In this post, learn how to hire customer service representatives to improve the consumer experience and foster long-term loyalty.

• When to hire customer service representatives;
• How to hire customer service?;
• Hire customer service representatives to boost satisfaction.

When to hire customer service representatives

• When your team is overwhelmed: If you’re seeing a backlog of support tickets and calls going unanswered, it indicates that your team can’t keep up with the workload.
• When you’re growing fast: Business growth is great news, but it also means an increase in product lines and orders—and a surge in customers calling with queries about them.
• When staff turnover is high: If too many of your customer support agents are quitting, it’s probably because they’re frustrated at not having enough time for each customer, or being yelled at for keeping callers waiting.
• When your metrics are heading in the wrong direction: If the figures for KPIs like average time to answer and time to resolution have snowballed, you definitely need more staff.
• When customers are unhappy: If you’re experiencing negative feedback, poor CSAT scores, and bad reviews online, it’s time to hire extra agents to turn things around.

How to hire customer service?

1. Identify your needs

First, you need to pinpoint what your existing customer service team needs. Only then can you determine your recruitment goals and identify your ideal candidates.

It’s good practice to get feedback from your customer service team about their workload and stress levels. Also, keep an eye on your forecasts and metrics.

For example, if you use attendance management software, it’s easy to track employee hours. You can see immediately if there are gaps in shifts or if customer service reps are working longer hours than they should. This software also comes with the added benefits of increased accuracy and less work for HR staff.

Once you’ve decided you need extra staff, you must determine the specifics, including the:

• Number of posts that need filling
• Skills your current team lacks
• Duties your new reps will perform

2. Clearly define the job requirements

Your next task is to write a job description. You can find templates online, but—broadly speaking—you should include the following:

• Job title and location
• An “About Us” section detailing your values, what you offer, etc.
• Duties and responsibilities
• Qualifications and experience
• Skills (required and nice- to- have)
• Compensation (salary, benefits, perks, etc.)
• Training and advancement opportunities
• A diversity and inclusion (D&I) statement
• Next steps (application deadline, how to apply, how you’ll contact them, etc.)

Duties will vary according to your company and the industry you’re operating in, but they’re likely to include customer care tasks such as answering incoming calls and handling customer complaints.

You’ll also need to consider the hard and soft skills required for the job. For a customer service rep, you’re likely to need:

Use gender-neutral language in your listing and don’t include too many “must-haves,” as this may put some potential candidates off.

3. Determine the financial considerations

There are a few financial considerations to determine when hiring customer service reps too. These include:

• Cost of training
• Target salary
• Return on investment (ROI)

Cost of training

Even if you hire qualified candidates, you’ll need to train them on your company’s products and methods. You must thus determine how much this training will cost so you can set an accurate budget. Depending on your approach, costs may include:

• Hiring an instructor (online or in -person)
• Purchasing call center coaching tools
• Training materials, like booklets and videos

Think about what your new hires need to know to do the job effectively. The longer the training period, and the more employees you include, the more it will cost.

Target salary

According to Indeed, the average salary for a customer service representative in the US is $16.98 per hour. In the UK, it’s £7.66. That said, salaries can and do vary widely due to factors like:

• The industry. Industries like healthcare, IT, and finance usually pay more than retail.
• Location. Wages vary by country and state, and reps usually earn more in cities than in rural areas.
• Company size. Large companies can usually afford to pay more than small companies.
• Skills and qualifications. The more qualified the candidate, the more they’re likely to earn.
• Experience. Experienced reps typically earn more than reps who are new to the job.
• Type of work. Reps whot work face-to-face with customers may earn more than those who work in a call center.

Return on investment (ROI)

It’s helpful to calculate the ROI of your recruitment efforts so you know if they’re cost-effective. To do this, you can use the following formula:

You need to begin by identifying the cost of hiring and onboarding new customer service reps. Costs may include:

• Salaries of your HR staff
• Advertising and marketing costs
• Admin expenses and recruitment overheads
• Training costs

Also, identify the money you gain from your customer service team, such as upgrades, retention, and referrals. It’s worth bearing in mind that nearly 60% of customers will pay more for better customer service.

