The after-hours mode allows for all incoming calls to be answered no matter what time it is or what day it is. All callers will be greeted with your personalized messages or announcements. Callers will be informed when they are reaching out after regular business hours, during a holiday, or a weekend. Your professional greeting can also inform callers of any other pertinent information you deem necessary, such as upcoming sales events, discount specials, or any other business you wish to convey to callers.

From there, callers can be directed to individual extensions of their choosing or they can simply access the dial by name directory to reach specific staff or departments within the company. The voicemail system enables callers to leave a message for staff, which the employees can then retrieve from any phone line, or email. These messages can be stored safely for retrieval during regular business hours or staff can respond immediately to emergencies.

Callers, regardless of their location, can always count on your company to be available to meet their needs at all times. Customer service dependent companies will find tremendous benefits from utilizing the automated Virtual PBX phone system. There will always be a voice on the other line at your company, even when no one is on the clock. The company can save a large sum of money by not having to have a backup staff available for after-hours business. The company can essentially continue making money on the weekends and holidays, and even in the event of an emergency situation that causes the office to be closed.

With the Call Broadcast feature of the Virtual PBX phone system, companies can eliminate the need for in-person get-togethers each time an important detail comes up. Management teams and employees alike can use the Call Broadcast feature to record the important details that need to be shared with other staff members. The recorded message is stored in the system before the broadcast. Designated extension holders who are to hear the message will be alerted by a prompt at their extension, alerting staff of the Call Broadcast message. Staff can easily access the broadcast from their own phones, at their own desks, regardless of their location. The Call Broadcast will be heard by all parties at the same time.

For staff unavailable at the time of the scheduled broadcast, messages can be retrieved at any time so all employees can be up to speed with the latest announcements and information without traveling unnecessarily or interrupting other important business. Call Broadcast messages can also be a convenient way to reduce miscommunications and mixed messages.

Plus, the Virtual PBX phone system’s Call Broadcasts can be designated to go to only certain extensions at any one time. For instance, if the sales department management team has an important announcement only for the sales team, they can program in the extensions to only the relevant employees. This way other staff members are not disrupted for meetings that provide information that has nothing to do with them.

The Dial-by-Name directory allows each extension holder’s name to be linked to individual extensions. Callers who already know the extension number of their party can bypass all of the information as directed by the automated attendant and reach their party immediately, without the hassle or long wait time. Callers who do not know the name of their intended party have the option of accessing a complete staff directory by simply pressing a single button or using a simple voice command. Departments and individual staff members can be listed by extension on the dial-by-name directory. If a caller knows with whom they want to speak but does not have the direct extension number, the caller can retrieve the specific extension number by entering the first few letters of the staff’s name in order to be directly connected to their extension. 

All of the call prompts on the Virtual PBX phone system are handled by the automated attendant and directed automatically, without additional intervention from staff members. Any call prompts left unanswered will be picked up by the auto attendant until the proper extension can be determined. On a busy day in a call center or at the office in general, the call traffic, even when heavy, never interrupts the work time and productivity of staff but will always handle all calls with professionalism and speed.

Installing a fax machine at a home office location can be a bit costly. Having to employ a separate phone line, purchase the actual piece of equipment and securing a phone number for the fax line can get costly. However, utilizing the Virtual PBX phone system, users have access to the virtual fax features that are not only cost-effective but easy to use as well. The convenience of having fax service at your fingertips for only a small cost each month can help entrepreneurs stay productive and on the go.

The Virtual PBX phone system’s fax feature allows the user to receive and send documents directly from their PC using the user-friendly web interface. A dedicated toll free phone number is assigned to be used specifically for all fax information. Customers and clients alike will find it more convenient to send faxes. The incoming faxes are received via email and can be retrieved and saved for future retrieval at any time. All faxed documents are converted to PDF format for easy review.

Employees no longer have to leave their desks to send a fax. All documents are created right on their individual computers and can be sent at any time right from their desks. This saves time and money for both the company and the staff. Plus, with the ease of online fax retrieval, there are also reduced costs when it comes to paper, toner, and other supplies usually necessary for operating a fax machine. Another efficient quality of the virtual fax feature is the accurate distribution process that helps to prevent lost or mismanaged fax information.

There are several ways a Ring Group configuration can work to a company’s advantage. Imagine a busy call center scenario, where many calls come in during a given hour. A Ring Group can be established to have all of the extensions in a particular Ring Group ring at the same time, so the operators have a choice of who gets to answer each call. Agents can pick up the calls based on their own availability. Busy call center operators can work at their own pace when dealing with customers, but all available agents are alerted to the incoming calls.

Another way a Ring Group can be established is through the Sequential Hunting option, where one extension is used as the designated contact. If that extension is busy or does not get answered, the call with then go to the next assigned extension, and so on down the line until the call has been answered. All of the calls are handled promptly and callers have no idea of the route system being used.

The final option for a Ring Group is the Rotary Hunting feature. Whenever a new call comes into the company, a certain extension will be rung first. When the next call comes in, a different extension will ring. Employees will be able to use the time between designated calls to accomplish other tasks and they will not have to answer every single call coming into the company, which can cause a lot of stress and mistakes from being rushed.

Regardless of how the Ring Groups are set on the Virtual PBX phone system, callers will not be aware of the call handling side of the communication process. They will only hear the back ground music or promotional message that have been chosen by the company and be pleased with the fact their phone call will be received and handled promptly.

