Today’s advanced phone systems can do much more than just ring your desk phone. When properly utilized they can be an indispensable productivity tool. Here are a few items that aren’t expensive or complicated but will help you get the most out of your phone system:

 

Learn how to use the call conference feature- Attempting a 3-way call can strike fear in the hearts of most seasoned phone users.  What if I drop the first party? What if I forget how to connect to the other party? Will I be able to get back to the first party? But, when you need to have three people on one phone call to get the job done right now, there is just no substitute. So, take a few minutes, grab the phone owner’s manual and do a little practicing. Get comfortable with the key sequence and nail your next 3-way call!

 

Utilize cordless phones- Some people are mobile and never in the office; some people are always in the office but never at their desk. If the latter describes you, consider adding a cordless phone to your phone system. You can have the phone system ring your desk phone and cordless phone at the same time. This way, when you step away from your desk, throw the cordless phone in your pocket and know you won’t miss any important calls. Look for cordless phones that use the DECT (News - Alert) standard. They have better range and are less apt to suffer from interference with other cordless devices.

 

Let your automated attendant handle your calls- Of course you want to talk to your customers when they call, but do you have the time to answer and route every call? Could the person assigned to answer calls so something more valuable with their time? An automated attendant will greet your callers and route their calls to the right person, department or information. But don’t get too fancy - no one likes an over-complicated phone menu system. Also, a good automated attendant should be able to send calls to a single phone, a group of phones at the same time or a group of phones in a specific order.

 

Run two businesses from the same office with the same people- This is where a smart phone system really comes in handy. You can only pull this off if your phone system has the capability to tell you which business is being called (otherwise you won’t know how to answer the phone). For example, you run a mortgage business and a home inspection business out of the same office and advertise different phone numbers for each business. When a call comes in for the mortgage business, your phone system will show “Mortgage” on the display screen of the phone. Now, you can appropriately answer the phone depending which business was called.

 

 

Buy a Webfax service- In the age of e-mail, one would think that the fax machine would be as antiquated as the slide rule. Think again. If faxing is important to your business, enhance your faxing capability with a Webfax service. You can still send faxes from your fax machine, but your Webfax will receive inbound faxes and let you view them wherever you are. No more standing around the fax machine waiting for that important fax. Just go about your business, and when the fax comes in, you are alerted via email and can view the fax on your PC or smartphone. You can purchase Webfax services from most phone system vendors.