Recently we had a question crop up on the Halloo forums that made for a great idea for your small business. The question was a technical one in nature, but one with widespread ramifications. Specifically, what is Direct Inward Dial, and how can it help you?
Art Innovators is a drawing-based International art program based in Diamond Bar, California. As art programming is being cut from school budgets across the country, Art Innovators is filling the gap with International programs for children of all ages.
At this time of year–some would say especially at this time of year–many people out there stop and remember Jesus Christ, and all the things he did. And while everyone’s got a different way of doing that, the people at By Design Ministries had a way to do it that few others had tried. They brought in Halloo to provide them a way to easily reach people who want to learn more about God through their ministry.
Jefferson Spine Care in Mount Shasta, California is an orthopaedic spine clinic that offers a variety of services relating to the back and spinal column, including artificial disc replacement surgery as well as surgeries relating to back, hip and leg issues. With health care taking a new forefront all over the United States, Jefferson Spine Care is offering the means to improve and repair the center of all human life, the spine.
The most expensive part of owning a fax machine is the ink toner. But there are other reasons than simply cost to go digital with your inbound faxes. From liability to organization to increased sales, using a “Cloud-based” fax solution is easy and will add to your bottom line in ways you never expected.
Here we list the top five reasons to stop using the hissing, beeping, sometimes not-even-working fax hardware.
Many people out there, especially those with their own businesses, have likely wondered where they can get their hands on a toll free number. After all, there are few better ways to get people to call than for them to realize they can do so at no cost no matter where they are and ask questions. But how do you go about getting your hands on one of these precious numbers? We can answer that for your right here.
There is no disputing the considerable benefit a toll free number can offer your small business. Even if it is an illusion, you can communicate the image of being a larger and more national company while encouraging your clients to contact you without hesitation.
Talk about dialing the wrong number! Get this—you can talk to a sexy girl wanting a little bit of action if you simply dial 1-800-Metallica….
Confused? You should be. Because as you know, the name Metallica is a thrash metal band that’s been around since the ‘80s. And they’re hardly associated with porn or phone sex. Yet, you call that 1-800 number, and you’re instantly solicited to enter your credit card information to start the verbal innuendo action that was so prevalent in the ‘80s and ‘90s!
A business litigation and IP firm based in downtown San Francisco, the ARI Law Group firm was using a dedicated in-building receptionist and a punch-key PBX system to communicate with clients. In a recent call with an attorney directory service, the rep from the directory informed one of the principals that they routinely received 3 to 5 calls per week from their sponsored listing, something the law firm was unaware of. This prompted a further investigation into the “client experience” as they phoned into the firm.
It appeared that after hours – before 9:00am and post 5:30pm – the receptionist would be absent and calls would go to voicemail after an average of 8 rings (approximately 32 seconds). As the firm had international clients, it was safe to assume that a number of calls throughout the early morning and night went to voicemail, where many callers simply hung up.
While recognizing the need to move to a more sophisticated business phone system, ARI Law faced a number of challenges often seen in professional services firms that occupy office space in a large commercial building downtown.
1) They required the use of their existing punch-key PBX phone system as it was the standard system within the entire building. It had outdated features and was old, but it was fixed throughout.
2) Desiring to answer each client call with the human touch, they required a tie-in service that would allow an answering service that was intimate with their business to be able to offer live call reception 24/7/365.
3) Because the nature of their business was law and that client calls had to have the utmost security, they wanted a system based on a wired business telephone system and not on VoIP.
With the Halloo system the ARI Law firm set up a unique local number for each of the several area codes within the Bay Area and Silicon Valley that they serviced. They then routed these numbers to their traditional office line, while being able to toggle to a live agent answering service during off hours.
They were also able to offer their clients the convenience of a single local number so that parties could join a conference call (often used in professional services) by pushing a number on their phone while calling into the normal office line.
Ali Aalaei, principal of ARI Law PC said, “Halloo provides our clients in the Bay Area and in Asia an incredibly accessible way to communicate with our team here in San Francisco and Orange County.”
Chances are, if you do any sort of local advertising, you’re not sure how to quantify how well it’s working. A local DID number from a hosted phone service provider can help you track the effectiveness of your ad campaigns so easily, it’ll be a small wonder how you lived without such visibility before.
These days, many small businesses are inundated with pitches from vendors promising them easy ways to get more customers, mostly from the Web. There’s so many choices it can be confusing and with more choices than ever before, even the local Yellow Pages ad reps are promising “Google Gold.”
But how can you tell if any of it’s working? And, if you feel some of it is – how do you know exactly how much you’re getting from it?
advertising answering service call forward call forwarding call transfers Click-to-Call communications computers consumers credit unions customers entrepreneur Entrepreneurs entrepreneurship extensions Facebook FlexCall Center Foursquare Gmail Google Hoovers Hosted small business phone services hunt group Jigsaw live answering service live operator loans marketing networking SalesGenie SBA search engine optimization SEO small business small businesses social media toll free number Toll Free Numbers virtual office virtual receptionist voice mail voicemail web marketing word of mouth Yelp
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Copyright © 2003–2012, Halloo Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
