Working 9 to 5 (or 6 or 7…)

You may remember this blog post, where we discussed how the majority of US working adults answer work calls and emails, both before going into the office in the morning and when they are home from work in the evening.  It is estimated that you and your employees are putting in an average of 7 additional hours/week working from home.

Do you check your email first thing in the morning?  Do you take calls and check emails during your lunch break?  Have you ever counted how many times you log-in to your work email from home in the evening?

Have you ever heard someone conducting business while walking down the street?  Maybe you are even guilty of this yourself.

I know I am.

[x]cube labs compiled the findings of various research reports and put them together in a comprehensive infographic.  It not only provides a picture of what the mobile employee looks like today – it also shows the direction the mobile workforce is headed.

The line between home life and work life has been blurred.  The addition of mobile devices into our lives keeps us connected, and available, even when we step away from our desks.  Your customers know that, and want instant gratification – they don’t want to wait until you get back in the office to return their call.  Mobility solutions are easy to integrate into your business, and as a bonus, your employees will appreciate having more flexibility.  Click here to learn about Telovation’s Mobility Solutions.

Thank you Team Telovations

Thank you Team!

In the midst of our annual strategic planning sessions, we held an event for our team and their families.  As we look forward towards where we are headed, it is important to take a moment to appreciate how far we have come, and to appreciate the people that have worked so hard to get us there.  Thank you team for all you have accomplished over the past year.  We look forward to many more celebrations in years to come.

Product Spotlight: Find Me/Follow Me

Blog Series:  Mobility

Product Spotlight:  Find Me/Follow Me

Remember when a 5 pm quitting time meant you were done working for the day?  If a client called in with an issue after hours and you had already gone home, you wouldn’t be expected to address that issue until 9 am the next morning?

Me neither.

But that was what business was like for my father back in the 1950s.  He sat at his desk, he did his job, and when he was done for the day…he went home.  I never once saw my father take a business call outside of his office.

This is not our reality.  A recent Good Technology Survey found that more than 80% of US working adults continue to answer calls and emails after they have left the office – for an average of 7 extra work hours per week!  Almost half of those surveyed felt it was necessary because their customers demand quick replies.

Business mobility is no longer just a valuable business tool; it’s a way of life.

So much so that according to the Accenture 2012 CIO Mobility Study, 78% of CIOs placed mobility as a top priority – 38% placing it in their top 1 or 2 spot.

How much time do you spend checking your work voice mail?

If you are out of the office and have a big deal in the works do you check your voice mail obsessively – until you start to feel like you are stalking yourself?   It’s hard not to worry that a missed call can translate into a missed opportunity and lost business.

Using a mobility solution that allows you to work more efficiently and that helps your clients and prospects find you more quickly can alleviate a lot of worry.

Find Me/Follow Me

Find me/Follow me allows you to set up your mobile, home office or any other phone to ring either sequentially from, or simultaneously to, your office phone.  If you don’t answer your office phone, the call can be routed to your cell.  If you don’t answer there, it can be routed to a home office and then finally to your assistant or your partner before going to voice mail.  Best of all, the link is invisible so your personal and mobile numbers remain confidential.

You can easily make changes through the TeloPortal:

Mobility has blurred the line between work life and home life.  Unavailability can mean lost opportunity and lost business.  How do you want to spend your time?  By using your mobility to try and keep up with your business, or by living your life and letting your mobility keep your business up with you?

Click here to learn more about Find Me/Follow Me.

Just for fun, I am going to leave you with a video clip of a song that pops into my head every time I think of Find Me/Follow Me:  U2’s I Will Follow (1980).

Weekly Blog Series: Mobility Solutions

As we switch our focus from Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity to Mobility Solutions, it’s hard not to reflect on the impact of Tropical Storm Debby on bay area businesses.

Area bridges were closed due to high winds, which made commuting difficult, if not dangerous.   Street flooding caused the closure of many office buildings – ours included.  These factors caused many businesses to decide to shut down operations for at least a day, in some cases for 2 or 3 days.

And meanwhile, the sharks were circling nearby……the type of sharks that have been waiting for the opportunity to steal your business.

