Let me start off by saying that KHIT is not a telecommunications company – we don’t do phones! On the other hand, when a client comes to us with any issue in the form of technology, we do our best to find an adequate solution or to find a partner that can provide one. While building a relationship with one of our small businesses, we found that they were using a phone forwarding solution that wasn’t actually suiting their needs. It was doing what the product itself was intended to do, however, it did not live up to the expectations or the potential of this business owner.
Talkroute is a system that allows you to completely eliminate your desk phone and move your system to your desktop, tablet and mobile phone. This system allows for a phone to ring to an app on the employee’s desktop computer or to be transferred to a specific phone number. This allows for employees to use cell phones rather than being tied to their desk. Fluidity in and out of the office is crucial, especially during times of uncertainty.
Talkroute offers number porting, which allows for small business clients to bring their current number with them. Both their local number and their 800 number are able to be ported. This creates the opportunity for small business owners to continue with their current brand recognition rather than trying to train their public to learn a new number. Allowing small businesses to port their numbers also allows for them to exit the bundled contracts that they are often a part of as well. Our last client that moved from their local provider to Talkroute saved well over $150/month on their phone bill. For a small business this can be a crucial amount.
While preparing for the number port of your existing line Talkroute allows the business owner to begin setting up their desired custom menus. Small businesses often benefit from the same menus as the big box stores. By giving the customers the option to direct their own call to a specific department or person the business owner is able to cut down on the time spent by other employees to answer and transfer calls that do not pertain to them. Talkroute also offers professional recordings of the business’ desired script. Several of these are included with the client’s monthly membership for the higher level packages.
Once the menus are set up as the business owner desires, they are able to choose a group of people that each option will ring through to or a ring sequence along with the length of time that it will ring each person. If no one answers, callers are then sent to the voicemail box of the business owners choosing. All voicemails are transcribed and emailed to the email address of the business owner’s choosing or can be set to email a group that is setup within an organization.
Image source: Talkroute
Additional options that Talkroute supports include Call Recording with unlimited storage and Call Stacking. Call stacking allows for customers to never receive a busy signal but are instead stacked. Live transfers are also offered throughout this system, meaning that while on a call with a client, staff can easily transfer to another staff member by utilizing the transfer codes that Talkroute provides within the desktop application. For more options see the image above and check out Talkroute.com.
All of these features and settings have made a world of difference for our small business clients, so much so that clients with multiple businesses have started adding an account at each of their businesses. The impact that this could have on your business is worth the google search!
