers to appear more professional. Therefore, using toll free numbers imparts the same professionalism that those organizations benefit from. Third, toll free numbers give your company a type of “geographical agnosticism.” This means that your company has made a conscious effort to appeal to a national (and international) audience. Simultaneously, geographical agnosticism can help avoid negative stigmas associated with certain areas of the country where you may be headquartered.

Achieving Localization with Outbound Calling

Have you ever received an unsolicited phone call, with digits on your caller ID reading something to the effect of “V482072508XXXXXX….?” If so, you’ve obviously not recognized the phone number as being familiar and probably didn’t answer the call. Those unintelligible digits preceded by a “V” means that a company somewhere placed a call without a crucial element for using virtual phone numbers: outbound calling.

Marketing Strategies Professional Finance
Source: DepositPhotos.com – O#69202269 ID#27446420

What is Outbound Calling?

In short, outbound calling enables you to reach customers with the digits of the virtual phone number that you subscribe with. Simply, this means when you use your virtual number to make calls, the actual digits will appear on caller ID’s. For your professional finance company, this is extremely important, as you want a direct way to reach leads and clients.

Outbound calling enables you to reach customers even across international locations. For instance, if you wanted to reach customers in Dubai, having outbound calling enabled for your virtual phone number will ensure that a +971 number will appear on their caller ID. Therefore, if you’re looking to market your finance company by cold calling new prospects, outbound calling is mandatory.

Gaining International Appeal

If you’re looking to market your finance company, you’re probably no stranger to capturing new markets abroad. Even if your company is headquartered in one of the financial hubs around the world (ex. Hong Kong, New York City, London), customers typically want to invest their money with domestic businesses.

Marketing with Virtual Phone Numbers

Luckily, Global Call Forwarding offers virtual phone numbers in over 140+ countries around the world. By offering domestic and international callers lines of contact that resemble those used in their country, you demonstrate that your company is ready to do business in their country/region.

This also helps alleviate anxieties about possible language barriers. After all, if your company has a non-domestic line, chances are your company has also taken the initiative to hire staff that can speak their language. Because virtual phone numbers instantly route calls, it is easy to market these phone numbers and then reroute calls to a call processing center. Once redirected, employees located in the same time zone and with the same language can transact and assist callers with their inquiries.

Conclusion: Get Marketing Solutions from Global Call Forwarding

So, if you’re ready for marketing strategies for your professional finance company, consider subscribing with Global Call Forwarding. As a telecom provider for more than two decades, Global Call Forwarding has helped SMBs and large enterprises to achieve their marketing goals. Visit www.globalcallfowarding.com today to begin marketing your company more effectively with virtual phone numbers and related tech solutions!

How to Start an Order Fulfillment Company for E-commerce Business

2nd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

Year after year, an increasing number of retailers take their businesses online. Recent data indicates e-commerce accounts make up close to 10 percent of all retail sales. However, research anticipates growth around 15 percent annually in this sector. In other words, the precedence of the Internet has customers worldwide shopping online. So, to keep customers happy, a business owner must ensure accurate fulfillment of orders, quickly, and efficiently. Optimizing e-commerce fulfillment strategies is the key to success.

To clarify further, this means order fulfillment companies are in-demand and the demand will increase. Below are steps explaining how to start an order fulfillment company for e-commerce business and what to expect in the process.

What is Order Fulfillment?

Order fulfillment refers to the method that is used to fulfill customer orders. For e-commerce, companies may choose to manage their order fulfillment in-house, while other companies may choose to operate using drop shipping or third party fulfillment. For third party fulfillment, some companies are solely dedicated to fulfilling the orders of their clients (other businesses). This offers businesses the ability to devote more of their time other aspects of the business, while still being able to access data regarding inventory and sales. Third-party fulfillment is often chosen because it decreases costs related to packaging and shipping.

Deciding Which Type of Fulfillment the Company Will Offer

There are a number of roles your fulfillment company can play. A business owner decides whether the fulfillment company holds responsibility for storing, packaging, shipping, tracking, and more. Based on this decision, a business owner will make other decisions regarding equipment, facility, and staffing.