In terms of storms, Debby ranks as an inconvenience more than anything else.  After a few days, the bay area was back to normal.  The waters had receded, bridges were reopened and save for wind-damaged trees and pool enclosures, it was back to business as usual.  The talk around town less “time to rebuild” and more “time to play catch up” or “I’m so behind.  Thanks Debby!”

When your business has a continuity plan in place, especially one that includes mobility solutions, you don’t have to worry about having to play that catch up game.  You can send one company-wide email alerting your employees to work remotely.  With one click of the mouse, your employees’ business phones will be routed to the phone of their choosing – mobile or landline.  That means your customers will continue to receive service, and deals will continue to be made.

Over the next few weeks, we will be showcasing our different mobility solutions that can be tailored to fit the needs of your organization.  Whether you are looking to set up a remote facility quickly, or allow your employees to work remotely in case of emergency, our solutions will ensure that the sharks will not capture your business because you are unreachable.  Click here to learn more.

Breakdown: Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

I was recently speaking with a CEO about her plan for business continuity should an unforeseen disaster disrupt their operations.  Her response:  “I have insurance and several zip drives.  We are a small business, just getting started…it’s what we can afford right now.”

I replied:  “That will work as a disaster recovery plan, but what about continuity – your plan to keep working through the disaster?”

She asked:  “Is there a difference?”

Yes.  Yes, there is.

Disaster Recovery vs. Business Continuity

FEMA reports that 40-60% of businesses that close due to disaster never reopen.  There are a host of different reasons that can shut down your business, for any length of time.  Whether it is 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days, when you lose the ability to operate, you lose the ability to generate income.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) are terms that are often used interchangeably.  Whereas, they are interdependent – they have different focuses.

Disaster Recovery Plans

DRPs detail the steps employees must follow during and after catastrophic event.  It focuses on the health and safety of employees; including exit and evacuation procedures, and CEO succession.  Some key points to consider while developing your DRP:

• Method for backing up your info systems
• What type of insurance your business may need to protect its assets
• Documentation of critical info – computers, account names and passwords, network setting, ISP/network administrative info, tech support numbers, etc.
• How you are going to protect your equipment
• A communications plan to ensure all employees evacuated safely

Business Continuity Plans

BCPs take DRPs a step further and also outline how your business will continue its operations during and after a disaster (as well as smaller scale events such a power outages) in order to remain stable and continue to generate a profit.  BCPs address additional issues that include:

• If employees will gather at a second location or if they will work from home during the period of disruption
• Where to route calls if working off-site (landlines at remote facilities/homes or cell phones) or if your business will enable emergency call center capabilities
• Manner in which employees will access important documents and data (critical files/data stored on zip drives or stored on laptops employees can move to remote locations, or access to critical information stored in the cloud)

Simply put, your Disaster Recovery Plan focuses on how your company will react should it be affected by a disaster and your Business Continuity Plan is the process of preparing to keep your company open in case of a disruption.

The US Chamber of Commerce reported that the economic losses in 2011, as a result of natural disasters, reached $380 million.  Can you really afford not to be prepared?  Click here to learn how we can help your business maintain continuity no matter what life may throw your way.

There’s An App for That (part 5) – Go Integrator

Are you always trying to make sense of notes scratched on scrap paper, that is…if you are lucky enough to find the right sheet?  Are piles of paper taking over your workspace?

We have an app for that!

Go Integrator is a personal productivity tool that interfaces your Telovations business telephone system with the CRM function of your IT infrastructure.  No matter your poison:  Act!, Goldmine, Lotus Note, MS Access, MS Dynamics, NetSuite,  or Sage, Go Integrator will improve your productivity and help you work more efficiently.  Here are a few of the highlights of this application:

1.  You can dial directly from your CRM software, so no more misdialed numbers.

2.  If you are too busy to answer the call or you are on the other line – no problem!  You can easily deflect the call to another extension, without interruption.  Click here to see this feature in action.

3.  Caller ID is great, but Caller ID with enhanced features is better.  As a call is coming in, Go Integrator displays a summary of information about the caller with the option to open the CRM file associated with the caller – all before you’ve taken the call.

4.  (My personal favorite) With your contact’s CRM file already opened, you can take your notes directly into their file.  If a contact record does not exist on the caller, you will be given the option to create a new file.