By utilizing the Virtual PBX phone systems Call Monitoring and Call Recording features, management teams can help staff understand the impact of their responses to each call. Calls can be recorded and saved for later retrieval to coach and training of staff for a long time to come. Employees gain valuable experience listening to real-life calling scenarios and can learn to understand how to handle nearly any situation. Employees can also sit and listen to more-advanced personnel deal with customer service issues and learn valuable information while monitoring calls.

Call centers especially can benefit from the call monitoring feature of the Virtual PBX phone system. Management can sit right alongside of the call center staff as listen to each conversation. Call center employees get on-the-job training, handling calls on their own but with the knowledge that a member of management is there to pull them through any difficult situation. By working from the start with real customers and dealing with real problems, training is cost-effective and there is no loss of work hours during the training phases of a new employee. Workers continue to put in their hours while learning their job.

The Virtual PBX phone system’s Call Recording and Monitoring features are a huge asset to any company, whose top priority is excellent customer service and top-notch communication, without the hassles of a long-term contract or expensive monthly bills.

That is far from true with the Virtual PBX phone plans offered by PBXplans.com. Not only is there no equipment to purchase or lease, there are also no binding contracts that strap a business into a service plan that they may grow out of over time. The plans range from the Do-It-Yourself to the Large Corporation packages and each allows for add-on features based on the needs of an individual business.

In addition to the contract-less, month to month plan options, business can select from a multitude of add-on features including Ring Group, Live Call Recording, Appointment Scheduling, and so much more. All of the plans in itself are reasonably prices and the add-on feature are available at any time for an additional, low cost.

The Virtual PBX phone system integrates with your already-established office equipment and can be up and running in no time at all. There is no installation fees, no monthly maintenance fees, and it is not necessary to have outside vendors connect the technology. Everything can be done on an easy-to-manage, online interface from the convenience of your business or personal computer. In the event your own business equipment malfunctions, the Virtual PBX phone system can quickly be updated to route calls to other extensions and no business communications are interrupted or lost. The off-site virtual storage of information remains consistent until your business gets back to operating normally.

Since there is essentially no risk involved in incorporating a Virtual PBX phone system into any-sized business, why not take control of your business and take it to the next level in no time at all.

Employing a Virtual PBX phone system is one of the easiest, most convenient ways to handle growth in three very important ways. The first key way a Virtual PBX phone can help a business is by enabling a small, local business to have a national and international presence. Utilizing a toll free number allows customers to have greater access to a business they may not otherwise consider. Being able to market and advertise a toll free number gives the appearance of a large business environment, one customer’s can rely on. Additionally, businesses using a vanity number that references the name of the company will likely remain in people’s minds, making it even easier to contact the company as customers will no doubt remember a catchy phone number.

Secondly, a Virtual PBX phone system can be used in some many convenient ways to accommodate the needs of a growing entrepreneur business. Imagine working out of your home and within months you find you are in need of additional staff, but do not have the room or the money to move into a bigger space. With a Virtual PBX phone system, extensions and call forwarding rules can be assigned to the cell phones and landlines of people you contract to work with you. Subcontractors will not need to work on the premises because the Virtual PBX system can be programmed in any way to suit your business needs, using a simple online management tool.

The third way a Virtual PBX phone system can help is with the flexibility of the plans, such as the various options available at PBXplans.com. There are many add-on options in addition to the standard features, such as dial by name directory, Follow Me calling, and Q & A extensions.

PBXplans.com offers flat-rate minute plans that can be as low as only 3.9¢ per minute. Many plans offer free minutes for each month. For example, in the Large Corporation plan automatically get 2000 monthly minutes as part of that plan. Additionally, prepaying for minutes can save you quite a bit of money by buying the minutes in bulk. Plus, the unused prepaid minutes can be rolled over into the next month.

One thing customers need to be cautious of when looking for a good virtual PBX plan is the risk of unscrupulous companies who practice what is known as “double-leg billing”. Double-leg billing happens when an incoming call is considered to be one leg and when that call is transferred to a forwarding number, that transfer is considered the second leg. In other words, you are double billed for one, single call.

Overall, a virtual PBX phone system can really save a business big money and still offer them the most innovations in telephony technology. Selecting a plan that is right for your business is important, but being able to select plans that you can add on to at a later time, would be a good initial investment of time and money. It would also be in the best interest of your company to avoid signing any long-term commitments or contracts with one company that locks you in to a plan. Your business will most likely need to work on plans that can grow with your business and change when your business requires a change.

When the PBX system was first developed and implemented into a company, all of the work was handled in-house, which meant that the company needed their own manpower to handle the technology. Companies needed to find a solution to handle their growing communication needs and eventually the idea for third-party intervention, which involved using a hosted system, located outside of the business and is hosted by another company, whose own staff is dedicated to handling the technology.

Companies were able to increase efficiency by not having to manage the communications technology and in time the virtual PBX system became more innovated and offered more options for improving the communication levels and resources for the individual companies. Companies were able to access voice mails, faxes, and e-mails from anywhere outside of the office. Additionally, features such as call-waiting, call-forwarding, and automated attendants helped companies achieve more versatility and reliability than ever before.

While company employees were able to gain more independence from the desk and be more available to help clients and customers, what was truly important was the pricing and the ability to select features and plans, rather than pay outrageous rates for top of the line technology.  Plus, the virtual PBX phone system required no additional hardware or physical equipment in order to work. There is also very little training necessary to get the technology up and running for all staff.

While a virtual PBX system may not be right for every single business, it is definitely a resource that many companies, large and small, have come to rely on for all of their ever important communication needs.