Phones and Communication Systems

Most notably, a fulfillment company is a high-tech business. This means there is a strong need to respond in a high-tech fashion. A business owner must understand this is not the place to cut corners. The right access to websites, operational equipment, and phone systems is critical.

Staffing a Fulfillment Company

A business owner can launch a fulfillment company with two or three people. A business owner will name a fulfillment manager, a warehouse manager, and a fulfillment specialist. The fulfillment center manager should have the ability to make sales calls. A fulfillment manager will also be responsible for walking clients through the initial setup. The warehouse manager is responsible for installing any warehouse management system. Furthermore, this person is in charge of writing all back end procedures and training personnel.

How to Start an Order Fulfillment Company
Source: DepositPhotos.com – O#190330960 ID#27446420

Sales

It is imperative that a fulfillment company makes a consistent effort to market and sell its capabilities. A business owner must focus on sales efforts to add more customers and grow. One method is to use sales personnel to generate leads and then have the fulfillment manager drive the sale moving forward. A larger fulfillment company may need a specialist to come in and provide advice including selling skills.

Marketing a Fulfillment Company

A business owner must provide a basic marketing campaign to take an order fulfillment company’s messaging forward to the current client base as well as potential clients. A business owner should not solely rely on existing sales personnel to develop accounts. Sales representatives are, at times, reluctant to offer new services to their clients. Because of this, marketing campaigns can prove to be very useful.

Pricing Matrix For Order Fulfillment Services

Establishing a pricing system for the fulfillment company may present challenges at first. The company’s pricing system must include all services that are completed. Therefore, fees may include storage, customer service, and more. Some pricing options may include:

  • Storage charged at a price per pallet, per month
  • New product set up fee
  • Warehouse fee
  • Receiving services fee
  • Order receipt fee
  • Shipping materials cost
  • Reporting fees
  • Customer service
  • Initial set up fee

Challenges Faced by E-commerce Businesses

E-commerce businesses face challenges, which include competition, finding the best products to sell, reaching a target audience, generating traffic, retaining customers, choosing the right technology, and achieving long term growth. Understanding these challenges will help you run a successful order fulfillment company.

In Closing

In essence, order fulfillment is the backbone of an e-commerce business. The strategy for order fulfillment for customers directly affects everything from customer satisfaction to profit margin. Therefore, a business owner must consider this carefully. Another thing to be considered carefully is scalability. A business owner who starts a fulfillment company has a goal to grow. Likewise, having a plan in place that outlines how you will grow and keep up with the growing needs of clients as well as adding new clients is very important. As a result, providing customers with the best value through order fulfillment is key to an effective operation. Above all, a business owner that helps clients to maximize profits and efficiency is destined to succeed.

Managing Your Professional Finance Company Sales Team

2nd October 2019 blog, Business Insights

In this blog, we will cover various ways to manage your professional finance company sales team, including:

  • Using virtual phone numbers throughout your organization
  • Inspiring competition in your professional finance company
  • Maximizing training
  • Using a directory system as a regular part of your professional finance company

Let’s begin. 

Using Virtual Phone Numbers throughout Your Organization

Part of managing your professional finance company’s sales team is by providing them with the tools to succeed. Thanks to Global Call Forwarding, this is possible in a myriad of ways.

First, virtual phone numbers are available in a wide variety of types. These include geographic numbers, toll free numbers, vanity numbers, and more. Geographic numbers can be especially useful when assigning sales teams to specific regions and countries that are part of their territory. Because geographic virtual phone numbers are identical to “regular” phone numbers, your sales team gains the benefits of localization and authenticity in those regions. Toll free numbers, on the other hand, lend a “geographical agnosticism” to your sales team, which can be useful for fielding inbound sales calls by available staff members.

Inspiring Competition in Your Professional Finance Company

Enabling your sales team to reach strategic goals often takes invoking a competitive spirit throughout your organization. To do so, you can offer incentives to top-performing employees such as direct lines to long-term clients. This can be achieved by using a popular function of Global Call Forwarding’s virtual phone numbers called “whitelisting.” Whitelisting enables only inbound calls that have been preapproved to go through. And as many sales teams involved with a professional company know, having warm leads and repeat customers is a recipe for guaranteed commissions and further success.