I used to block off a half hour at the end of every day to update my activity with my clients and prospects in our CRM.  Sometimes I would struggle to read my own handwriting or I couldn’t remember which note belonged with which client.  Now that I am using this tool, I have that time back to work on building my business, not on taking notes about my business.

Are you ready to get out from under all those piles of paper?  Go Integrator works straight “out of the box,” so it’s easy to get started.  Click here to learn more.

Disaster Recover – How Will You Weather the Storm?

When I think of Disaster Recovery (DR) I am reminded of that scene from Forrest Gump that occurs on his shrimp boat, the Jenny:  Forrest and Lt. Dan are struggling to catch shrimp, when a hurricane blows in to Bayou La Batre.  Every shrimp boat in the bayou, except for the Jenny, was destroyed.  While the other shrimp boat captains were rebuilding, Forrest and Lt. Dan were working…

And they made a killing.

How would a bad storm affect your business?  Could your sales and customer service teams continue to function – even if they couldn’t make it into the office?  Having a DR plan in place insures that no matter what unforeseen obstacle your business may face, be it natural disaster, a computer failure, or human error…your “boat” will keep running.

The importance of a executing disaster recovery plan has been well documented.  At Telovations, our DR plans are focused on keeping your communications system operational.  Whether your business needs 1 phone or 1,000 phones, we can assure you nothing will stop your clients and prospects from reaching you when disaster strikes.

Read our case study to see a disaster recovery plan in action.

So what are you going to do when disaster looms?  Are you going to sit home and wait to rebuild….or are you going to keep working and make a killing?

There’s an App for that (part 4) – Virtual Receptionist/FonGenie

Product Spotlight:  Virtual Receptionist/FonGenie

Do you remember that old television show “I Dream of Jeannie”?

Jeannie would cross her arms, blink her eyes and Presto! anything that Major Nelson needed, or wanted (or, sometimes, things he didn’t even know he needed or wanted), would pop right up.

What if your computer could cross its arms, blink its eyes and Presto! a window would pop up with all the pertinent information on an incoming call – who is calling and why, where they are calling from, and any/all previous purchase history – all before your phone even begins to ring?

There’s an app for that.

Here’s how it works:

Your virtual receptionist automatically greets your callers and provides information about your business hours, address, and daily specials. It can even provide directions to your business location.  You can easily update and customize your greeting and daily specials from your computer, iPhone or iPad.  You don’t need to worry about being in quiet location to make recordings – just type in the script and Virtual Receptionist will do the rest!

Meanwhile….back at your computer…

Virtual Receptionist has provided you with the following pop-up window.  Your phone hasn’t rung, but when it does, you will be prepared.  You will know who is calling and from where.  You will also have invaluable information regarding the nature of the call, and, if a regular customer is calling, you will have their order history immediately available.

Knowing your clients and their preferences is a powerful tool help you connect with them and build lasting relationships.  Imagine, a customer calls in and instead of saying “how can I help you?” you say “Mr. Jones!  How are you?  It’s been about 3 months since we last spoke – you must need an oil change.”  Mr. Jones will hang up and will feel a personal connection with you.  That is key to building a loyal client base.

Having customer’s purchase history readily available also helps you up-sell.  Perhaps you are a spa owner and Mrs. Smith regularly schedules just a mani-pedi, but occasionally treats herself to a massage.  Instead of just booking her appointment as usual, you will know exactly what product to entice her with:  “Mrs. Smith!  I know how much you love a mani-pedi…but, would you like to try our Pamper and Relax package?  It’s a mani-pedi with a 20 minute massage.”  Just that little suggestion could be all you need to get Mrs. Smith to upgrade her usual spa package.

This is just a small sampling of the many ways Virtual Receptionist can help your business.  Additionally, it replaces the telephone company, it has a built-in CRM, and it provides reports and analytics, as well as business intelligence.  It even predicts on which day and during which hours your highest call volume will occur.

Click here to learn more about Virtual Receptionist/FonGenie.

Cloud Cost Savings Basics

Many businesses have found themselves faced with making some hard choices due to the recent economic conditions.  It can be a struggle for small- to medium-sized businesses to keep current with the ever-changing face of technology.  In 2011, Gartner Executive Programs surveyed more than 2,000 CIOs worldwide and found that most CIO’s business’ priorities were striving to increase growth and reduce costs, and they were looking at cloud computing as a way to achieve their business goals.

