800 PBX provides fully managed services. However, many small business owners prefer to control their extensions themselves once they are familiar with the control panel.

For the last four months, our control panel got refined basing on the recommendations and reviews on other sites. The new control panel features rich Web 2.0 (Google’ish) components. Fast in action and easy UI like drag and drop features, the panel allows customers to configure their extensions, send faxes, listen to greetings online, configure extensions based on timings etc.

Creating an extension is now a snap and can be done in one single step. Simply add new extension, add follow-me, announcement and voicemail. Simply drag and drop nodes according to your requirement.

Built using the patent pending technologies, 800 Genie provides a wide gamut of services including reading and replying to your mail (Gmail, Yahoo!, AOL and most service providers are supported), real-time tele-blogging, group messaging, reminders, traffic updates, directions, weather, various kinds of news including business, top stories, sports etc. Genie can also maintain your calendar and notes. Genie uses advanced speech recognition engines to match voice inputs. Besides speech, Genie can also understand touch tones.

Demo says, “This company has flipped the question of the mobile Web on its side and delivered a very useful service that isn’t so much about bringing Web sites to mobile devices as it is about accessing Web-based information services through the most ubiquitous device going: the telephone, mobile or landline. As a consumer service, 800 Genie delivers personalized, Web-based data to the phone. As an enterprise service, 800 PBX opens a world of possibilities for workgroup communications and information sharing.”

Our new product which we are unveiling is a free service and we are anticipating that the service will be useful for many mobile users who would like to access information over phone.

Join us at DEMO 08 and see how we will architect the future of technology.

800PBX would like to confirm that there were no outages and the facts in the PR are just baseless. We are making an attempt to get them removed.

800PBX offers a free trial for 15 days backed up by 30 day money back guarantee. We are confident of our services.

SantaCalls will call children at the designated time and announce the customized parent’s message or one of the prerecorded Santa messages. You no longer require to remember the PINs and your account id. SANTA WILL CALL YOU AT THE DESIGNATED TIME.

The service also captures the child’s wish and deliver them by email to his or her parent. The original recordings are available online and can be optionally shared with the 800PBX community.

For a limited time, the best recording gets a free gift and the first “Happy Christmas” call from Santa himself. Parents must register for the free service and provide the email address to deliver the recorded wish list. Santa will call at the designated time from “North Pole” and talk to your child and ask for his or her wishes.

Your phone appointments are now easily handled by the automated system. The callers can schedule an appointment by calling your 800 number or local number. The system either prompts them with the next available schedule or provides options for the caller to enter his designated date and time.

An email and SMS is automatically dispatched to you after the self appointment. The system also follows up with the customer 1 day and 1 hr before the scheduled appointment confirming the appointment.

Please visit our toll-free phone appointment page for further details.

EasyTrans is available everywhere your phone can reach. The recording is immediately available online in a compressed format on your panel. A first level voice recognition is done on the recording and the transcribed text, 90-95% accurate, is available within 5 mins. Doctor is notified once the qualified transcription engineer completes the transcription.

More details on EasyTran, toll-free transcription, can be found here.

For the first time in the entire virtual-pbx and toll-free number industry, 800PBX leads the way by providing ‘complete’ 100% managed services.

With the new service, small businesses and entrepreneurs need not learn new technical jargon or familiarize with technologies and various online panels. One of the 800PBX team members will call after the sign up process. The technical expert will understand your requirements in detail and design your system free of cost. Most of the greetings are done by a voice over artist in the studio.

Any custom requirements are also implemented by 800PBX.

Your system is identified, drafted, qualified and verified within a span of two business days.

For existing users, 800PBX will provide free analysis of your existing account. Please write to us at managed@800pbx.com.

To learn more, please visit our managed page.

What does the questionnaire feature offered by 800PBX provide? (more…)

Introduction

A vanity number is a type of toll-free number beginning with 1-800, 1-888, 1-877 or 1-866 and ending with a word, acronym or domain which represents the company and/or the goods or services that it markets. Sometimes called word numbers or alphanumeric numbers, vanity numbers have been proven to be a very valuable and effective marketing tool. They have also been shown to be an inexpensive promotional method in contrast to repetitive advertising through print and electronic media.
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Our goal has been to provide the most complete, low cost toll-free virtual-pbx communication services to small and medium sized businesses.

