written by Lindsey Kacena, Tie National, LLC
Advancements in information technology solutions change the way businesses communicate with their customers. Customers expect instant reactions. The internet is how many people socialize and run their business because they can make their mark and relay information rapidly around the globe. Business phone systems have had to find a way to keep up in this digital world and the advancements there have grown leaps and bounds since the days of the first phone call.
Today’s phone systems use information technology solutions to put control into the caller’s hands using an automated attendant (also known as phone trees). Through use of an automated attendant callers have an option to reach specific departments, such as a Help Desk, within a company or to hear a recorded information greeting about location and hours. An automated attendant provides caller control which then reduces the time spent on call transfers. Programming an automated attendant can be performed remotely and quickly which allows the automated attendant to grow with the company’s changing needs.
Businesses lose fewer opportunities from missed calls by taking advantage of call queuing. Call queues essentially put the caller into a waiting room where this captive audience can listen to music or recorded messages on hold about current promotions until someone is available to take their call. Tie National, LLC (TIE) offers Background Music and Message on Hold through an easy to manage online portal where customers can choose which messages to play on their phone systems and when. Additionally TIE offers a portal of Call Reporting that provides an inside look to the call trends and missed calls into phone systems that can be used to more efficiently manage a business.
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) used at Help Desk or call centers, intelligently distributes the incoming calls on phone systems to awaiting representatives determined by criteria such as who may have been available the longest or using time of day call routing. Some phone system programming also employs an automatic call back option to allow callers an option to keep their place in line without needing to stay on the call.
Unified communications is fundamental in today’s world, which is why some phone systems incorporate mobile options such as twinning. Simultaneous ringing is provided with twinning so that your mobile and desk phone receive incoming calls to avoid missing an important call. Positions that need traveling, or occasional telecommuters therefore benefit from twinning. The mobile phone, when twinning, reacts as an extension of the phone system and can use many of the phone system’s features as though they were sitting at their desk in the office.
With technology such as Toshiba’s Call Manager, Outlook now becomes a quick and easy way to call clients with just a click of the mouse. Rather than relying on a paper trail of notes, integration can even allow a search by date or name to pull up the call record and notes tied to that call. Help Desk representatives use software that can populate on their screen that tell them details of the caller they are working with to take advantage of up-sell opportunities for some companies.
With all these technology advancements made to phone systems, it may be time to check your own service and decide if it is time for you to upgrade! Tie National, LLC offers the information technology solutions you need to stay in touch and make an impression with your customers!
Sources:
https://tienational.com/marketing/Sound_Suite_v4.swf
www.allworx.com/products/business-phone…/automatic-call-distribution
http://www.telecom.toshiba.com/Technology_Briefs/strata_call_manager.cfm
