Wednesday, May 6, 2015

3 Phone Features Small Businesses Cannot Live Without

First impressions count, especially in business. Setting up (or adding) only a few key phone features can make any size business look and sound more professional overnight, while ensuring that customers reach you when they need to. With so many features to choose from, we narrowed down our top 3.

1. Call Forwarding

With Call Forwarding, you can forward calls to another phone number (including a cell phone or home number) so you never have to worry about missing an important call.

You can set up rules, menus, and queues based on your needs.

Call Forwarding categories include:

- All Calls
- When Busy
- Do Not Disturb
- No Answer
- Selective Forwarding
- When Out of Service

With Call Forwarding, you can also choose to have calls blocked all together, or sent directly to voicemail.

2. Auto Attendant

An auto attendant acts like a virtual assistant and replaces the need for an actual receptionist or operator. It automatically greets callers and directs them to the right person or department by simply pressing a button.

For example: for Sales, press 1; for Support, press 2; to dial by name, press 3.

You can customize your auto attendant with a number of options.

- Dial by name directory
- Dial by extension directory
- Transfer to user
- Transfer to a user’s voicemail
- Transfer to another Auto Attendant

You can set up multiple auto attendants, including an auto attendant for employees.

For example:
To speak with John, press 1.

Once the call is transferred, a second auto attendant can be set up with additional options.

To leave a message, press 1; to reach me on my cell, press 2; to speak with someone in Support immediately, press 3.

Benefits of an Auto Attendant:

- Look bigger and sound more professional
- Replace the receptionist and/or operator
- Route calls efficiently and effectively
- Customize (set up separate auto attendants for business hours, after hours, and holidays)
- Record directly from your phone or upload a pre-recorded greeting

3. Find Me Follow Me (also referred to as Mobile Office)

With Find Me Follow Me, your office doesn’t have to be restricted to your main place of business. This powerful feature allows your employees to receive calls anywhere, anytime and from any device while still connecting all of your employees under one corporate phone system. Calls can be routed to a cell phone, another number (like a home office or hotel room), or another person (like a receptionist or a co-worker). You can even customize how you receive calls by day, time and even caller.

Benefits of Find Me Follow Me:

- Give out one number and work from anywhere without missing a call
- Keep your cell phone and home numbers private
- Customize how you receive your calls by day, time, and even caller
- Have calls ring to multiple phones at the same time or in an order of your choice (for
  example: ring your cell phone first, and then your home office).


TouchTone Business VoIP phone service arms customers with powerful calling features like these to help them run their business more efficiently.