True Mobility is Just One Company Away
When the most advanced smart phones were introduced, they provided a great deal of mobility to small business owners and entrepreneurs. With these advanced devices, e-mail can get forwarded to just about anywhere in the world, allowing folks to respond to such communications on the beach or golf course as if they were sitting in the office back at home.
The last obstacle to true mobility really comes down to something to effect of: “how do I deal with what happens back at the office?” Or, more specifically, how to manage faxes, voicemail, and important calls coming in from the toll-free number while out in the field.
Just about anything these days seems capable of being handled digitally by technology that has become rather inexpensive. This is where small business owners and entrepreneurs will gain the most. Using such technology advantageously, astute business owners and entrepreneurs can not only achieve true mobility, but can project an image that matches that of the Fortune 500. And how about the added bonus of saving on overall operating expenses?
The solution works rather cleverly. Your clients call or fax a computer, which translates the data into a digital format and essentially redirects the call or data to any mobile phone, hard-line phone, voicemail, or e-mail inbox (you pick which one). This simplistic description truly affords you the opportunity to work from any corner of the globe using your existing web-enabled smart phone or computer!
The best provider in this arena and the one Quote Stork Solutions recommends is RingCentral. The nice thing about RingCentral aside from its reputation and quality is that this single company can propel your small business image to the big-time. And since image these days has an elevated importance in the marketplace, RingCentral is a name you will want to remember. Here is how they accomplish this:
Toll-free business number. As small businesses expand their reach across area codes, having a toll-free number has greater importance now than ever before. A toll-free number not only projects a large image to the new client, but it allows your clients to reach you wherever they might be at a specific time… and with this service, their calls can be redirected to your cell phone so you can assist them from where you are!
Virtual Receptionist with music while callers are on “hold” and voicemail. Call any large company and you will probably hear music before your call gets patched through to the right party. Now you can offer this same feature even if you area one-person business. While features like this might incur additional charges with some providers, they are free with RingCentral.
Call Queues. If you are on the phone and don’t want to lose your next client, they can go into a call queue rather than find your voicemail. Since you sell your product or service best, you want to make sure you don’t miss another prospect call. Again, this is a Free feature.
Internet Fax. This all-important feature allows you to send and receive faxes by e-mail or online. Yes, this means you can manage faxes with most web-enabled smart phones. What a great way to win back your freedom, and it’s free!
The list continues almost indefinitely. The largest disappointment with RingCentral is that some of its features (not mentioned here, such as DigitalLine which provides Voice Over Internet or VOIP) cost extra. Now, for many small businesses and entrepreneurs, most of these extras are unnecessary, and for the more established entrepreneur these costs are likely irrelevant given their tangible benefits.
Whether you sign up with RingCentral or someone else, the most common reason for using a service like this comes back to the issue of mobility. A secondary justification would be the cost-effectiveness of the system; at $24.99, you can’t get this type of service through your phone company, let alone purchase the necessary hardware and software to do it yourself.
Filed under: Entrepreneurs