Time of Day Routing for Around the Clock Service

As another example, you may have some especially motivated salesmen that want to be available 24/7 to maximize their earning capabilities. Another popular add-on for virtual phone numbers, “time of day routing,” can make this a reality. When a call is placed outside of predetermined hours, the call is routed to a different destination number. Using time of day routing, you can redirect calls to their personal cell phone number.

Managing Your Professional Finance Company Sales Team
Source: DepositPhotos.com – O#187198574 ID#27446420

Maximizing Training for New Hires

One of the biggest expenses, in terms of both time and money for a professional finance company is training staff effectively. With various regulations and company protocol to follow, many employees are left to educate themselves on how to close with clients properly. Training sales team members with “call recording,” a popular add-on from Global Call Forwarding, can help ease this process and provide clear examples of what (and what not) to do during sales calls. Like the name implies, call recording records and stores inbound/outbound calls made between staff members and clients. This can be an effective tool for training, as these calls can be referred to repeatedly to train employees uniformly.

Using a Directory System as a Regular Part of Your Professional Finance Company

At some point in time, your customers are going to want to speak with the sales rep that they’re most familiar with. Whether this is out of personal preference or by continuing a business relationship, it can be cumbersome to have customers constantly transferred to staff members’ phone lines.

To manage this more efficiently for your professional finance company, Global Call Forwarding offers a Directory PBX service. Short for Private Branch Exchange, a PBX enables you to offer direct extensions for departments and individual staff members. A PBX not only creates direct access to your sales team but also reduces the number of misdirected callers or those seeking readily-available information located in your directory (i.e. operating hours).

Virtual Phone Numbers for Your Finance Company Sales Team

As you can imagine, these are only some of the many ways that professional finance companies are using the versatility of virtual phone numbers to manage their sales teams. Be sure to learn more from the informative articles at www.globalcallforwarding.com. Subscribing is easy, and your professional finance company can begin using them within 24 hours of signup.

Things To Know When Starting a Medical Answering Service

2nd October 2019 blog, Call Center

For decades, medical professionals have relied on medical answering services to provide after-hours telephone support to their patients. Many medical offices even use answering services during office hours, to allow their staff to focus on patients while a virtual receptionist handles incoming calls. As a result, a great answering service adds value to medical practice. With that said, there are many things to keep in mind that separate a medical answering service from other types of answering services.

Why Start a Medical Answering Service?

Medical providers give countless hours of care to their patients each week, but their work doesn’t stop outside of office hours. Therefore, patients often turn to the phone for questions and emergencies after business hours. Even during business hours, medical care providers are seeing patients and juggling phone calls. This is not optimal.

A well-run call center helps a medical practice increase efficiency, improve patient care, and reduce overall costs. This fulfills the ultimate goal of every patient-focused, growth-oriented, forward-thinking medical practitioner today. This type of business provides much-needed support to medical practitioners. Patients benefit from the support given to their doctors.

Services Your Medical Answering Service May Provide

Services offered may include:

  • Answering incoming calls
  • Giving responses to general questions
  • Transferring calls to a staff member, as needed
  • Handling new patient information
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Ensuring the medical practice is HIPAA compliant
Things To Know When Starting a Medical Answering Service
Source: Depositphotos.com Lic#160702298 ID#48158333

Hiring Highly Trained Staff

The cornerstone of a medical answering service is its staff. A business owner must continuously invest in training and workforce development to ensure every call center agent responds, empathizes, and engages with patients in the most effective way. Medical answering service staff will handle sensitive information. A business owner must ensure the staff is highly trained and training is supplemented regularly. These are critical aspects to this type of business.

Customer Service is Important

You may not think of serving patients as customer service, because you are not selling a product, per se. However, the truth is that the principles of great customer service very much apply when dealing with patients. Communication skills are extremely important. Medical answering service staff should aim to always interact with patients in a friendly, helpful, and positive way. Pay close attention to things like the length of hold times as this is also a great way to ensure patient satisfaction. The goal of a customer service agent is to exceed expectations with patience, attentiveness, knowledge, time management, and the ability to read the needs of customers and fulfill those needs.

