Archive for October 31, 2011

Telecommuting Is Now Easier Than Ever With iTeleCenter

October 31, 2011 admin Virtual Company

Telecommuting has become the desired way to work, with the price of gas continuing its endless climb, yet many businesses don’t have the capability to allow their workers the luxury of working from home. With iTeleCenter, your employees can enjoy an easy commute from the bedroom to their office and still be virtually connected to their jobs.

Through iTeleCenter, your employees’ office phone line can be forwarded to their home  number so that whenever a call comes in to them at work, they’ll be able to receive it as though they were right there. What’s even better about this option is that there is no interruption in the service. In other words, when a customer calls your employee’s office line, the call will ring directly through to their home number without delay.

Making the Most of the Telecommuting Option

In today’s economy, businesses are looking for ways to save money, even if it’s a few  dollars here and there. At the same time, they are trying to manage their employee relations. Sometimes it’s just not economically feasible to offer their employees raises every year, but without some incentive, then they risk losing their most valued assets to other companies. Thanks to iTeleCenter, you can now offer your star employees the option of working from home for a given number of days a week or month.

In essence, the more often you allow them to stay at home and work, the more money they are saving on their commute, especially if they live a fair distance from the office. This perk may not be listed as an income, but the money they save on gas, as well as the time they can spend with their family instead of being stuck in the car, are benefits that are rarely lost on your employees.

Flexibility Matters

The more employees that you have working for you, the more important it becomes to keep everyone connected during normal operating hours. When you have iTeleCenter on  your side, your employees can all be working from home at the same time, yet calling the office line numbers they know for their fellow employees, and never lose a step.

During the harsh winter months in the north, allowing your employees to stay home rather than trekking out into rough and dangerous conditions is a great advantage. People want to work for employers who show a sincere concern for their employees and telecommuting is one of the best ways to display that concern.

The more flexible you make your business, the more efficient and effective it can be to  accomplish the goals that you set forth. If you employ twenty people, for example, then you can offer each employee one day a month to work from home. If telecommuting runs smoothly for your business, then you can gradually increase that. Imagine what you could do with the money you would save on electricity if you were able to effectively shut down your office building one day a week while everyone worked from home?

Telecommuting is the wave of the future, but it’s here today. With iTeleCenter, you can stay ahead of the curve, and ahead of your competition.

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Fax On Demand Services Offer Convenience

October 28, 2011 admin Extensions, Fax Online

As a business owner, you understand the value of being responsive to your clients and  customers. There are many instances when these customers, prospects, partners, or clients may need to have documents sent to them via fax machine, but either you don’t have that capability or you are away from the office. With iTeleCenter’s fax on demand service, you can have access to your own virtual fax machine wherever you happen to be at any given time.

What kind of documents might customers or clients need that couldn’t wait? When you operate a business in our modern age, your customer base is more than local. It’s  global and as a result, your business is no longer a nine to five operation; you have to be responsive twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Some of your customers may require manuals for products that they’ve purchased, order forms, repair slips, or even identification verification forms.

The last thing that any business owner wants to do today is make available these forms that carry personal information on them to anyone who has access to the Internet. That’s why fax on demand is such a great tool to have. Protect your important documents by having them sent by fax to those who request them.

Fax On Demand is Simple and Convenient

With iTeleCenter, all you would have to do is call the designated iTeleCenter phone number and enter the appropriate information designating the documents to be faxed and the fax number and iTeleCenter takes care of the rest. No more hovering around your office’s fax machine until all hours of the night in order to keep your prospects interested in your services.

Fax On Demand Can Be a Powerful Marketing Tool

Not only does fax on demand from iTeleCenter put you in control of your business greater than you might have thought possible, but it can be a powerful marketing tool as well. Your customers may have discovered your business through another marketing strategy that you put in place and are interested in learning more about what you offer. Having documents that they request coupled with other marketing materials affords you another opportunity to inform them on all of the benefits to using your services.

Make This a Two Way Street

When you combine iTeleCenter’s fax on demand services with its send and receive fax services, then your prospects can fill out the appropriate documentation and fax it all back to you anytime day or night. You would then be able to open and print these forms  through your Internet browser, thanks to your iTeleCenter account.

Being accessible to your customers and prospects is one of the most important aspects of operating a modern business. iTeleCenter puts you in the driver’s seat, giving you a  significant advantage over your competition; while they are closed, your business will be operating continuously, communicating and moving transactions forward. This fax on demand service gives your business another important tool in its arsenal to take on the competition, and the world.