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• Improves business overall
• Make your advertising more effecient
• Improves sales
• Larger professional company image
• Receive more prospective calls
• Improved sales revenues
• High response rates to your marketing campaigns
• Able to target national market
• Gain competitive edge
• Track calls and improve quality
• No busy signals to your 1-800 telephone number
• Scalability in business
• Efficient customer support
• Ease of use to your customers
• Number portability

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For example, if you are an attorney, you could grow your business by advertising 1-800-LAW-HELP as your vanity 800 number.
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The following list will get you started with your initial virtual-pbx setup. (more…)

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You can direct your callers to your operator extension if they remain idle without responding to the auto attendant.
The auto attendant will play the welcome greeting twice to prompt the user before forwarding the call to the operator extension. Simply select the extension where all the calls need to be transferred from the drop-down options.

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If your caller tries to reach an employee ‘Steve Kirby’, he can call your Toll-free Number, dial ‘Dial by name extension’ and then enter the first three letters of the last name of the person ‘Kirby’ he wishes to speak. The call will be forwarded directly to ‘Steve’s’ extension without any ‘call forwarding’ from the operator. (more…)

Setting up an extension is a three step process.

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Unlike follow me, call-hunt calls all the desginated numbers ‘simultaneously’ until the call is accepted. Call is connected with whoever receives the call first.

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800PBX understands the needs of the customers and makes every effort to keep them happy and satisfied. Toll-free virtual pbx services are the best in class and most reliable in the industry. With this confidence, a 30-day money back guarantee on all the plans is offered. (more…)

800PBX provides a free dedicated number which can be used for fax or voice. (more…)

Fax can be sent it to any number in US and Canada. 800PBX will also email you the status of each job.

For sending faxes, select “Fax-Out” from the options available at the top. You can also provide recipient’s name and the subject of the fax. These details are included in the cover letter which is automatically attached to your outbound fax. Your toll-free number will be automatically added as your callback number.

PDF, text and tiff files are supported at this point. If you want a word document to be faxed out, install a pdf converter to first convert it to pdf.

Advantage: Internet faxing allows you to send fax directly from your PC.

Once the request is placed, it typically takes 5-10 business days for the activation process of the new local number. The support team will notify you by an email when the ordered number is activated to your account.

You can then use this dedicated number for fax or voice. Selecting voice option, the local number would be similar to your toll-free number in receiving incoming calls. With Fax option selected, the number can be used as a dedicated fax number.

Advantages: The local number will help you advertise and build brand image in your local market.

Callers often form their impression of the company from the main greeting and auto attendant.

A professional sounding greeting will attract more customers and encourage the callers to call again. It greatly helps in improving your company’s image.

With 800PBX service, you get a FREE voice artist greeting done by a professional artist in his radio studio.

After signing up, select greetings option from the panel. Type-in the text you need for your welcome greeting. “Thanks for calling XYZ Corporation. Dial 1 for support. Dial 2 for billing etc.”

800PBX representative will upload the recording done by a professional and associate it with your account in 3-4 business days.

800PBX will automatically lookup the location and state from the caller-id. This information is then forwarded as caller’s name to your local number designated in the follow-me or call hunt.

Email is one of the most widely used communications in the corporate world. Imagine if your customers can call you directly after they have read your email.

With 800PBX’s call-signature feature, you can now allow customers to call you directly from your email signature.

a) You write email as is with a small signature provided in the panel
b) Customer clicks your signature if he/she is interested in contacting you
c) Call is automatically placed at the desginated time by the customer

Call-signature is made simple by following these steps.

1. From the panel, select Web dial from the options available on the top.
2. Click Email Signature
3. Simply copy the code into a file and save it as mysignature.html
4. Use this file as your signature.

Outlook: Select Tools -> Options -> Mail Format. In the signature section, create a new signature and select the mysignature.html using the file template option.