One way to get the data you need is through an ERP solution. ERP solutions unify your business data in a single place, giving you a complete picture of your costs. Plus, you can track KPIs in real-time, helping identify where your customer service reps are having an impact.

In fact, an ERP solution can help you make better decisions in every area of your business, from HR and customer service to accounting and inventory control.

4. Develop a competency framework

To narrow down your candidate pool, develop a competency framework for your customer service reps. This should define the skills, knowledge, and attributes you’d like your reps to have.

To create an effective framework, you first need to collect data from your current employees to identify the competencies needed to do their jobs. You can collect this via interviews, surveys, and observation of their day-to-day activities.

Next, break down these competencies into different categories, such as interpersonal, leadership, and functional competencies. For example:

Functional competencies

• Technically proficient
• Detailed job knowledge
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• High attention to detail

Leadership competencies

• Good judgment
• Strong decision-making skills
• Credible and informative
• Stress tolerance

Interpersonal competencies

• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)
• High degree of empathy
• Good listening skills
• Conflict resolution

Finally, review your framework to ensure you only include competencies that are essential for a customer service rep.

5. Utilize behavioral interview questions

Use behavioral questions during the interview process to assess how well candidates handle real-world scenarios. Behavioral interview questions usually start with a phrase like “Describe a time when…” or “Tell me about a situation where…”

Include a range of scenarios to assess a candidate’s experience, personality, strengths, and skills. This is a chance for candidates to reflect on their past performance.

Here are some examples of behavioral interview questions you could use:

• Describe a time when a customer raised their voice at you. How did you respond?
• Think about a time you had to give a customer bad news. What did you do?
• Tell me about a situation where you had to bring in your manager.
• Tell me what you would do if a customer wanted a refund but you weren’t sure they were eligible.
• Describe a time when you successfully resolved a customer’s issue. What was the outcome?

6. Assess candidates’ communication abilities

Effective client communication is an essential skill for customer service reps. So, you must assess their capabilities in all forms of communication 一 written, verbal, and body language. Candidates should be able to interact with customers on the phone, in person, and via email, live chat, and social media.

You could include a screening test in your job application to assess the candidates’ written communication skills. You can then have a short phone conversation with them to test their verbal communication abilities. You want candidates who are clear, calm, and friendly. They should also be good listeners.

You can record examples of calls with your business phone’s call recording feature and ask candidates to rate these interactions too. Then, ask them what they’d do differently and why.

Finally, when you interview your most promising candidates, pay attention to their body language. If they seem nervous or fidgety, they may not be a good fit for your team.

7. Consider the cultural fit of candidates

It’s also important to consider the cultural fit of job candidates. You want someone who will complement your company’s culture and values. A good cultural fit makes it more likely that potential employees will stay with your company. It also aids collaboration and team building.

In contrast, a poor cultural fit can lead to disruption and friction, which harms productivity and morale.

To ensure a good cultural fit, follow these steps:

1. Define your company’s culture. List your company’s core beliefs, values, and practices. Also, think about the type of person you’re looking for (such as one with empathy who’s hardworking and a great communicator).
2. Publicize your culture. Include your culture in your job description and other hiring materials, such as social media posts, to attract the right candidates.
3. Look for clues in their job application. Candidates often list their skills and notable qualities here, so pay attention to these. Also, look at their cover letter. How does the person come across? What are their career goals?
4. Discuss culture in the job interview. Talk about what makes your company’s culture different and ask what the candidate is looking for. If your company emphasizes teamwork but the candidate prefers autonomy, it won’t be a good fit.

You can also assess cultural fit by arranging for candidates to spend time with your customer service team.

8. Incorporate simulations during the interview process

The final step in your assessment of candidates should be to use simulations to assess how well they can perform the job. These can take a variety of forms, such as:

• Roleplay. You and the candidate act out a scene, such as a customer asking for help in a store or an angry customer on the phone.
• Written simulations. You could send anonymized real-world complaints to a candidate to see how they respond (for instance, via email).
• Virtual simulations. There are also software platforms that let you assess all aspects of the job, from answering customer tickets to updating customer accounts and logging information.

Simulations allow you to test candidates in a range of scenarios. For instance, dealing with upset customers, fielding phone calls, and using call center IVR.