HIPAA Compliant Standards for Business

HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Several aspects of HIPAA relate to doctors, their medical practices, and the care of their patients. The key element concerning HIPAA and medical answering services is protected health information (PHI). Medical practices and their service providers must safeguard protected health information at all times. PHI requires secure storage and secure transmission, as well.

Under HIPAA, a medical practice is what is referred to as a covered entity or CE. The medical answering service is a business associate (BA). Both the CE and BA must adhere to HIPAA regulations. The fines for not adhering to HIPAA regulations are significant. Being HIPAA compliant is extremely important for a medical answering service’s credibility.

Cost Savings Provided to Medical Practitioners

We have all heard the saying time and time again – “time is money.” Every minute that a medical practice staff member spends on the phone is a minute that they could have devoted to more important tasks. Taking care of patients is always the most important task of a medical services provider. Medical answering services help medical care providers to refocus attention from phone calls to patients. You can also provide service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A 24/7 response time ensures a call is never missed and this helps patients feel they always have the attention they need.

By outsourcing duties related to inbound calls, your answering service will help medical service providers reduce employee costs, increase efficiency and profitability, and reduce potential liability by being HIPAA compliant.

Best Communication Systems for a Medical Answering Service

A business owner starting a medical answering service will most likely start small and grow over time. You may think you have to invest in heavy-duty telephone equipment and the installation of numerous phone lines. Though that is always an option, there is a much simpler and cost-effective way to go about setting up communication systems. With advances in technology, virtual phone numbers have been in place for some time now, and they are quickly becoming more widespread.

A  business owner can avoid the cost and hassle of equipment by using virtual phone numbers. Virtual phone numbers also offer mobility and cost savings that surpass traditional phone lines. In the case of an emergency, such as a weather-related incident or power outage, an off-site medical answering service acts as an emergency phone system and is extremely helpful.

Where to Buy Virtual Phone Numbers

Virtual phone numbers allow for medical offices to provide a phone number for their patients and calls to that number are easily forwarded to the number of a virtual receptionist. With virtual phone numbers, a business owner modifies call forwarding numbers quickly and easily. You can also opt for other features, such as adding phone extensions, time of day routing, and call recording. Features such as these will help your medical answering service run more smoothly and efficiently.

With time of day routing, you may have a virtual receptionist in another time zone answer the calls at certain times of day or night. This is the typical solution when providing around-the-clock service.

Call recording acts as a tool for quality control and training purposes. A business owner can go back and listen to how certain situations were handled. Call recordings provide valuable insight, specifically in regards to the handling and processing of calls.

When dealing with information as sensitive as medical records, it is important to keep the medical practice safe. Calls made through an answering service that records calls helps to provide accurate and irrefutable records whenever needed.

In Closing

The sheer fact that you are handling the important personal information of patients makes this service stand apart from other answering services. Doing your research will help you to prepare to offer your services with excellence.

The benefits you bring to a medical provider with your answering service will help to create a more satisfying patient experience. It will also help medical caregivers to do their job to the best of their ability. A medical answering service represents a win-win for everyone involved.

How to Get a Business Number

1st October 2019 blog, Business Phone Numbers

Need to know how to get a business phone number? Whether for a large business or a small one, Global Call Forwarding offers virtual phone numbers to meet your needs. In this article, we will take a look at a few aspects to consider when purchasing a phone number, including:

  • Types of phone numbers available
  • Choosing a location
  • Enhancing your phone number with add-ons
  • Subscribing to a service for a business number

Types of Phone Numbers Available from Global Call Forwarding

Perhaps the primary consideration you should keep in mind when thinking about a business phone number is the type that fits your needs. Global Call Forwarding offers the following varieties of numbers:

These virtual numbers can be augmented with mobile accessibility, enabling cellular phones to reach them, and vice versa. Also, it should be noted that virtual phone numbers are based on current inventory and availability.

Choosing a Location

Second, to the type of number that you will be using, choosing a location is the next important step. You will want to consider two location-based aspects:

  • Where you want to be reached
  • Who you want to reach
How to Get a Business Number

Source: Depositphotos.com Lic#160601922 ID#43026961

Location-Specific Phone Numbers

First, a virtual phone number serves as a type of location marker for your business. A business that uses a Canada local number will be perceived as having Canadian origins. Of course, thanks to the routing capabilities of cloud-based telephony, your business can be located anywhere in the world and still be reached instantly.