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Your Customers Can Connect to You With a Click of the Mouse

October 26, 2011 admin Click to Call

The world seems to be turning to the Internet more and more these days but yet customers still prefer calling a business when they have questions, as opposed to sending out emails and the like. While most businesses out there simply display their phone number on the ‘Contact Us’ page, you can make it simple for your prospects and customers to reach you by phone through your website. Just a click of the mouse and the call can get started.

iTeleCenter’s Click-to-Call feature can be embedded into your website, email newsletters,  online ads, or any other type of online document, such as a pdf file. Anywhere that a person could potentially click on a link, they can use this Click-to-Call feature.

How it Works

When a prospect or a customer is interested in what you have to offer, and they want to speak to you or one of your employees directly, they simply click their mouse on the  link that the specific HTML code embedded in your website, email, or other online document or form appears, then they will be directed to a pop-up window in which they would enter their phone number. iTeleCenter will then call them and you at the same time, connecting your customers and prospects to you with the simple click of a mouse.

This convenient feature accomplishes two major goals for you. First, your customers won’t have to worry about dialing the wrong number or forgetting the number once they hang  up and secondly, you incorporate the modern technology of the Internet with the convenience of a phone call.

Why Customers Prefer the Click-to-Call Feature

The more value you provide to your customers, the better you will perform when compared to your competition. Customers want to be able to connect with you in the easiest way possible; they’re not willing to jump through hoops anymore and the Click-to-Call feature is about as simple and seamless as possible.

Another major reason why customers prefer this feature is because, since iTeleCenter is the one calling them, the call won’t cost them anything at all. When you are seeking to add value to your interactions with your customers, this is one of the most effective ways to accomplish that.

Merging Your Platform

Ultimately, the world is turning more and more to the Internet to seek out new companies with which to conduct business, but people still want to feel as though they will be respected and receive positive customer service before they make a commitment to buy from that company. By integrating your phone number with your web presence, by making it as simple and seamless as possible, you are, in effect, informing your customers and prospective clients that your business is there to serve their needs in the best manner possible.

At the end of the day, customer service drives business and sales and when you offer your prospects the best options, you are going to see your bottom line get a boost. Isn’t that the best reason to use iTeleCenter’s Click-to-Call option?

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Surveys Offer Insight Into Your Customers and Prospects

October 24, 2011 admin Extensions

Have you ever wondered what your prospects or existing customers are thinking? When you have the ability to get inside these important minds, then you move far ahead of  your competition. Increasing sales is tied directly to reaching your target audience in the most effective and emotional way possible. People are driven by their emotions, whether they admit it or not. How someone reacts to different marketing campaigns, products that are offered, or even the prices that are listed all come together to influence decisions about whether to buy from a particular company or not.

With iTeleCenter’s survey tools, you will be able to get inside the mind of your customers and begin to fine-tune not only your marketing strategies but also your business. As a business owner, you want to know the best way to serve your customer base. When you ask them a few pointed and specific questions, then you will be able to determine if what you’re trying, or what you’re thinking of doing in the future, will be as effective as you might hope.

Better Than Focus Groups

iTeleCenter’s survey tool, which is part of their Q&A Scripting feature, is more effective than focus groups. With focus groups, the questions are geared toward a general population, not to those specifically interested in your business. What you want as a business owner is to determine whether the people who are finding your business are being served in the best manner possible, whether they are able to find what they need with ease, and whether their experience with your employees is as positive as you would like it to be, or as it should be.

Traditional Survey Tools

With traditional survey tools, such as an online question and answer form or one that the customer or prospect would have to fill out and mail, there is no guarantee that these individuals will take the time to fill them out. Reading questions and writing them down can seem tedious, or they may set it aside for a later date never to come back to them  again.

With iTeleCenter’s Q&A Extensions, your customers and prospects can answer these questions over the phone. When your customers call your business, they can be greeted with a message followed by a series of survey questions. They would then be given time to record their responses after each question. This is a great idea and tool to utilize when
your callers will be on hold for any length of time.

While there is only so much that you can do to reduce the on-hold time of your prospects and customers, you can make the most of it by digging into their mind, their thought processes, and discovering perhaps better ways of doing business that will keep you one step ahead of the competition.

When you know and understand where your target customer base is coming from, then you can fine-tune your marketing strategy as well as your customer service. When you pay attention to details, you put your business in a better position to capitalize on all that you glean from your customers.

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Evenly Distribute Calls to Your Team with Automated Call Distribution (ACD)

October 21, 2011 admin ACD

When you have a number of salespeople on your team, you want to ensure that they each have equal opportunity and access to customers. While this can be a challenge when dealing with walk-in customers, those that call can be distributed in a fair and balanced manner to all of your salespeople with Automated Call Distribution (ACD).