If candidates do well in simulations, chances are they’ll do well with real customers too.

9. Make the final selection and offer

This step is the final part of the hiring process. Once you’ve found the most qualified people, make a shortlist of three to five applicants. Then, your selection committee can compare them and choose their preferred candidate.

Once you’ve checked your preferred candidate’s references, you can make the job offer. This may be over the phone, but it’s usually best to write a formal offer letter. This letter should include:

• Job title and description
• Candidate’s name and contact details
• Terms and conditions
• Start date, time, and location
• Dress code
• Reporting structure (including their supervisor or manager)
• Salary, benefits, bonuses, etc.
• Termination and resignation conditions

Also, include instructions on what to do next, like how to reply and the sign-by date for the contract. Remember to email unsuccessful applicants so they’re not left wondering if they got the job or not.

Hire customer service representatives to boost satisfaction

Customer service plays a vital role in your business, so you need to ensure you hire the best people. By following the steps in this post, you can select customer service representatives that fulfill your needs and boost customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Once you’ve honed your recruitment process, your next step should be to evaluate it. You can do this by tracking KPIs and requesting feedback from candidates, employees, and staff. This way, you can improve the applicant experience. You may even find ways to make the process more cost-effective一and that’s great for your bottom line.

The post How to Hire Customer Service Representatives first appeared on MightyCall.

Call transfers are a useful telephony feature that allows you to connect your caller to another person within the company after you have already picked up the phone. This will help you get the client to the correct department or to a different operator at any point in time. It is one of the most useful features for teams, and with some VoIP systems, you can wait with the client until the other operator picks up.

The main difference between call transferring and call forwarding

Call forwarding is used prior to answering the phone call; for example, if one of the operators is off for a break or a sick leave, the business calls will get automatically forwarded to the next available operator.
Call transfer feature is when you answer the call and connect the caller with a different operator, who will be able to help them with their issue.

Main types of call transfers

There are four main types of business phone call transferring:
Hold Queue: You can transfer the caller to another operator and have them stay on hold until the operator is available;
Cold: You (or an auto-attendant) can do a blind transfer of the caller to another operator without talking to them. For example, if you know that the person calling needs a different operator, you will simply connect them to someone else;
Warm: You will have the caller waiting on hold while you are explaining the case to the operator to whom the call is being transferred;
Voicemail: You will have your callers transferred to voicemail if you are unavailable for some reason. It can be the end of business hours or a busy time, regardless, you will get the voice recording.

Warm Transfers

Warm transfers allow you to greet the client and talk to your teammates while the client is peacefully waiting on the line.

Cold Transfers

If you are too busy to pick up the office phone, you can quickly transfer the call to an available operator without answering it.

Voicemail Transfers

Like with the cold transfer, this option is for when you cannot answer the business phone for some reason, but this option transfers the call to voicemail rather than another operator.

Hold Queue Transfers

This option will let you transfer a call to a busy operator, so the caller can wait on hold until the operator is available to handle their case.

How Do You Transfer a Call on an Office Phone?

It will take some practice to understand how do you transfer a call and to get all your operators on board with the various live transfers. Successful businesses usually provide their call center agents with training for the different transfers. We will provide an overview of the steps you may want to implement in your work system.

Through MightyCall for Desktop

How to carry out a cold transfer

Prior to receiving a call:

1. At the bottom of your call flow chart, you’ll see the end-user who will receive the call. By default, that’s the main user.
2. To change this setting, click on the small Action menu icon (seven dots in a circle). You will see nine different options for how to handle the call from a cell phone or any other device in use.
3. You can choose any of the following transfer options:

• Call to user: the call will be transferred to the teammate you select;
• Call to group: the call will be transferred to an entire group, such as the customer support department;
• Call to queue: the call will be transferred to a group of choice, but first placed in a queue, to remain there until an employee answers the call or the caller hangs up;
• Call a non-MightyCall number: call any external number.

How to do a warm transfer

1. Click the “Transfer Call” icon;
2. Check your team members’ availability status (green, yellow, or red);
3. Choose your team member in the menu that opens up or dial a phone number via Dial pad;
4. Make sure you get a notification that states the call got transferred successfully.