Canada’s virtual phone numbers are identical in function and appearance to “normal” Canadian phone numbers. The only difference is their added routing capabilities. Having the same country code and corresponding region/area code helps with the localization process of your business, while also circumventing typical long-distance calling obstacles, such as:

  • Long-distance fees
  • Service blockages
  • Customer preferences to deal with only domestic business entities

Gaining Freedom of Location with Toll Free Numbers

Another location-based concern is whether you want to be based on a certain region or remain geographically agnostic with toll free numbers. Considering that toll free numbers not only make calling free for your customers but they also work nationwide. As a result, you can use toll free numbers as a way to obscure where your business is headquartered. Instead, toll free numbers impart a nationwide quality. This encompasses different states, regions, provinces, and so forth based on the toll free prefix you select.

Enhancing Your Phone Number with Add-ons

Now that you’re aware of business numbers from Global Call Forwarding, you should know they can be enhanced with add-ons. These add-ons can completely change how your phone number functions, opening up new possibilities of usage and profitability.

One of these is rollover minutes. This add-on allows you to retain any unused minutes each month, so they are available for future use.

Another popular add-on is call recording which, as the name implies, records and stores calls made using your phone number. This can be effective as an aid for on-the-go entrepreneurs. Additionally, it’s also useful for managers that want to create training materials from prior calls.

Subscribing to a Service for a Virtual Business Number

Now that you have a good idea of the benefits of business phone numbers, it is time to subscribe with Global Call Forwarding. The process of purchasing is simple and easy. You will begin by navigating to their home page at www.globalcallforwarding.com.

Once there, a series of dropdown menus will appear at the top of the page. At that point, you can select your new phone number (including location and type) choosing from a list of currently available phone numbers.

Second, you will enter your destination number (where calls will be rerouted to and from). This will include the country code, area/region code, and remaining digits. After this, you will choose a payment plan and add-ons that fit your intended usage. The process is similar to most online transactions, requiring billing info, contact info, and agreeing to the Terms and Conditions.

Once completed, a customer service rep will contact you within 24 hours or less to assist you with setting up, enabling you to begin using your phone number immediately. Now that you know how to get a business number with Global Call Forwarding, you can purchase as many as needed. Feel to contact them today if you have any questions or issues.

The Daily Challenges of Being a Call Center Agent

19th September 2019 blog, Call Center

Customer service is a central part of any organization. The quality of service provided is undoubtedly a direct contributor to the overall success of a company. This means more companies are investing in call centers to handle their communication needs. With technological advances, virtual call center software has evolved. The daily challenges of being a call center agent have also changed. Having a good grasp on these changes helps in being prepared to overcome the challenges. This type of preparation ultimately contributes to the overall success of the organization. Let’s discuss some of these challenges to get a better understanding of how to manage them.

Customers Express Interest Only to Opt-Out Later On

A call center agent may spend a lot of time on the phone with a customer going over the details of products and services. A customer may express a lot of interest and this motivates the call center agent to continue to invest time. Later on, however, the customer may change their mind and opt-out of purchasing the product or service. When a sale falls through, it affects the productivity of the call agent in numbers and in the resources spent through their time.

The best way to convert leads to sales is to follow up regularly. Stay in touch with those who have expressed interest while communicating your value. Establishing this rapport and reminding them of the value of what your offerings is the best way to increase sales.

Not Knowing the Answer to a Question

Call center agents undergo extensive training. There is still the possibility that a customer is going to ask a question they do not know the answer to. If a call center agent does not know the answer to something, they should bring an expert into the conversation or make sure they call the customer back as soon as possible with an answer.

Managing a Never-Ending Queue of Calls

A call center agent will have what seems like a never-ending queue of calls, especially during peak business hours. This may mean long hold times for customers. Customers can become frustrated with long wait times.

A business owner manages this issue by having FAQ pages, DIY instructions, and tutorials on the company website. A call center agent can utilize self-service options and a callback option to better deal with heavy call volumes.