Thunderbird: Select Tools -> Account Settings -> Attach this signature. Browse to find your mysignature.html.

Follow me feature offered in the Virtual PBX suite allows you to forward your calls to different phone numbers in the order of your choice. You can program the call forwarding list with the help of your online control.

800PBX Virtual PBX system calls all the desginated numbers ‘one after another’ until the call is accepted.

Many virtual pbx systems do not screen for live presence before the call is answered. As most of the cell phones are provided with voice mail at virtually no cost, the call is actually connected to your voicemail of the carrier. To prevent this, 800PBX confirms a human presence by asking for user input (”Press 1 to take this call”).

When the list is exhausted, the callers are sent to voicemail or as configured in the rules section of 800PBX’s online panel.

Pros: Follow me lets you never miss an important call.
Cons: Often the customer has to wait for two minutes before the call is connected. However, custom Music On Hold with information about the products or promotions can be used to better utilize the customer’s wait time.

With 800PBX’s new online panel, you can schedule audio conference calls with your customers. You can also send invites, which upon acceptance marks the participant’s outlook calendar with the conference time and date.

For privacy, users are prompted for a PIN number before they are accepted to the conference.

Audio conferencing is available in all plans except “Basic Plan”. With 800PBX, you can use your normal plan minutes for audio conferencing.

Advantages: Perfect way to invite and participate in the audio conferencing. Doing business from anywhere!

You allow customers to leave their callback number and a good time to reach. The sytem then automatically dials the customer.

Adding web dial feature is very simple and two step process.

1. Login to 800PBX’s panel and select ‘Web Dial’ from the list of options available on the top. The panel then provides a small HTML code snippet similar to

PS: Please do not copy the above code directly. The code provided in the panel is specific to your company.

2. Give this sample to your web administrator to place it in a convenient location on your web site.

Web dial logs also provides the information of customer’s name, number and the time designated by them to receive the call.

Below is a list of items you may wish to shop around before you finalize your service provider.

1) Virtual PBX Services: Many of the toll-free providers simply route the calls to a local number without presenting the various virtual pbx options such as call-hunt, follow-me, auto attendant, voicemail, dial-by-name, business hours greeting and non business hours greeting etc. Make sure these services are enabled and are provided free of cost to you.

2) Check for double-billing and cancellation charges: Most of them double bill and you may want to stay away from these providers. This will save you from surprises and hidden charges in future. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for hidden cancellation charges. They go as much as $100.

3) Auto-Attendant with voicemail: An auto attendant with an option to record your own voice as welcome greeting is a must for every business. 800PBX provides free greeting done by a professional artist.

4) Call-forwarding: Many providers forward calls however they are usually sent to your cellphone’s voicemail and not properly screened for a live person. 800PBX prompts for user input to avoid redirection to local voicemails.

5) Call-blocking and custom greetings: Expect lot of spam calls and your provider should be able to give you an option to prevent calls from user-defined numbers.

800PBX allows you to play a recorded message for the calls coming from user-defined numbers. The system hangs up after playing a message. (”XYZ corporation does not entertain calls from this number. Please hangup and call us from a different number if required.”)

6) Call-recording: Your business may require you to record all calls in order to maintain call records and for quality-training purposes. 800PBX offers this feature free of cost.

7) Fax: With an ability to send and receive faxes on internet, you save few dollars in buying and maintaining fax machines.

8 ) Dedicated local number: Your business will expand in future and you should be ready to add more numbers from each state.

9) Once you choose a service provider, look out if he is a reseller or someone who rents or leases the toll-free numbers. It is wise to opt your toll-free number from a direct seller.

10) Online panel and extension login: Be sure to enquire about the online panel features and check if each extension user can create his or her own rules.

11) If you have a website, make sure your provider gives your online customers to call you directly using web dial feature. If you use email for your business, an option to contact you from your outlook signature would help.

800PBX provides all the above features free of cost along with free minutes for each plan. Please evaluate the services for two weeks.

Good luck with your new provider and 800PBX looks forward to serving you. Click here to know why 800PBX is the best toll-free virtual pbx provider.

