Paid Addons for 1300 numbers and 1800 numbers
Lets go on to discuss the other paid add-ons which will add a new level of flexibility to your Inbound Number.
- Live Answering Services – This would be the most common addon for 1300 numbers. It is usually a dedicated line where the operator will answer the call based on a custom script pre-supplied to them. Generally a message will be taken down, including Name and Number and then Emailed or sent via SMS through to the business. Its a very good method of making sure your customers feel valued and don’t have to talk to machines. With the SMS facility you can even provide after hours support facilities.
- Fax To Email Services – With many businesses still needing the ability to receive faxes, when combined with a 1300 Pair (matching or sequential numbers) it looks very professional and is a really cheap solution to the physical fax machine with dedicated Phone Line.
- Postcode Prompter or Dialler – As mentioned in the Exchange based routing, mobile phones don’t have this facility and often for consistency of brand, many large franchise or enterprise businesses will use a Postcode Dialler to make sure all calls that enter the 1300 number are prompted for their postcode (or for the postcode of the store they wish to speak with). This ensures smooth delivery of calls in a cost effective manner. Callers enter their postcode via the telephone keypad, and the system automatically routes the call through to the relevant answer point for that postcode.
- IVR Menu – or Interactive Voice Response, is a smaller version of the postcode prompter. It only accepts 1 digit, so your allowed a maximum of 10 inputs (0-9). This is a great way for many businesses to route callers through to specific departments, or if you have a small number of offices you can connect callers directly through to the suburb.
- Voice to Email – As the name suggests, this is a simple answering service facility, which will prompt the caller with a pre-recorded message, and then record their details and Email it through as a MP3.
- Line Hunt or Caller ID service – This is a newer product that many people are adopting, its pretty simple in structure and function. Basically all calls that come through on the 1300 are answered by a system, and then forwarded through to the answer point. This means all calls for that 1300 number come from a specific phone number, so you know how to answer the call. This is great if you use your personal mobile and want to be able to keep business and personal separate. It has many of the Call Overflow and Time based features, as well as the option to have RVA’s (Recorded Voice Announcements) or even Music on Hold while the service is ringing through to the answer points.
Well that’s enough information for now. In the next article I’ll go through some of the common setups small businesses throughout Australia are using so maybe you can get some ideas.
Author: David Thomas & Posted at: May 4, 2016 at 12:40pm