Transferring Calls

A call center agent will need to transfer calls from time to time. This may mean transferring to a different department and this could upset the customer. Being personalized and specific when transferring a call will help to ease a customer’s concerns. Also, making it a point that it is in their best interests in order to get them the best answer to their query really helps as well.

The daily challenges of being a call center agent.
Source: DepositPhotos.com – O#: 174295982ID#27446420

Adapting to New Technology

A call center agent will have to adapt to new technology from time to time. The environment is extremely dynamic and this presents challenges. Especially when trying to simultaneously manage productivity.

A business owner must introduce training courses to help familiarize agents with any new technology. This is the best way to allow the call center agent to grasp the full potential of the new technology rapidly and efficiently. This will then translate to higher productivity in the workplace.

Virtual phone numbers are a perfect example of new technology that has been introduced in relation to an inbound call center. Virtual phone numbers are relatively easy to adapt t and are beneficial to the company as well as call center agents. Introductions tools like these help companies to stay ahead of their competitors.

Understanding Customers and Dealing With Various Situations

A call center agent acts as a representative of the brand. This necessitates that call center agents operate within certain constraints. This can present challenges as some customers are expressive and very easy to read and others are not. Dealing with customers who are upset is also a challenge, as is dealing with unexpected issues without clear solutions.

The call center agent should always remain patient, calm and courteous. A business owner must also have a uniform process for dealing with a customer that is upset or an issue that is unexpected. That may mean simply going to a supervisor for their suggestion before moving forward with scripted best practices.

Want to Overcome the Challenges of Being a Call Center Agent?

The daily challenges of being a call center agent certainly require preparation for. Agents require training in areas such as communication, marketing strategies, and cultural phone etiquette. Ongoing training to manage the path in adjusting to new technologies is also crucial. Managing time, staying cool under pressure, and the prioritization of goals are also very helpful. Call center performance management is a critical piece of the puzzle in the success of a business. With the right personnel in place, as well as the right call center technology and training, call centers can help a company soar far ahead of the competition.

Using MetroPCS Phones for Business

12th September 2019 blog, Business Insights

Metro PCS, now known as Metro by TMobile, is a nationwide prepaid wireless phone carrier. Although this company offers great pricing and service, MetroPCS phones may not be right for business needs. However, there is an easy and affordable way to utilize your Metro by TMobile phone as your business phone system. In this article, we tell you how you can transform your Metro phone. This way, you can optimize the way your company does business over the phone. And, along those lines, take advantage of a number of options you can gain.

Some Information About MetroPCS

No one likes signing their life away to huge nationwide cellular providers. Big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and even TMobile require annual service contracts. And, of course, with these contracts often come unsuspecting fees. Not to mention the situation you’d be in if you lose or break your phone. Without insurance, you could be left to pay your dues even if you don’t have a phone. Fortunately, companies like MetroPCS offer a way around these annual (or longer) phone contracts with prepaid wireless options. Instead of committing to a contract, MetroPCS customers can purchase prepaid services for their wireless devices. This way, they can avoid the contracts that other large cellular providers require. And, fortunately, they still use the same, great nationwide coverage that other providers offer.

Some History About MetroPCS

MetroPCS has been around since 1994 (back then, it was General Wireless). By 2005, it grew to service over 1.5 million people. This big growth and expansion caught the eye of another major cellular service provider, TMobile. In 2012, MetroPCS and TMobile merged. By 2013, MetroPCS existed no longer due to this merger. And, a new company, Metro by TMobile, was born. Currently, the company is one of the largest that offers prepaid phone plans. Plus, it was one of the first to offer unlimited phone services (phone, talk, and text).

MetroPCS Phones Business
Source: DepositPhotos.com – O#192151132 ID#27446420

The Need for Virtual Phone Numbers

If you’ve had MetroPCS phones, you know they offer one phone number for each phone. And, you know that they don’t offer business Metro PCS phone plans with the standard business phone features. However, the need to be able to do business on cellphones is increasing. Likewise, you may want to be able to use your phone for business reasons. Fortunately, virtual phone numbers offer this solution. And, this ensures you won’t have to consider being a Metro PCS customer.