Audio conferencing is widely used for sales meetings, crisis management, auctions, press conferences, legal applications, training sessions and seminars, project management and coordination, meeting of board of directors, etc. One of the most striking features of audio conferencing is that it can be recorded for any future references. This means that minutes of the meeting are available via an audio file as well. Due to such wide implications of audio conferencing, it becomes imperative to know how to conduct an effective audio conferencing session.

You need to follow certain guidelines to ensure that you get the most out of your audio conference. Certain level of audio conferencing etiquettes must be followed to avoid any confusion. You can start with holding an audio conference in a quite room to avoid any external or back ground disturbances. You can also request everyone to put off their mobile phones or cordless phones.

It would be a good idea to avoid speaker phones that tend to pick up background sounds including rustling of papers and shifting of chairs, etc. Use phone lines that are hard wired into the telephone lines.

Every one should have the written agenda prior to the meeting including the date, time and conference number. If it is an international audio conference, it is important to include the difference in the time zone or specify the local time in individual agenda sheet.

Make sure to reach the audio conference room at least half an hour and be prepared to welcome the participants. If you are the moderator then welcome everyone and reiterate the purpose of the meeting as well as specify the time the meeting shall end. You can also carry out a roll call or attendance for the participants so that everyone knows whoever has joined in. This would also ensure that everyone is acquainted with one another. You should remind everyone that every time a participant speaks he should identify himself before speaking.

You should tell everyone that in no case they should put their numbers on hold as it will ring throughout all the numbers and shall create a disturbance. In case anyone wants to put the call on hold, coordinate to ask for the operator assistance.

Lastly, make minutes of the meeting and distribute the same to everyone to let them know the issues addressed and the outcome of the meeting. You can read out the minutes in the end and then distribute the hard copy or the soft copy via email.

Toll free numbers impress customers and are more successful than normal telephone numbers in generating new sales. They boost up the image of your business and sound more professional and organized. Furthermore as they are easier to remember, they increase the probability for your customers to call your business again.

Vanity Number or not?

It becomes important to choose your toll free number very carefully. Make sure you opt for a toll-free vanity number as people tend to remember words more easily than numbers. Your vanity number should be easy to spell and should exemplify your business. For eg: 1-800-CAR-WASH is easily remembered rather than 1-800-346-7834.

800, 877, 866 or 888?

As of today, 800 number pool is exhausted which means that your chances are very very slim to get a toll-free number starting with 800. However, do not lose hope. Many of our clients have found that the other series (866, 877 and 888) have similar advantage in brand exposure. You may find your keyword or combination with these numbers.

I didn’t get my number. What next?

Well, we understand. Many of our clients approach us and we always suggest that they look for their keyword (job activity) while choosing the number. While your company name may sound cool to you, the customers will soon forget it. Remember someone who knows your company by name will not mind calling your business looking it up in the yellow pages. However, someone who has forgotten (everyone does, including your customer) will easily correlate your business with the job activity. How many times did you remember (1-800-LOCKSMITH as opposed to 1-800-BARRON-LOCKSMITH)?

Finally

Remember to integrate your toll free number actively in all phases of your business activity including brochures, letterheads, visiting cards and promotional marketing campaigns.

Make your toll free number is visible at every possible place where your target audience sees or hears about you.

Charges

Please note that providers charge at least $69 for searching and another $49 for assigning the number on your name. Few of them (we do) provide free of cost. Why? Because, we are confident that your business will help us compensate the associated number costs in long term.

Conclusion

Please sure to ask your toll-free provider with the questions here before making a decision to subscribe to their services.

It is important to ask yourself if your business really needs vanity number. How important are vanity numbers and why should you spend more time on getting a vanity number when a toll free number can satisfy all your business needs?

Having a toll free vanity number means adding more sales avenues. Toll free vanity numbers act as an additional channel to reach more customers and boost your sales. Although a toll free number in itself can help your customers to reach you, an alphanumeric number will make it easier. 1-800-FLOWERS is easier to remember than 18003569377.

Many companies rely heavily on strong brand recognition of their product or services. Toll free vanity numbers attached with a product or the company endorses the professional image of the company as a brick and mortar business. It adds to the credibility and prestige of the company to own an alphanumeric number rather than a simple numeric toll free number. This strong presence in the market results in larger response rates from the customers.