How to carry out a voicemail transfer

By default, the incoming calls will get a warm transfer:

• Your status is set to “Do Not Disturb”;
• You do not answer, an unattended transfer happened, etc.

You can change it in your personal settings:

1. Go to your settings (via Profile).
2. Click the tab labeled “Answering Rules.”

• Adjust the settings to your liking.

Note: If you manually disconnect or decline a call, it may go to your carrier’s (Verizon or AT&T) voicemail rather than MightyCall, so you may want to:

• Let these calls ring through when you are not available, rather than physically declining it.
• Adjust the cellphone timeout settings on your profile –> “My Forwarding Numbers” to 25 seconds or less. (Don’t set it too low or you may miss some calls).

How to do a hold queue transfer

1. During a conversation, click the “Consultative” icon.
2. Choose the person that you wish to transfer the call to or use the dial pad.
3. The first call will automatically be put on hold while the second call begins to ring.

Note: If needed, switch between the 1st and 2nd calls by clicking on the name or the phone number.

Through MightyCall Mobile App

Android

• Cold: Use the Action menu and select where you want the call to be transferred in advance.
• Warm: Click “Transfer Call,” select an available team member or use the dial pad.
• Voicemail: Set the call to “Do Not Disturb” or let it ring out.
• Hold Queue: Click the “Consultative” icon during the call, choose the person, or dial the number.

iOS

• Cold: Select “Call to User,” “Call to Group,” “Call to Queue,” or a non-MightyCall number from the Action menu icon.
• Warm: Select a team member or dial a phone number by clicking the “Transfer Call” icon or transfer button.
• Voicemail: Put the call on “Do Not Disturb” or let it ring.
• Hold Queue: Click the “Consultative” symbol; then select the person to transfer the caller to.

Through Desk Phone

You can transfer calls on an office phone using desk phones by using the standard office phone equipment’s extensions. The specifics will vary depending on the equipment supplier your team employs; it is recommended that you consult the handbook that came with each component or contact the seller directly. Alternatively, you may port your landline number into a VoIP system and use a desk phone together. Take advantage of the numerous features available on land and VoIP phones. Each business phone system will have its own design and call transfer methods, but there will normally be a simple “transfer” option on the call menu.

Through a Virtual Phone Number

Each virtual phone number provider will have a different feature set, design, and procedure to transfer phone calls; however, the basic feature will typically be there.

1. Make sure your virtual phone number phone system has the transfer features.
2. Check if the transfers are available on the app, deskphone, or web phone, and make sure they are included in the plan you select.
3. View and adjust the transfer settings to the ones that serve your purposes;
4. Study the menu to find the transfer button, so you can easily transfer calls to your team members.

Through Landlines

You can connect calls through landlines using the good old extensions on your traditional phone equipment. The specifics will depend on the equipment provider your team uses, it is suggested that you use the manual provided with each piece or contact the vendor directly. Alternatively, you can port your landline number into a VoIP system and use the multitude of features and transfer types. Each call management system will have its own individual design and process, but usually there will be a very straightforward “transfer” option on the call menu.

When to use call transferring

1. Direct transfer

You will want to be transferring calls directly to connect your caller to another operator if the situation is simple. In that case, the other operator does not need any additional context and can handle it right off the bat. You can do it if you have other pressing matters at hand or, for some reason, you believe the other operator will be able to handle the call more efficiently. In the more complex cases, we do suggest using hold transfers, where you get to explain the situation to the next operator.

2. Low Call Volume

If you have a lower call volume and can afford to spend a moment with the caller, you can greet them and get their information. After you have it, you can make a warm connection with the other agent. You will be able to place the caller on hold while you are explaining the situation to the other agent. This will take two operators out of the game for a short period of time, so it is not recommended in situations where the volume of calls is high and every operator is needed ASAP.

3. Fallback (Send to the second party’s voicemail)

When the entire team is busy or when the only call operator who can help your client is busy, it is a good time to transfer the call to their voicemail. Usually, businesses or departments that do not offer 24/7 call lines will send all their callers to voicemail outside of business hours. This can also be applied if the company is experiencing some sort of tech issue that is hindering the ability of the call operators to perform their jobs. In this case, it is a good idea to record a voicemail that explains the situation to your callers and asks them to leave a message.

