Ari Law attorneys focus on small business, litigation, intellectual property, contract and defense. Located in the financial district of San Francisco, they serve the entire Bay area as well as numerous other locations, including China.

Ali Aalaei, the Principal of the firm, noticed a discrepancy between the number of calls directed to the firm by a referral agency and the number of calls that the firm was registering. The referral agency indicated that they were missing three to five calls a week. Mr. Aalaei and his colleagues were shocked by the realization that they were losing potential business. This prompted further investigation into the customer experience of a caller to the firm. Read on…

Q: I have selected “Rings before voicemail picks up,” but I really need to be able to set extensions to forward only (without ever going to Halloo voicemail). Is this possible?

A: Simply set the “Maximum incoming voicemail length” to “0″ for the extension(s) that you don’t want to reach voicemail. Note: If you record a greeting for that extension, it will still play, which will allow you to record a brief message before the script hangs up. In addition, if you check the “For further assistance” option, the caller will be given the chance to jump to another extension, including back to the auto attendant by pressing 9.

Ever feel that more and more people are not listening to their voicemails? The hustle and bustle of life has gotten so hectic, a businessperson could save 30 minutes a day by erasing every voicemail left during the day! But, if you’re a small-business entrepreneur, erasing is not an option! You need to make sure you’re in contact with your clients and that means listening and responding to your messages. It’s absolutely crucial. Read on…

Do you remember your first job with a desk and phone? Did you have to use a company sponsored software program? Most likely the customer relationship management (CRM) program provided was unnecessarily complex.

With bulky, complex customer tracking software, the volume of data that needs to be entered, let alone accurately, can be daunting. Hundreds of fields such as time of call, notes, sales representative name, etc., etc., often require hours of data entry and additional upkeep time in order to have a viable system. If mistakes are made during the data capture period, they can significantly impact the customer. Some mistakes even lead to loss of the sale.

Read on…

Getting in touch with a “real” person at some companies is getting more and more difficult. Numerous companies, particularly those that are primarily web-based such as Microsoft, Google, or Amazon, make it nearly impossible to find a phone number for a customer service line. In part, this transition is due to increased Internet access by consumers. With more customers online, companies have an easier time directing customer service questions to forums or frequently asked question pages. But, is this increasingly popular tactic the right choice for your business?

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Researching “On-Hold Music” reveals an extensive amount of information on the topic. It is an entire industry in itself, plus there are numerous opinions, studies, and articles that focus solely on the type of music you should play for customers when you put them on hold.

NPR’s MarketPlace recently featured a segment discussing “What Makes You Happy When Your Call Is Put on Hold?” This piece explored the evolution of the industry and how hold music can impact customer satisfaction.

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Sadly, unexpected disasters can strike your area and business in numerous ways. While there’s no way to completely prepare for every type of disaster, having contingency plans and needed tools readily available can help you navigate through tough times.

Part of a disaster plan should address how you’ll communicate with your customers, clients, and employees. It may not be feasible to individually call each member of your team or expect team members to have access to their normal work environment. Instead, you may need to set up a communication system that can be accessed by employees once they reach safety. Including a virtual phone system with automated attendant, call forwarding, and hunt group features into your disaster plan can minimize service disruptions. Read on…

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce.com have become the defacto sales and support tool for large enterprise and government organizations worldwide. The idea is pretty simple: manage your business interactions in a central database so that your sales and support organization can leverage that knowledge for increased sales and more effective customer service.

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As the demand for toll-free numbers has grown, the combinations available with the 800 prefix have dwindled. To keep pace, several new prefixes were added to the mix. Now, numbers with 888, 877, 866, 855 are also toll-free.  Even with these, many of the desirable 7-digit combinations for vanity numbers using these prefixes are taken.

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The year was 1967. The Doors released their self-titled debut album, Louis Leaky announced the discovery of pre-human fossils in Kenya, the Vietnam War raged, and NASA launched the first Saturn V rocket into orbit.

It was also the year that AT&T launched the “inward WATS,” or Wide Area Telecommunications Service, better known as “toll-free” telephone service. INWATS was introduced to reduce the time spent by operators processing toll-collect calls for businesses. Back then, long distance calls were expensive and businesses quickly seized the opportunity to use the service to provide superior customer experiences. The oldest and most well-known of the toll-free area codes in the United States, “800,” was the “.com” calling card for successful businesses.

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