“Toll free vanity numbers act as a strong marketing and advertising tools. They tend to leave a longer impact on customer’s mind and can be recollected easily. It would be a good idea to opt for a toll free vanity number if you wish to create a strong brand image in customer’s mind.”

800PBX introduces a new feature of Toll-free Call Recording for its users. This feature now lets you record all the conversation between you and your clients. 800PBX aims to provide you the best of our toll free services at the most cost-effective rates.

If you had been thinking of training your young professionals to handle the customers, 800 number call recording facility will prove to be helpful. You can now record all your real-time conversations between you and your customers.

800 numbers call recording facility helps the call centers in their training sessions for quality improvement. This feature also helps them to analyze agent performance and verify the number of transactions carried out by him. 800 number call recording facility acts as an important tool for analyzing sales performances. It helps the call center management to assess which agent is converting leads into sales more effectively and efficiently.

Toll free call recording facility also lets you monitor your employees. It also acts as a log of their working hours and helps you to keep a virtual eye on their work as per their daily schedules. Toll free call recording feature also enables you to monitor if the employees are not taking their personal calls at your expense. After all, you are the one paying for each minute spent on any answered call.

Several industries and corporate businesses are interested in toll free call recording facility. You can manage the toll free call recording facility with the online control panel provided from 800PBX for your toll free number. More and more businesses ranging from health care, financial institutions, education institutes, government agencies, real estate firms etc. are opting for 800 number call recording facility to capture their niche market and address their customer needs.

Financial institutions find this toll free call recording facility very useful to maintain a log of conversation for regulatory purposes. These recorded calls can be transcripted and can be presented during audits. These transcripts are taken up as legal documents during any audit process. The company may also need to produce the recordings for these audit purposes.

Legal firms and government institutions also find 800 number call recording facility very helpful looking at legal implications of any information exchange.

These recordings are saved as audio files and are conveniently accessible from the online control panel. To signup, please visit www.800pbx.com/plans .

Before buying a phone system, assess your business needs. Moreover, the installing system should be compatible with your existing infrastructure and equipments installed in your office. This would also keep the installation and renewal costs under budget. The best system would be the one that meets all your business needs.

PBX or the phone system comes with the benefit of web based interface so that you can change your settings as many times and as per your convenience from any part of the world. You need not worry how your calls would get answered while you are on vacation.

Phone systems enable you to plug in the phone anywhere with an Ethernet port near you. It allows easy roaming so that you can divert your calls anywhere in the world. This feature is enabled by SIP protocol which eliminates expensive phones.
Phone systems offer better scalability, reporting, and system overview and status.

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The rates have now dropped to all time low levels and you can get a toll-free number for as low as $3.5 cents/min. Companies dealing with business-to-customer relationships or servicing readily opt for a toll-free number. With companies broadening their business horizons each day and venturing in to new lands, a toll-free number proves as an asset to the company.

Toll-free numbers are used for other purposes apart from the regular customers’ service. The hoards of features offered with toll-free companies like call recording helps in employee orientation and training. It also helps the company to keep track of employee timesheets and assess customer handling capabilities.

A small business owner can keep track of all the messages received and inquiries received. It gives a boost to business productivity and strengthens customer relationships. The toll-free companies now offer a new toll-free number in exchange for your existing number along with a string of add-on services at great exceptional rates, simplified billing structure and exceptional connection quality.

Small business get a one number to set up a virtual office with additional features of call screening, call forwarding, call voice mail, call recording, etc. It gives a boost to product sales and customer service. The online account information panel helps to you to manage your account according to your convenience. International businesses can gain global presence and cater to their customer needs according to the region or specific locales. This means having virtual offices in practically every part of the world and having customer care staff without having to spend hundreds on dollars. It also enables the call centers to manage all incoming calls with real time data. This means better quality and more reliability. All the toll-free numbers come with call recording, call screening, caller id facilities so that the company can maintain a log of incoming calls.

