Business Phone Services Blog

Sell Your Obsolete Mobile Phone Now

July 28th, 2010

If you’ve recently upgraded your mobile phone, then the chances are you also have your old phone lying around somewhere. In reality, quite a few individuals have several years worth of old cellular phones lying un used in drawers and cupboards which have been forgotten about and are just gathering dust.

If this applies to you then you may perhaps be interested to understand that it is possible to sell your old mobile for cash on the web. By going to a cellular cell phone recycling price tag comparison site you can very easily discover out how much money you could potentially get for your past cell phone.

When you could have discovered the ideal price tag, you then need to fill in an on the net form, print off a postal label and place your older phones in the post to the recycling company. Upon receipt of your older mobile phone, assuming it truly is as you described it you will probably be paid money for it.

Once you’ve got offered your old mobile phone, quite a few distinct things may possibly occur to it. If it is usually a latest model that is nevertheless in demand, then it will probably be sold on. If it is usually a operating but obsolete telephone it’ll most likely be shipped abroad to a nation exactly where senior mobile phones are nevertheless in requirement.

If the cell phone is broken then it may well be used for spares, or broken down for recycling. There are numerous important elements in mobile phones, including valuable metals for instance gold. An intriguing statistic is that mobile cell phones contain much more gold by weight than gold ore, so, cell telephone recycling is literally a gold mine!

Naturally the benefits of offering your older mobile phone aren’t only monetary, you will find environmental rewards too. If a cell phone is re-used, that effectively implies a brand new phone doesn’t need to be made. Also, old mobile phones contain lots of toxins, so, where cell phones are scrap they require to become disposed of properly.

Older mobile mobile phones really should by no means be burned or sent to landfill as they trigger contamination, so, even if you’re only provided a extremely reduced value for an aged phone, you need to still market your cellular for environmental reasons.

Tags: sell your mobile, sell your mobile phone, sell your old mobile, sell your old mobile phone
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Unlimited Toll Free Service Under $50 Per Month

June 29th, 2010

If you run a business with a high toll free call volume, you might want to take a look at iTeleCenter’s unlimited toll free service plan. iTeleCenter’s unlimited toll free service comes with a whole bunch of really cool additional features, which include:

Auto Attendant / Main Greeting Options.
Voice mail to email or text.
Mailboxes with multiple extensions. Look like a big company, even if you’re not.
Online faxing.
Follow-Me call forwarding.
Plus, over 30 additional features.

Visit their site for more information on getting unlimited toll free service for less than $50 per month.

Tags: 800 phone service, toll free service, unlimited 800 service, unlimited toll free calling plans, unlimited toll free service
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Cheap In-Home Business Phone Service

June 2nd, 2010

This is an answer to an email I received about setting up phone service for a small in-home business. Since I’m sure that other people have the same questions, here’s my answer:

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Most people working out of their home just add another home line, since it’s costs less than a business line.

A business VoIP line would be the cheapest traditional way to do it, because you could get a second fax line with it for just a few dollars more. And, if you hook it up in front of your computers, it would get access to the bandwidth first, which would keep your call quality good.

I personally use a MagicJack for my business line because I’m cheap, and the call quality is fine. I also have a toll free number ringing into my MagicJack, and that costs me around 3 cents per minute for incoming calls. Then, you can add a fax service, like rapidfax, for $10.00 per month, and you’re done.

Here’s what I pay:

Magicjack: $1.67 per month. ($20 per year.)
Rapidfax: $10.00 per month.
Toll free number: $2.00 per month.
Toll free service: 3 cents per minute.
My total expense is around $16 per month….

Of course, since I do this for a living, I’ve played with a lot of the VoIP company’s products, and I’m not willing to pay for expensive phone service anymore, especially when I know that the call quality between VoIP companies any more is negligible. Almost every phone company that’s still offering traditional land line phone service is calling it “Digital” now, because it’s a VoIP product, but they don’t want to call it VoIP and alert the consumer to that fact, because that would lower it’s value/price.

If you want a regular land line service, enter your address and zipcode in the search form at http://www.calling-plans.com/local-telephone-service.htm and see what services it shows in your local area. Then compare that to the VoIP prices listed on the bottom of the page: http://www.calling-plans.com/local-telephone-service.htm

Then look at the prices shown above in my Magicjack/Rapidfax example and see how that compares.

Here is a link that will let you try Rapidfax for 30 days for free.

Here’s a link that will let you try Magicjack for 30 days.

If you like those 2 products, then email me back, and I’ll set up your toll free service and have it ring into your Magicjack account.

If you decide you really don’t want to try VoIP, then grab one of the local services offered through the form on http://www.calling-plans.com/local-telephone-service.htm, or your local Yellow pages, and then email me back and I’ll dig into traditional long distance service and toll free service options for you.

