As the temperatures outside (finally) start to climb and the days get increasingly longer, organizations are gearing up to face an annual challenge: managing calls during the holidays.
While customers usually tolerate hearing a “Thank you for your call, our office is closed today…” message during Federal holidays such as Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day, they are much less impressed when they are forced to leave voicemail after voicemail — or stay on hold for excessive amounts of time — because employees are on vacation. Fortunately, this is where a hosted cloud phone system bridges the gap.
Here are 4 key ways that a hosted phone system optimizes call management during vacation season:
- Hunt Groups and Ring Groups
A hunt group is when specified phones ring in succession. For example, one number will ring twice, followed by another ringing twice, and so on. A ring group is when multiple phones ring at the same time.
Some (but not all) conventional landline phone systems allow organizations to configure hunt groups or ring groups. However, with hosted cloud, organizations can have both hunt groups and ring groups. As a result, the chances of a customer being routed to voicemail or having to remain on hold for an excessive amount of time reduces dramatically.
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems
Hosted cloud phone systems feature Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, which professionally greet callers and enable them to self-direct their call to a desired individual or team. Unlike employees, IVR systems work 24/7 and never go on vacation!
- Time of Day Rules
With a hosted cloud phone system, organizations can quickly set (and change) time of day rules, which is ideal for when employees take partial days off, or if there is limited staff availability during certain periods. During these times, calls can be automatically routed to a call center, a mobile phone, etc.
- Remote Working
Sometimes, employees who head off on vacation don’t want to (or can’t) completely go off the grid. With a hosted cloud phone system, they can send/receive calls from their smartphone, as well as access other system features such as video calling, conference calling, instant messaging with colleagues, and so on.
What’s more, when employees make calls, the company name/number — not their personal name/number — shows on Caller ID. Frankly, unless customers can hear “It’s a Small World After All” repeated over and over in the background, they won’t know that the employee is even on vacation!
To learn more about how a hosted cloud phone system optimizes call management during vacation season — and throughout the year — contact Carolina Digital Phone today at (336) 544-4000 today. Your consultation with us is free.