Virtual PBX, Toll-Free Number and 800 Number - 800PBX Blog

Running your business often involves spending hours on the phone with customers. As a business owner, do you ever wish you could find affordable and professional front desk help?

Personal assistants and front desk assistants can often get the job done. The question is can you afford one? If so, how do you find one who always sounds professional, is never late, never has a bad day, and can talk with multiple customers at the same time without ever needing a break?

Now, imagine this scenario: Bob Rich, one of your most valued customers, calls your business at 7am on a Friday before a long holiday weekend. Your office is not open yet. Bob is about to board a plane from LA to NYC, and will be out of pocket the rest of the day. He wants to make an appointment as soon as possible. He dials your office number anxious for a response. What happens next?

How about this: a professional assistant answers the phone and greets Bob pleasantly. The assistant asks Bob what type of appointment he is interested in. The assistant is trained and knows that a consultation takes only 30 min, but a regular appointment takes one hour. Bob can choose the day and the specific time to meet with you, based on your calendar availability. The assistant books the appointment on your Google or Outlook calendar, and asks Bob if he would like a reminder call the day before. Bob talks to the assistant in his natural voice and tone, and the assistant responds back promptly and courteously each time.

Where can you find this ideal employee who answers calls at 7am and how much will you have to pay?

The assistants name is Automated Scheduling. And 800PBX can offer you your own for an incredibly low price. Want more info? Check out.

Are you in the market for a dependable and low-cost business phone system? If so, you might find yourself confused over the various options available and the different acronyms attached to them.

Hosted PBX is one of the most powerful solutions for businesses in recent years. Here are the basics to help you make informed decisions about your business.

PBX stands for Private Branch Exchange. Unlike an exchange operated by a phone company for the public, a PBX is an exchange (or switch) serving the needs of a particular business. Hosted PBX (sometimes called virtual PBX), is an alternative to the traditional PBX. With a hosted PBX service, there is no need for expensive hardware equipment in your office. Both the hardware and the software required to manage your business phone system reside at the provider’s data center. As a user, all you need is a phone and a broadband internet connection. You no longer need a telephone closet in your office.

The system provider (for example 800PBX), delivers the functionality you need over the internet. Each time a call comes in it rings through to the data center first. From there, the caller can dial an extension, leave a message, pick a name from the phone directory, or pick among a menu of pre-recorded messages that you have defined.

Each call is sent from the provider’s data center to your office through VoIP (Voice over IP) technology. Simply put, this is the technology which converts audio to data, so it can be delivered over the internet. Once at its destination, the data gets converted back to audio, which is what you hear once you pick up the phone at your desk.

“How to pick the best hosted PBX service“

Once you have the basics about hosted (sometimes called virtual) PBX under your belt, you will need to answer a few questions about your business in order to start evaluating providers. It is not absolutely necessary that you have precise answers to each of these questions; however, answering them in advance will help you better evaluate hosted PBX vendors.

1. How many phone lines does your business have currently, including toll-free numbers, and how will this change in the future?
2. How many offices do you have and how many employees per office?
3. What is your average call volume, both inbound and outbound?
4. How much has phone service cost your business per month for the last year?
5. How much are you paying in long-distance calls each month?
6. What is the total cost of leasing phone equipment?
7. What is the total cost of conferencing bridges, auto attendants and any other software costs?

Here are the factors to consider when picking a hosted PBX provider:

* Provider’s dependability: What has been the provider’s scheduled and unscheduled downtime in the last few months?

* Who owns the phone number? As a business owner, you want to make sure that you own your phone numbers, should you ever decide you want to make a change
* Does the provider own the technology, or is it licensed through a third party? Providers who have developed or own the technology will usually be quicker to react to your needs and to make improvements.

* How many different plans does the provider offer and how many extensions come with each plan? You shouldn’t be paying for more horsepower than you really need.

* Does the provider require a contract and if so, how long?

* What features are offered as part of each plan, and which ones are most important to you?

* Is voice-driven IVR (interactive voice response) one of the available features?

* Finally, what is the setup cost and the ongoing monthly cost?