When you have a staff of salespeople who take a number of phone calls every day, there is no way to effectively monitor whether one salesperson is grabbing more calls than another. Salespeople can be aggressive as their earnings are tied directly to their ability to speak to more customers; the more customers that a salesperson interacts with during the day, the more sales he or she makes. It’s basic economics and as any business owner can attest to, when it comes to sales staff, competition can be fierce.

Keep the playing field fair and balanced for your sales staff by using the automated call distribution feature through iTeleCenter. Your employees will know that they are receiving the same number of calls as everyone else, which tends to keep them satisfied with their working conditions. No longer will they have to trudge home and complain to their spouses about how unfair it is that so-and-so steals all the calls.

Multiple Callers On Hold

With the ACD feature, you will also be able to have multiple callers on hold at any given time. No longer will your callers have to endure the pulsing drone of a busy signal if several people are calling in at the same time. These callers will be directed, in the order that they called, to the next available representative. You can even your callers the option  to wait or leave a message and have their call returned without having to wait on hold.

When callers are given this option, they tend to be a bit more patient knowing that they can opt to leave a message if the wait becomes too long. You can even customize the amount of time that your callers will spend in each cue. Having more control over these options will help improve the efficiency of answering all of these calls.

Use iTeleCenter’s Detailed Reports

You can receive detailed reports about the calls that you are receiving, how long your callers are waiting on hold, and how many calls each member of your team is taking every day. You may discover that one member of your team is on each call for ten minutes longer, on average, than anyone else, but they are closing fewer deals. When you have access to these types of reports, then you can help find ways to become more efficient as a team and serve your callers in a more expedited and efficient manner.

Customer satisfaction is a vital key to business success and with iTeleCenter’s Automated Call Distribution feature, you will immediately see positive results, not just with your customers but also with your sales staff.

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iTeleCenter’s Call Record Feature is Ideal for Training and Boosting Productivity

October 20, 2011 admin iTeleCenter News

In today’s modern business climate, it is crucial to maintain the highest level of customer service and to reduce expenses whenever possible. With iTeleCenter’s Call Record feature, it’s possible to achieve both. Many of today’s larger companies record some of their incoming calls for training purposes. Now your business can do the same. This is a great way for you to monitor how your employees’ interactions are being carried out with your customers. It is also an ideal way to help train new employees in the future.

When your customers call in to your business, you want their experience to be top-of-the-line. You want them to have any questions they have answered in an efficient and friendly manner and you want their concerns or complaints managed with the utmost professionalism and courtesy. Yet unless you are going to be the only person answering those calls, then you can’t possibly know how these interactions are proceeding. With iTeleCenter’s Call Record feature, though, now you can.

Training New Employees

When you hire new employees to answer calls, you can instruct them on proper etiquette and procedures until you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean it will translate into a positive experience for your callers. Every call that comes into your business will be like a snowflake, or a fingerprint: no two will be the same.

Your new employees may understand the instructions that they are given, but being able to play real-life situations for them to hear is the most effective way to help them grasp the concepts handed to them during their initial training.

Using the Call Recording feature will allow you to save specific calls that you want every one of your new employees, and even your veterans, to hear. These call interactions
could be positive or negative, but they will be learning experiences either way. You can highlight the moment the call turned south, or dictate what your employee on the line did or said that was perfect. When your employees, especially those new ones, hear these examples, they will be in a more comfortable situation to manage them on their own.

Never Lose Key Information Again

Another benefit of the Call Record feature is that when customers call in and order products from your company, occasionally information can get lost. The last thing that
you want is to lose a sale because your employee misplaced that information or the computer system crashed. With iTeleCenter’s Call Record feature, you’ll be assured that all of the information your company is given over the phone will be safe, just in case.

This Call Recording feature is one of the most important assets that a business today can have. Business moves at the speed of light and when every customer’s satisfaction counts, you want to make sure that your employees are representing your company in the manner that it deserves.

When you use iTeleCenter’s Call Record feature, you’ll begin to notice your customer satisfaction rate increase and sales will follow. With this feature, the sky is the limit!

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Add a Free Conference Call Bridge

October 19, 2011 admin Conference Calling

Large companies use conference calls to expedite meetings and have discovered their tremendous value through the years to bring employees together to share ideas and move the company in a single, forward, and unified direction. With many phone service contracts, the expense of using the conference call feature is prohibitive to many smaller businesses, but that’s no longer the case with iTeleCenter.