Benefits of Transferring Calls

Transferring calls:

• Reduces wait times. The clients do not have to wait on hold if you are busy with another call; you can simply transfer them to the next available person.

• Makes you seem more competent. It is better to connect your client to a competent agent who will explain everything they need to know right away rather than have them wait for you to go back and forth asking questions and relaying answers to them.

• Gives you control over calls. You will have multiple options, which should make you feel more comfortable handling calls, knowing that at any point in time, you can transfer calls to another phone or to a knowledgeable coworker.

• Takes the load off your shoulders. Spread the calls evenly by transferring them to available operators and/or getting them lined up on hold, or call forwarding to voicemail. In case if the call volume is too high, the feature can become a life savior. 

Cons of Call Transfer Methods

• Transfers add more steps to the process, regardless of the transfer method, which can extend the time it takes a client to get to the necessary answers, and that may frustrate some clients. Make sure to minimize the amount of unnecessary live call transfers;
• Transfers take practice to be used correctly. It may be a complicated tool for less experienced users. You will need to make sure your team is well-trained and well-practiced in transferring phone calls prior to making them.
• If a transfer goes wrong, the client may end up feeling frustrated and form a poor opinion of your support team. If they are a new client, they may decide that they do not want your service.
• They are less useful for solopreneurs. If you do not have any team members to transfer a call to, it will make the feature practically useless. This is a feature for companies with multiple call operators.

Training employees on call transfers to another phone

As mentioned above, an incorrect use of transfers may cause serious disarray in the work process, so your teams need to be well-trained.
According to Zippia, a company that provides online recruitment services, U.S. companies lose over $62 billion in annual revenue due to poor customer service. The customers are expecting more and more from the customer service departments, which, in turn, puts stress on your agents. Calabrio’s customer service report, among others, shows that the call center agents are feeling increasingly stressed over time. You can help your agents by training them on how to transfer a call.

Call transferring etiquette tips

1. Keep your clients in the loop

Talk your clients through every step you are taking. Use the “we” pronoun to make them feel like you are in this together. Keep up the friendly tone, so the customers feel at ease that everything is going well according to the processes. This will make the clients see that you respect their time and that none of it is wasted. All together, it will lower their situational anxiety and potentially result in a trusting emotional bond between you and the customer by making you seem confident and organized.

2. Explain why you are making a transfer

This is a continuation of the previous step. It would be good to have a list of standardized and well-written phrases for all situations, including making a transfer. Making sure the operator has a backup and sounds professional in their communication will be a great aid in forming a trusting relationship between your company and your clients. As an operator, you will need to communicate that you value the customer and are making sure they are getting the absolute best your company has to offer. Which just happens to be a different operator.

3. Ask permission before you transfer your current call

Empower your clients by giving them a feeling of control and of being an equal party in the conversation. Explain who the second party they will be talking to is and how they will be of help to your client. Remember that your customers will enjoy the process more if they believe that everything is going according to their best interest. This is why you need to provide a safe environment where they know that their choices and opinions matter. Having the customer’s consent will simplify the process for everyone.

4. Wait for the second party to pick up

If you have the time and ability to do so, you can stay with the client until the second party picks up. This kind of virtual companionship will make the experience more humane and positive for the client. You will also have an easier time forming a strong emotional bond with the customer. Use this time wisely; ask the client about their overall experience with the product if there is time, or have a little small talk to keep them entertained while they are waiting.

5. Thank the caller for their patience

Rather than apologizing for the delay, which tells the client there is something wrong to begin with, praise them for their patience. It will be brief, but it will end your part of the conversation on a good note and make the customer feel appreciated. If a customer feels appreciated, they are more likely to form a good emotional bond with your team and will reward you with loyalty and more patience.

It’s a little like therapy

You are handling large volumes of upset, busy, or stressed clients, and you are holding up the frontier of communication. You represent the company. It is how you handle the calls and yourself that will shape the reputation of the entire organization. You need to ethically guide the customers to the answers they need, and often that means transferring the calls to the agents that have the capability to do so.
If your team is well-trained, familiar with the call transferring system, and confident, your clients will think twice before switching to someone else.