Table 1 Top 10 Business and Technology Priorities in 2011 Top 10 Business Priorities Ranking Top 10 Technology Priorities Ranking Increasing enterprise growth 1 Cloud computing 1 Attracting and retaining new customers 2 Virtualization 2 Reducing enterprise costs 3 Mobile technologies 3 Creating new products and services (innovation) 4 IT management 4 Improving business processes 5 Business intelligence 5 Implementing and updating business applications 6 Networking, voice and data communications 6 Improving technical infrastructure 7 Enterprise applications 7 Improving enterprise efficiency 8 Collaboration technologies 8 Improve operations 9 Infrastructure 9 Improving business continuity, risk and security 10 Web 2.0 10 Source: Gartner EXP (January 2011)

97% of small- to medium-sized business (SMBs) that are utilizing cloud computing in some form report they got what they wanted in terms of cost savings.  According to Newtek’s SB Authority Market Sentiment Survey, only 20% of SMBs are embracing the benefits of cloud computing solutions.  Does that surprise you?  How can 97% organizations doing business in the cloud realize savings, yet only 20% of business owners believe doing business in the cloud can save them money?

Breaking it Down – Cloud Cost Savings Basics

1.  Servers – Corporate servers have utilization levels of around 15%.  A server has a life cycle of 3 years, and 50% depreciation right out of the box.  Operating at only 15%, it will take much longer than 3 years for you to see a return on your investment.  For many SMBs investing in servers is not a wise financial decision.  Cloud computing alleviates the need to invest in expense equipment, as well as, software licenses.

2.  Pay-as-you-go Model – Your subscription rates are based on your number of users accessing the hosted applications of your choice.  New users can be added with short notice, and its scalability is designed to fit your needs.  Users can be added one at a time as the need arises.

3.  Focus of IT Department – If all your IT resources are in-house, your IT department is spending all its time and resources on equipment maintenance, new software installs, software updates, etc.  Without these responsibilities weighing down your IT department they can shift their focus on innovation, on strategic initiatives, on projects that will positively impact your bottom-line.

The financial benefits of cloud computing are not restricted to strictly cost savings. Doing business in the cloud also frees up your talent to focus on making money for your organization.  Have you made the switch to the cloud?  If not, what is holding you back?

There’s an App for That (Part 3) – Remote Office

Product Spotlight:  Remote Office:  iPhone/Deskphone and Android/Deskphone

I recently ran into an old colleague who shared with me the following story:

She had taken a week off of work to attend her sister’s wedding.  She works in sales, and she had some big deals in her pipeline.  She went on vacation planning on doing a little work while she was at her parent’s home.  On Monday morning, when she checked her work voice mail, she had three new messages.  She returned the calls using her cell phone:  two calls to prospects and one call to a current client that was having problems and was very unhappy.

Welcome to your working vacation my friend:

Calling clients or prospects from your cell phone, when you are on vacation, sends the message that you are reachable and available.  In my friend’s case, her client had her number and they weren’t afraid to use it.

She went on to say how she had to walk out on brunch with her mom and her sister because the unhappy client called 3 times in just over a half hour.  “It was so distracting,” she explained.  “Each time my phone rang, I knew it was my client and each time I let it go to voice mail, I knew he was growing more frustrated.   I really regretted calling him with my cell phone.  In addition, I spent several days going back and forth with my two prospects.   I really wanted to keep my focus on my sister, but my cell was ringing off the hook.  I don’t mind doing business on vacation, but I wish there could have been a buffer between us.”

What if you could maintain your one number identity even when working remotely?

There’s an App for that.

Remote Office for Android or iPhone is a native Android/iPhone application that allows you to originate calls from your smart phone through your Telovations-powered desk phone.  It enables easy control of Remote Office, Do Not Disturb and Call Forwarding settings while on the move.

Remote Office comes with an intuitive look and feel. It offers convenient “click-to-dial” options from a keypad, from your deskphone’s Call History or from your Android or iPhone contact list.

Click here to learn more about the iPhone/Deskphone or click here to learn more about Android/Deskphone.