Tags: Adding a Business Line, cheap SOHO Phone Service, SOKO Phone Service
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Create Loyal Customers and Business Will Thrive

May 9th, 2010

First sales are always more difficult than repeat sales. For this reason, owners of small businesses constantly look for ways to keep their customers happy. Regardless of what you sell, there are a lot of ways you can maintain a loyal customer base. Below are a few tips:

Stay an Expert In Your Field

Keep up to date on the news and innovations that affect your industry. It’s critical for your customers to think of you as an expert in your industry. With easy accessibility to information on the Internet, customers do their research and are more informed than ever. And no customer wants to know more than the “expert”. That is why it is so important for you to commit to ongoing training and doing what you need to do to stay up to date with your industry. Customers will stay loyal if you stay committed to lifelong learning.

Solve the Problems Fast

Customers rarely tell you straight out if they perceive an issue, so it is important to stay intuitive. You might want to take your customer’s pulse periodically by reaching out and asking if everything is going well, or if there are areas that need improvement in your working relationship.

It is most important to avoid the SODDI defense at all costs when you do hear of a problem your customer is encountering (some other dude did it). It’s your business, so everything that goes wrong is your fault – take the blame with grace. Then, take action to fix it fast. Your customers rarely encounter that mentality. Instead of the error being foremost in their minds, the amiable resolution will keep them returning as repeat customers. In fact, you may find that some of your biggest “problem” customers will end up being your best referral source.

Remind the Customer Why They Chose You in the First Place

This is no time to be humble; continually point out your advantages over your competitors, and praise your customer for being so perceptive and astute to choose you. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t like to be praised, and its the perfect opportunity to help them recall your competitive advantages at the same time.

Creating loyal customers is no more than treating them so well that no one else could compare. Give them such great service automatically, and they will demand the same for years to come. That’s a loyal customer.

Get more small business success strategies and claim your free white paper: “7 Ways Your Stone-Age Accounting System is Stealing Money From You Every Day … And, How to Get it Back This Year” to learn about an online accounting program that makes it easy to track repeat customer profitability.

Tags: business management, customer loyalty, customer retention, customer service, marketing, return customers, sales management, small business, strategic planning
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Lowering Business Telecom Costs With Pre Paid Cellular

April 27th, 2010

I know it’s weird to think that you could save money for your business with pre-paid cell phones, and most larger companies probably couldn’t, but with smaller firms, that can’t afford a huge corporate account, pay as you go cell phone service could actually help you get on top of your cell phone bill.

The main way that pre-paid phones will save you some money, is that your employees will have to come to you for a refill, instead of just blindly calling, texting and downloading to their heart’s content without getting that “Heads Up” on day three that they already blew through $50 worth of service. This will force them to use their own cell phones for personal calls, texting and downloading, because no one wants to go to the boss and tell them that they’ve been wasting money and time.

Try prepaid cell phone service with Net10 or TracFone.

Tags: pay as you go cell phone, pre-paid cellular, prepaid cell phone, prepaid cell phone service
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BUSINESS PHONE SOLUTIONS FOR ORGANISATIONS ON THE MOVE

April 15th, 2010

Mobile tools are becoming a key component of business strategy and the mobility of an organization’s business phone system has a direct impact on efficiency and productivity.
Following is a very brief overview at some of the advantages of a mobile business telephone system.
Improved productivity and efficiency
Conventional PABX systems can have limitations which can restrict employees’ ability to deliver exceptional customer service.They’re unable to function optimally which will compromise service delivery. With a cordless business phone system, staff can be contacted at any time.They can make quick decisions, answer queries promptly and generally improve the way they go about their business which means a better business as a whole. Mobility is a crucial tool in getting your business on the road to success as it can enable freedom of movement and round-the-clock accessibility.
Improved service
Service is another key driver of success in today’s competitive environment.Customers expect superior service – all the time. If they don’t get what they want from your company, they’ll look elsewhere.The right tools are required if staff are to deliver exceptional service. With wireless business phone systems, staff can also contact other members of staff quickly and efficiently to answer queries or problems, making the flow of information seamless and far more effective.
Freedom of movement
Wireless solutions also ensure total coverage of premises. This is especially important where staff are required to move between various areas and where the nature of their work makes them difficult to locate eg. warehouse staff or messengers. Mobile solutions are also most effective in areas where wired PABXs can’t reach effectively – such as factories, department stores and hospitals.
Users can move around freely without fear of dropping a call or being unavailable, with base stations strategically placed to ensure total coverage.Incoming calls to the DECT number are rerouted automatically to the handset of the staff member, wherever they are, so that they are always contactable.
Ease of integration
A cordless telephone option can be integrated with ease into existing business phone systems.Often all that is required is add-on products.
Mobile solutions also don’t require large amounts of cabling which is another benefit.Given that a business can spent up to twenty per cent of the cost of its PABX on wiring, installation of cordless technology can have a meaningful impact on cost containment.
Administrative benefits
When moving offices, employees need not change their extension numbers and the whole system won’t need reprogramming.Cost savings are also realized as business cards, stationery and telephone lists etc don’t have to be reprinted when there’s an office reshuffle.
Rejigging your business phone system could be just the ticket to accelerate some positive changes for your organization. If you’re going places, go mobile.