The post How to Transfer a Call to Another Phone first appeared on MightyCall.

Most business phone systems allow users to preset conditions when calls will be recorded. As a result, you can record without having to think twice about it. The benefits of telephone recordings are legion: help your employees practice, speak without taking notes, and protect yourself from frivolous lawsuits.

In this article we cover:

• How to Record a Cell Phone Call Legally?;
• How to Record Phone Calls on Different Devices;
• When Can Recording Cell Phone Calls Be Useful?;
• What Businesses Can Mostly Benefit From Recorded Phone Calls?;
• Best Practices When Recording Phone Calls;
• Choose Your Best Way to Record Phone Calls.

How to Record a Cell Phone Call Legally?

“Being able to get a recording of a phone call would be great for my business”, you might think. “But how do you legally create a record without getting into any trouble?” This is a fair question since obviously, no one likes getting sued.

If you are making a call outside of the United States, you might want to look into your own country’s laws, as they can vary wildly. Within the US, however, there are usually two types of legal schemes:

1. Two-party consent: these states require that both people know that they are being recorded
2. One-party consent: these states require that only one person be made aware that there is a recording. For one-party, that can be you- which essentially means that no one else needs to be notified. But things can get dicey if you call across state lines into a two-party state.

The same legal rules apply whether you are using a cell phone or a landline. To be sure of the legality of the ins and outs of call recording, it’s a good idea to use a service that automatically warns the person with whom you’re speaking that there will be a record kept of the call.

How to Record Phone Calls on Different Devices

Call recorder apps may function differently depending on the device you’re using. Scroll down to find out how to use the app on your personal device.

How to record phone conversations on a computer without any software

The main problem with downloading extra apps so that you can record telephone calls on your computer is that some may be from untrustworthy third parties, or simply just may not work at all. If you don’t want to use any extra apps, try using MightyCall.

As a VoIP system with dozens of features, MightyCall does not require you to download anything additional. When you make calls for your business with a number from MightyCall, you automatically can record and save yourself peace of mind.

To set up phone call recordings in MightyCall follow these simple steps:

1. In the web panel, go to Numbers and Web Widgets.
2. From there, select the phone number you would like to have record phone conversations of.
3. Click the gear next to it.
4. Under Incoming and Outgoing calls, make sure the box is checked.
5. Hit save. That’s it!

How to record a call on Android

Androids are incredibly popular- there are millions out there, which means there are millions who want to record on Android devices. There are lots of ways to record using Android call recording apps. Here are a few of the easiest.

MightyCall app

MightyCall has an intuitively designed app for Android phones, from which you can do basically everything you need to do in your general day-to-day life. From the app, available for Android devices, you can make calls, send texts, check voicemails, and of course, you can listen to your call recordings! MightyCall’s app is free to download from the Google Play store. It’s simple to use, and recording on it is very easy. Here’s how to record a phone call:

1. Choose your record settings on the MightyCall web panel. Be sure to select which of your numbers you want the record feature on for.
2. When you get a call to the app, pick it up! Your selected features will kick in and you will automatically start creating a record.
3. From the app you can listen to or download your record.

Google’s Phone app

Google has so many programs, so of course they have a phone app! It’s very easy to use and very popular. And did we mention it’s free to download? If you’re interested in using it to record calls on Android, here’s how to use this app:

1. Open the app by tapping it.
2. Tap More Options and then Settings. It should be on the right side of the app.
3. You should see an Always Record option. Under that will be various settings for things like unknown phone numbers or your contacts. Change as you see fit!

Google Voice

Google Voice is an extremely well-known app and is available on mobile and on desktop. Like Phone, Google Voice is also run by its eponymous creator. If you are intrigued, you can download it from the Google Play store and start to record cell phone calls. Here are the steps to record cell phone conversations when you’re using this app:

1. When you’re on a business call on the app, tap 4 to record. All people talking will be informed that recording is in progress.
2. When you are finished and no longer want to record your call, tap 4 again.