When you have an iTeleCenter account, you will also have access to the conference call bridge line at no additional expense. Simply share your conference call number with your employees or anyone who will be required to participate in this call, and they will join you in your meeting.

You can even record the conference call and make it available for playback at anyone’s convenience!

Better Than Three-Way Calling

Some small business owners have believed that the only real option they have had when needing to speak with more than one person at a time over the phone has been the three-way calling feature common with most calling plans. Thanks to iTeleCenter, that’s no longer the case. Other teleconferencing offers tend to charge extra for this feature, but with iTeleCenter, it’s all included with the activation of your account.

With a conference call, all of the participants of the meeting, whether you are dealing with three people, ten, or more, can listen and share their thoughts and opinions in with ease and comfort. You won’t have to scramble to have everyone crowd around a table with the speakerphone setup, straining to hear the person speaking. Each caller on the conference call will be able to communicate and hear as though they are simply talking to one other person on a regular call.

Turning Your Business Into a Global Powerhouse Overnight

A business that wants to be taken seriously and achieve great things in this modern age must take advantage of everything that technology has to offer and that includes being able to communicate with people wherever they are. If your business works in partnership with other businesses around the country or even around the world, then you know the importance of being able to communicate efficiently and effectively. Emailing and conference web chats can serve a purpose, but decisions often need to be made quickly, otherwise you can be left behind by your competition.

With conference calling, your business can remain on the leading edge of ideas and decision-making processes. You may be sitting there thinking that the entire conference call doesn’t matter to you, that since you’ve never needed it before, you wouldn’t think you’ll need it in the future. With iTeleCenter, there’s no extra charge for this feature. That means that even if you never use it, you haven’t lost anything.

But what happens when you wake up one morning and realize that you could really use a conference calling feature? With iTeleCenter, you will rest assured knowing that when the time comes (and it will come), you will be able to virtually meet with a number of employees, clients, or potential partners using your phone. The quality and clarity of iTeleCenter’s calls are top rate so you’ll know that your conference call will be as clear as though you were all in the same room together.

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Showcase Your Glowing Testimonials with iTeleCenter

October 18, 2011 admin General

Testimonials are an important ingredient to business success, regardless of what kind of
business you are involved in. You could spend every penny of your marketing budget and say anything and everything that you want to about your business, the products you carry, and even your mission statement or community works, but when it comes to choosing a company with whom to purchase from, consumers want to hear the word of other customers. They want to hear about their impressions and experiences.

That’s why many consumers today rely on testimonials in their decision-making process. It’s one thing to have those valuable testimonials written and posted on your company’s website; there are far too many that are being created throughout the world that are not exactly truthful. Step up and stand out from the competition with audio testimonials thanks to iTeleCenter.

Capture Testimonials Anytime Day or Night

With iTeleCenter, your customers can call into your designated phone number and extension to leave their glowing and heartfelt observations about your business anytime of the day or night. With iTeleCenter’s easy-to-use features, all they need to do is leave their impressions on the recording, letting potential future customers know about their positive experience and anything they would like to share about your incredible business.

Your paying customers chose your business for a reason and if you fulfill your end of the implied agreement and deliver exceptional service and/or products (ideally both), then these consumers are going to want to share that experience with others. Writing testimonials can sometimes seem like a chore to many individuals, which is what makes the iTeleCenter’s method of recording and playing back these words of praise convenient, easy, and perfect.

Publish and Control These Testimonials at Your Discretion

When you spend any amount of time on the Internet searching for other businesses, you will likely come across review-style sites. These can be a great way for some businesses to highlight their customer service, location, or products, but they will only show up in a search if a customer decides to seek them out. When you spend time marketing your business, you want to direct them to a simple to use and easy to find reference source where they can discover what other people thought about you and your business.

The more satisfied customers who call in and leave positive feedback, the more you can control the best ones to share. While many of the calls will likely be glowing, there are some customers who simply have a knack for getting the point across eloquently. These are the testimonials that you should focus on and with iTeleCenter’s control options, it is simple to manage them all.

You can publish the extension on advertisements and other marketing strategies, and you can even use different extensions, which will use different testimonials, to target various aspects of your business. For instance, you may sell winter sporting products as well as summer ones. If you have a host of testimonials specifically focused on the winter sports, organize them in that manner and when someone sees your ad and calls the number,  they’ll hear the glowing praise that pertains to the activities they find most interesting.

Testimonials can be the boost that your business needs to increase sales, thanks to iTeleCenter.