Pairing Your MetroPCS Phone With Virtual Phone Numbers

Pairing MetroPCS phones with virtual phone numbers provide many benefits. First and foremost, you can choose any business phone number with any area code. And, you can add and subtract phone numbers whenever you need. Secondly, you can create a business phone system right on your mobile device. This also means you can use any of the business phone service features you need. These can include call forwarding, time of day routing, simultaneous ringing, extensions, and more. Third, you can keep your MetroPCS phone plans for personal lines. And, add virtual numbers for business on the same MetroPCS phones. This means you don’t have to sacrifice the great price of your personal phone plan for a business phone solution.

Finally, with virtual phone numbers, you can choose phone numbers with any area code you need. This way, you can establish business relationships from a remote location with specific consumer audiences. Furthermore, you can offer local phone numbers to customers without having to move to business locations.

Choosing Global Call Forwarding for Virtual Phone Numbers

Above all, if you’re a MetroPCS customer and want to use your MetroPCS phones for business, virtual phone numbers are the best solution. They provide all the customizable capabilities you need to handle your phone needs for your business. And, this saves you from having to pay high monthly business servicing fees. Additionally, it prevents you from even having to purchase costly business phone systems at all. To conclude, to start using your MetroPCS cellphone for business with virtual phone numbers, contact us now.

Is It Illegal to Record Phone Calls?

9th September 2019 blog, Business Insights

If your business makes phone calls, as all businesses do, you want to protect yourself in every way possible. For this reason, you may be wondering, “is it illegal to record phone calls?” Certainly, before investing in call recording services that could put your business at risk, it’s best to understand your rights. This way, you can be sure that you’re making the best decision for both your business and your consumers.

Understanding Consent for Recording Phone Calls

There is no one answer to the question, “is it illegal to record phone calls?” This is due to the fact that it could be illegal if you go about recording calls in the wrong way. To get around this, all you have to do is understand consent. But, there are both federal and state regulations that involve consent to recording calls. In simple terms, consent is having permission to record calls before doing so. Consent can come either by you, the person on the other end of the phone, or both.

Federal Consent Laws

According to federal regulations, it is legal to record phone calls if one of the two parties consents. This means that you can make a phone call and give consent to the call recording, as an employee or otherwise. Then, the other person (who answers the phone) doesn’t have to give their consent to record. This is the “one-party consent” law. But, this means that if you are not one of the two parties that were on the phone, you’ll need the consent of the person that’s called to record the phone call legally. However, only if you’re the one recording the calls (rather than the employee him/herself).

Is It Illegal to Record Phone Calls
Source: Depositphotos.com Lic#158441172 ID#11194007

State Content Laws

It’s important to note that while there is one overall federal law that permits a “one-party consent” law, not all states adopt this concept. And, with different state laws, this could affect businesses recording calls in these states. For example, there are 38 states (plus Washington DC) that have a state “one-party-consent” law. So, if you’re not in one of these 38 states, you could need the consent of the calling party before recording any phone calls.

Getting Around any Legality with Recording Phone Calls

So, what if you find that you’re not in one of the 38 states that allow for “one-party-consent”? Or you just want to play it safe? You can always protect yourself legally in one way. Simply have a call recording play out a sequence. Use this to describe how the call is recording before a person connects to a person on the other end. This provides the consumer with the choice of whether or not to provide consent before the phone call even takes place. And, it protects businesses from any legal issues concerning call recording. States that require this consent before phone calls are “two-party-consent” law states. These US states include:

  • California
  • Florida
  • Connecticut
  • Montana
  • Illinois
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Pennsylvania
  • New Hampshire
  • Washington
  • And Hawaii in private call settings

Closing: Recording Your Business Calls

Be confident in your ability to record phone calls to protect your business from any potential threats. It is surely legal to record phone calls, it’s just about knowing your rights as a business owner or employee. Now that you know how to protect your business by learning about consent laws, you may be wondering, “How can I record my phone calls?” Well, with virtual phone numbers available from companies like Global Call Forwarding, it’s simple to set up and record any call you make through your business phone numbers. This is because virtual phone numbers use the internet to work on virtually any business phone system. Above all, they can utilize any business phone feature imaginable, including call recording.