TapeACall

TapeACall separates itself from the previously mentioned apps by way of literally just having one singular purpose: recording. That’s it. No extra bells and whistles. You download the app (which is available on the Google Play store) and can start recording. Here’s how:

1. When you’re on a call, open the TapeACall app.
2. Hit the “Record” button. This combines your call with their servers, enabling them to record.
3. When your phone call is over, you can hit the “Share” button to share your recording with whomever (or to send it to yourself).

How to record a phone call on iPhone

Even though they’re all made by one company, iPhones are a huge market. Many people run their business through their iPhone, and they’re all wondering how to record a call on iPhone. Here are a few apps which can help with that:

MightyCall app

MightyCall’s mobile app allows you to listen to your records as well as send texts, make calls, review history and gives you access to other important features. MightyCall’s mobile iPhone app, downloadable on the Apple Store, has a user interface that makes it extremely easy to learn how to record a phone call on a cell phone.

1. Select your personal record settings on the MightyCall web panel.
2. After that’s done, all of your calls will automatically have a record made, accessible on the app.
3. On the app, you can listen to or download your records.

Google Voice

Google Voice for iPhone makes it simple to record, especially since this app is free to download from Apple’s App Store. A basic VoIP service, Voice for Business enables you to communicate with callers by making calls over the internet instead of via traditional/standard methods. It also of course allows you to record as well. Here’s how:

1. Open the app and make a phone call.
2. When you wish to start recording, tap 4. This will begin the record and will tell both participants of the call that they are being recorded (this will protect from legal uncertainty).
3. When you wish to finish, tap 4 again.

Voice Memos app

The Apple Voice Memos app comes free on most iPhones and iPads. However, if you do not have it (or deleted it previously), don’t worry: you can download it from the Apple App Store. You might be interested in doing so, since while it’s famous for recording external voice recordings, did you know that it can also be used to save voice calls too? Here is how you can use it to record a call on your iPhone:

1. During your call, switch to Speaker mode.
2. Open the Voice Memo app. Make sure the call is loud.
3. Hit record. It will “hear” the call and record telephone conversations.
4. When you’re done recording, simply hit the button to stop.

Rev app

Rev is another way to record a phone call. This app is unique because it also can automatically transcribe your recordings, not just create them. This is very useful if you are in a hurry, cannot wait to listen to a long or meandering message, or get calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize and don’t want to listen to. You can download it from the Apple App Store. Here’s how it works:

1. When you open the app, input your number.
2. Once your number is synced, tap the green starting button.
3. Input the number you wish to call, and then hit “Call” when the prompt comes up (you’re “calling” Rev’s servers and merging your calls together so that they can be recorded.
4. Hit “Merge Calls” once the main call begins.
5. When the call is over, you will automatically record a conversation on your cell phone.

When Can Recording Cell Phone Calls Be Useful?

When talking to a major client

There are times when you really do not want to miss a word–and whenever you are speaking to your biggest clients, it becomes one of those times. Don’t let a new employee or a busy brain jeopardize a large account. With special software and knowing how to record a phone call can be the difference between an angry big account and a happy big account.

When interviewing someone

Sometimes it can feel like you have interviewed a million people for a single job position. Many people will give similar answers, and it can be hard to remember details of conversations. This is a pity, as you want to give everyone a fair shake and you also don’t want to miss out on someone who may have been a great addition to your team. When you record phone calls, however, you can remember every single word without having to hope you took the right notes.

When helping employees to become better at their jobs

One of the most important aspects of being a manager of a business isn’t just being in charge: it’s helping your employees to become better at their jobs too. Now, you can’t be around them constantly, so you won’t hear every word they say to clients. But with automatic recordings, when you want to review their performance or help them to improve, you can simply go back with a few clicks (or taps) and listen to any call that they have made.

When you’re constantly on-the-go

Let’s say you have a mobile business. You just simply HAVE to know how to record a mobile phone call. You can’t always ensure that you’ll have a pen and paper and the ability to write when you’re talking–what if you’re driving when you get an important call? With recording software, you can ensure you never will forget a word of important calls (even if you do actually forget what was said).

You’re worried about lawsuits

Maybe someone has claimed in the past that you shorten them. Maybe you are just someone who wants to be careful. Either way, the ability to record keeps you safe from any frivolous lawsuits which may come from people who seek to do you financial harm. If they claim you said X but you have proof you said Y, you win.