The toll-free numbers not only serve as business need but are also a matter of convenience for those who, apart from their regular jobs, are also entrepreneurs or small virtual business owners. They can carry their office anywhere they move as toll-free numbers do not require any hardware installation or wiring to be done at any physical location.

Get a toll-free number to cater to your customers and never have to worry about any missed calls or business inquiries.

1. Accept the call
2. Reject the call
3. Reply to the call/Send message to the caller
4. Send the call to Voice mail.

Just imagine a person calling you repeatedly and troubling you. Then you feel like not to answer his call, when he calls next time. So, with the caller Id feature, his number will be displayed over your phone screen whenever he calls you. Whenever his number is displayed, you can use these options to avoid the call.

As the famous saying goes ‘Time and Tide waits for none’, time is very precious. As we know that the best possible way to save your time is to stay away from time waste callers. So, 800PBX Call Screening helps you to earn time by keeping your time waste callers at bay.

The Four Call screening options and their uses;

1. Accepting the call: This option allows you to answer your call. This is the only option that allows you to speak live with the other person who is calling you.

2. Rejecting the call: This option allows you to reject the incoming call. This is the option that avoids your Time waste callers.

3. Reply to the call: This option enables you to send messages to the caller, when you are busy or can’t answer his call. The sample default messages are:
a. Call me back in……
b. Will call you back in…..
c. On my way….
d. I am on the other line…..
e. Other….

4. Send the call to Voice mail: This option enables your caller to leave a voicemail message when you are not in a position to handle his call. You can check the voicemail later from your phone or through email.

800PBX offers the call screening feature along with your PBX Toll-free Number. Enjoy all these PBX features by signing up today! Visit www.800pbx.com for more details.

Small scale businesses enjoy lot of benefits by getting a toll-free number for their business. They can make use of their toll-free number to build relations with the customers and boost the sales. The specialty of these numbers is that the callers can call for free and the owner of the number pays for the call. So, if you have a toll-free number, there is a lot of scope to receive calls from prospective customers. Also, it shows to your customers that you really care for their business as you are paying for their call.

The toll-free number centralizes all your communication channels of your office to one number. This avoids you from maintaining different telephone systems and fax machines. With the 800 numbers, you can send or receive fax from your clients, prospects or customers. Furthermore, having a single number improves the chances to integrate this number actively in all phases of the business including the brochures, letterheads, visiting cards, promotional marketing campaigns etc. You can make your toll-free number visible at every possible place where your target audience sees or hears about you.

In addition to marketing ease, a single number offers you to provide quality customer service. Your number will never be engaged and is ready to receive calls from customer at any time. This becomes important as your business scales. Without a toll-free number, it is impossible to provide quality customer service to all of your customers.

Normally, small business cannot change its telephone number if it switches telephone carrier. This may result in confusion among existing customers. With toll-free numbers, you are free to switch between any carriers while maintaining the same number.

Toll-free numbers create a large and professional image for your business. Even if your company is operated by a single person, you can create a look of a well established fortune 500 company. The best part is that you can make all this possible at a very low price.

Also, toll-free numbers lets you market your services at national level. Though your aim is to market locally, publishing a toll-free number instead of local number makes your customers think that your business has a national reach which adds prestige and instant brand image to your business.

800PBX is the leading provider of toll-free virtual pbx services. All plans offer 15 day trial and are backed up by 30 day money back guarantee.

You can create extensions easily or configure virtual-pbx features such as automated attendant, call recording, extensions, greetings, business hours and non business hours greetings, music on hold, custom music on hold, outbound fax, inbound fax etc.

A flash demo of the panel is available here.

If you are the business owner, you can always recall what your customer had asked for. It also helps you to assess the growing trends amongst your customers and their changing needs.

A log of all the customer conversations for a service oriented company can be very useful during a dispute. For example, in case of a credit card company, a call on a toll-free number can be recorded and in case of any dispute, the conversation can be presented in the court of law as a legal verbal statement.

It also offers an effective teaching medium for new employees. Recorded calls can be played for training them to handle the customers more efficiently.

800PBX offers the convenience and privileges of big IT budgets to even small business needs.