Tags: business phone system, business phone systems, business Phones, digital phone system, ip system, ip telephone systems, ipphone, LG Nortel, office phone sysstems
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Save Money With 2.5¢ Conference Calling

April 12th, 2010

If you’re in business, you need to have meetings with your business partners, suppliers and customers. Most of the time this can be accomplished with a simple phone call, but every once in awhile, you need to get a diverse group of people together for a large meeting. To do this, you can spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of man-hours getting together face to face, or you can save a ton and just have a conference call.

The Conference Group is currently offering Reservation-less Conference Calling for 2.5¢ per minute per leg. If you have a business, and you think you may need conference calling, then sign up for your account today.

Tags: business conference calling, cheap conference calling, conference call providers
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FCC and Their Work to Curb Cell Phone Fraud

April 5th, 2010

Before the turn of the millennium the big fraud out there when it came to cell phones was people tricking the cellular system to put through calls without paying. They did this by screwing around with the cell phone software, using cloned phones, stealing access codes, numbers, and SIM cards. Then along came the Wireless Telephone Protection Act, that was back in 1998. Cellular carriers estimated at that time they were losing nearly 146 million dollars revenue, and cheated out of nearly a billion minutes per year – Ouch!

Between cloning, and SIM card or ECN (electronic serial number) manipulation, the FCC and law enforcement officers had their hands full. Today the Federal Communication Commission states on their website that and subscriber fraudulent activity is the big problem. This would be when someone signs up for service using a false identity, it’s a federal offense, but lots of people get away with it, it’s like stealing someone’s credit card and it is a form of identity theft.

What can you do if you feel you are a victim of subscriber fraud or Identity Theft where someone signed up for a calling plan using your name, and information? Perhaps, even leaving you with an outstanding cell phone bill, and bad mark on your credit? Well, here is some information you should check out:

FCC’s Protecting Your Privacy consumer fact sheet:
www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/protectingprivacy.html

FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Web site:
www.fcc.gov/cgb

FCC’s Consumer Center e-mail:
fccinfo@fcc.gov

FCC Consumer Call Line:

1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice
1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)

Fax: 1-866-418-0232

Write in with a question or problem:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

To receive consumer information from FCC:
www.fcc.gov/cgb/contacts/

Tags: business telecom loss, cell phone fraud, FCC Contact Info, wireless fraud
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Should I choose an 0800 or 0845 number for my business?

April 5th, 2010

An 0800 number may seem the obvious choice. Your customers know that the service is free to them from a landline (which makes them more likely to call you) and the fact that the call charges are born by you shows that you care about your customers. You also have a good way to be available to customers whilst not having to give out a home or personal line. An 0800 number shows that you are a serious business and one that is thinking nationally.

0800 numbers are portable – you can redirect them to a mobile (at extra cost) so never need lose touch with your customers. They are also useful for sorting calls – you can have one for sales and one for support and therefore know what your caller is contacting you for. This can help prioritise calls and make you look like a larger business.
The real bonus is that you can track marketing projects. By using only one number on your website or advert you can see where people are finding you and at what time of day. This really improves your business potential.

You can also take your free phone number with you if you need to change premises. This will avoid the need for new business cards and other stationary reprints to accommodate a change of landline.

It is worth noting that paying more for a memorable number probably isn’t worth it unless you are using it for TV or radio advertising. Most of the really memorable numbers have gone anyway so think carefully before embarking on this route.
0800 numbers are best for connecting a business with its customers. On the downside, as a business, you pay for every call to the number, including those from time wasters.

0845 numbers can do similar things to 0800 numbers for you but are not necessarily free to call for your customers (although for some BT callers it now is). When paying customers ring an 0845 number all they pay is the cost of a local phone call – just as if they were making a call to someone in the town. That way, some customers who are a long way away from you in the country can actually save money over calling your normal landline number as the call costs less to them.

The main advantage to businesses of the 0845 number (and the reason that they are outselling 0800 numbers) is the fact that when you buy an 0845 number the costs are fixed no matter how many times the number is called, whereas for 0800 numbers the costs relalate to the actual minutes used. Fixed costs and the fact that bills cannot increase uncontrollably for business owners make the service easy to budget for.

If buying either phone number, make sure that the telecomms supplier you are using is trustworthy. Look at how long they have been in business, try and talk to some of their customers, and make sure you have a physical address for them. Check their position for if you find that that your number is not doing what you hoped it would, or if you need to change it so that you don’t run into unforeseen costs later.

Itemised bills charged by the second are a sensible way to go to avoid being caught out by the company rounding up calls to the nearest minute, and remember that nothing is free – if there’s no set-up and rental fee your call charges will be higher to compensate.

An example of a company using an 0800 number are Snibor who are builders in Dorset and they use the number to be customer friendly. The number is visible on their homepage and all other pages throughout their web site. An example of a company whao have chosen an 0845 number is Omnio who sell KVM switches. Again, the number is prominently displayed on their website and they are seeing the benefits for their type of business model.

Think carefully which number will be best for you before you buy and choose what’s right for you.

Tags: 0800 number, 0800 numbers, 0845 number, 0845 numbers, builders dorset, builders in Dorset
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