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24-Hour Recorded Messages Boost Sales

October 17, 2011 admin Voice Studio

How many hours every day, or even every week, do you devote to your business? No matter what that number happens to be, it’s not gong to be 24-hours a day. When your business is closed, what opportunities do you have in place to capture potential customer interest? If you have a website that is interactive, that’s a great start, but potential customers will be calling you, or would like to be able to call you directly.

This doesn’t mean that they necessarily want to speak to someone directly, and in fact the Direct Marketing Association has found that 83 percent of respondents to a survey they conducted wanted to listen to recorded messages about products and services that a business offered rather than to speak to a live person.

So, you thought that your personality was so wonderful that everyone would simply want to speak to you, didn’t you? Of course, we all think that, but when it comes to business, it is important that we think about what our target customer base wants and what will interest them the most. In this case, this audience is interested in recorded messages that share v aluable information about your business, products, or the services that it provides.

Get a Toll-Free, 24-Hour Recorded Message

With iTeleCenter, you can have your own toll-free, 24-hour recorded message to play for your target audience. What is the advantage of having a toll-free number rather than simply using your existence phone number and answering machine for your callers?

The reality is that toll-free numbers are powerful enticements for interested people to call a business. Yes, in this day and age of unlimited calling plans, there are many people who no longer have to worry about where they’re calling and for how long, but what about those other customers?

What about the other five-and-a-half billion customers around the world who might be  interested in finding out more about your business? A toll-free number increases the chances that interested potential customers will call, plus it appears much more professional than a standard home number.

iTeleCenter offers you flexibility with this 24-hour toll-free recorded message service, such as being able to play any outgoing message that you want, including telling your callers more about specific products, but also offering them the option (if you so choose) to be able to press 0 and be patched through directly to you.

Speak to Ready and Willing Customers Right Away

Yes, you can ask these callers to your 24-hour toll-free recorded message to leave their name and contact information, but you run the risk that they will hang up before that option. Or you could direct them to dial 0 to speak with you right away.

Generating interest in people is one of the most important aspects of sales and when you have ‘hot’ customers on the line, you don’t want them to cool off; you want to reel them in. Using iTeleCenter’s 24-hour toll-free recorded message service allows you to boost the likelihood of sales when your customers call in after hours. It’s a great way to increase your closing rates!

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Understand How Your Ads Are Performing with Ad Tracker

October 14, 2011 admin Ad Tracker

Do you know how well, or not well, the advertisements that you’ve invested in are working, or are not working? For too many small businesses, they falsely believe that by simply creating an advertisement, that they are reaching and impacting their target customer base. The reality is that even though they’ve made this incredibly important and sometimes expensive investment, it isn’t reaching the right audience. If your ads are not reaching your target customer base, then you are not achieving the best return
on your investment possible.

It all basically comes down to throwing darts while blindfolded. Even the most talented artisan of the sport isn’t going to be very successful and while your competition is taking advantage of the ability to see the target, you’re just hoping that something hits the mark. Stop the madness and get off the carousel with iTeleCenter’s Ad Tracker.

Find Out How Effective Your Ads Truly Are

With iTeleCenter’s Ad Tracker, the solution to determining whether or not your ads are hitting their mark or not is simple. All you need to do is add your iTeleCenter phone number along with an ad tracking code into the body of your advertisements and remind your customers to mention the tracking code when they contact you and your business will be able to effectively determine whether that investment in ad space or time is making an impact on your bottom line.

When you are running multiple ads, or even running the same ads on different platforms or outlets, you will be able to use different tracking codes. iTeleCenter will organize these codes when your customers call in and you will be able to quickly and easily see which locations your ads are being most effective as well as where they are returning nothing, or next to nothing.

Control Your Marketing Campaigns Much More Efficiently

Marketing is one of the most important investments that any business owner can make, and it’s also one that far too many rely on blind faith. You can hire a professional advertising agency and send them money every month, but unless you take charge and monitor how those ads are working or are not working, then you could effectively be throwing money away without even realizing it.

Let’s face it, you’re not going to turn every single person who views your ad into a customer. Sometimes you would be fortunate to have a five-percent conversion rate, but with so many different avenues and outlets to choose from, your target base will gravitate toward certain, very specific places, such as the TV, the Internet, newspapers, radio, or other avenues.

When you have the iTeleCenter’s Ad Tracker working for you, your business will be able to revise existing ads, change marketing strategies, add new outlets, and fine-tune your marketing strategy. Ultimately, through the Ad Tracker program that iTeleCenter offers, you will maximize your return on your investment when it comes to your marketing strategy and that is a major key to business success.

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