Phone Systems Featured Article

The movie Waitress didn’t get a lot of attention in my circles when it hit theaters, but I was enticed to watch it on DVD when I noticed Nathan Fillion was the leading man. A fan of his Castle series on ABC, I tend to want to see anything that shows him in a different role. While he plays a cheating physician to Kerri Russell’s waitress, one thing that stands out about the movie is that her character is all about pie.

This fictional account of a waitress who wants a better life and lives out her emotions through the pies she makes has little to do with phone systems, but the Pie Shop owned by Mims Bledsoe has a story to tell with a much happier ending. Her business is all about pie and to keep customers happy, she also needed a reliable phone system.

While some of us can just look at a piece of pie and know what we want, others may be doing their ordering from afar. According to Bledsoe, people want to know what they’re getting and will often seek information over the phone before they come into the shop. To handle the demand on the phone, she needed a VoIP system and selected one from Vonage (News - Alert) Business Solutions.

“I originally selected Vonage’s voice over IP system because I found it more affordable and flexible,” said Bledsoe. “I was even able to set up the system before I had my brick and mortar location – so when I moved into the space I just converted my number over. There’s a lot of flexibility with business VoIP that you wouldn’t get with a traditional phone line.”

Some of that flexibility came in the form of the ability to quickly add extensions and cordless IP phones so employees can easily multi-task while they are trying to keep pace with call volume. Bledsoe also likes the fact that she can call a client from her home office and the caller ID will appear as though she is calling from the shop. The ability to log into the remote Admin Portal also allows her to easily adjust voicemail messages according to situation or occasion.

This successful implementation is the perfect example of a traditional business finding innovation in phones systems. The Pie Shop is reaching customers through delicious pastries ordered through cloud-based technology. And while there isn’t a role in this story for Nathan Fillion, I do wonder if Bledsoe ever tries any of the recipes from Waitress. Fortunately, she has just the right phone system to take my call when I try to find out.