What Businesses Can Mostly Benefit From Recorded Phone Calls?

Being able to record may be more useful for some than it is for others. Here are some businesses and business-people which could really take advantage:

Warehouses

This one may seem odd at first. You don’t exactly have customers calling in for orders, right? Well, no- you sorta do, but you have lots. You need to know where stuff is, when it’s coming in, who needs it, where it goes, when it goes, and how it goes. If you don’t always have that written down, things could really go haywire. When you record phone calls, you never need to worry. Just click (or tap) and listen to whatever was said.

Schools

Teachers have to deal with lots of unruly kids. But they also sometimes have to deal with unruly parents. There are plenty of parents who think their kid can do no wrong and will be very adamant about that, and will sometimes do or say anything to defend them- including accusing teachers of saying “You didn’t say X.” Prove them wrong with a recording.

Farms

Similar to warehouses, farms involve moving lots of products and ordering lots more. You need to know when feed is coming, and when something else is going out. Call recording apps help make it so that you never need to wonder again what that date was or who it was you talked to.

Authors

You just had a long talk with your editor about directions they wanted to take your piece or book. “Great, I’ll make the changes tomorrow.” But when you wake up, you’ve forgotten what was said! Don’t worry about making mistakes like that in the future by using recordings now.

Coffee shops

Someone just called in with a massively long order. Lots of coffees, and all of them with unique, personalized recipes. In your rush, you didn’t write it down. Oops! Calling back would be embarrassing- and possibly unprofessional. But with a recording, you can just go back and listen, with no worries about having to make yourself look foolish.

Best Practices When Recording Phone Calls

When you’re thinking about how to record an incoming call, here are some things you can do to make your future self happy. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Know who is on the call

By mentioning in your telephone conversation who is talking, you can greatly help make your future listening easier. Nothing is worse than having notes and not knowing what they’re for. And that can sort of abrogate the whole point of having a recording in the first place! By hearing on the audio who is who, you’ll make it easier on yourself.

Use a quality microphone

The best software in the world can’t help you if you make it poor quality. Scratchy or quiet sound is not only annoying to listen to, but it can simply make it impossible to make out the correct words! While some great microphones can be extremely expensive, other good ones are perfectly reasonable. And investing in a good mike now can make your life much easier later. This is even important to remember when recording cellular phone calls; there are better microphones than the one built into your device!

Tell people you’re recording

While many states require both or all parties to know they’re being recorded, some don’t. That doesn’t mean you should try to 007 them: no one likes a spy or being spied on. Even if you’re not being disingenuous or won’t use the record against them, people may still be less likely to talk to you in the future if you secretly recorded them. So don’t risk ire or reputational damage: let them know there’s a recording going on. Fortunately, MightyCall automatically tells everyone.

Organize clearly

MightyCall automatically organizes your calls for you so you can easily access recordings. But if you want it on your own computer, make sure to label and organize your data clearly- for your own sake. It’s frustrating to try to find a poorly labeled or saved file months later.

Record all calls

Do not just record the calls that people make to you. Record outgoing calls as well! You may think you’ll remember all of the stuff you say- but you probably won’t, and you’ll regret not having a good record later on.

Choose Your Best Way to Record Phone Calls

Recording incoming calls has become a key aspect of doing business for companies of all sizes, from entrepreneurs to call centers. And why not? The benefits are staggering: a safer financial future, being able to help your employees (and yourself) improve, no longer having to take notes, and lots more.

But running a business isn’t just about records. It’s also about organization, having peace of mind, security, and having the support staff available to you when you need it. That’s why MightyCall strives to check all of those boxes and ensure that, whether it’s high uptime, 24/7 staff support, or dozens of key features: MightyCall has your back.

The post How to Record a Phone Call or Conversation? first appeared on MightyCall.

In fact, 58% of people are willing to pay more for satisfactory customer service. That only shows how much customers prioritize good customer service.

The bulk of customer service work lies in attending to their inquiries and grievances. Several organizations employ stand-by customer service representatives, while others use customer engagement solutions.

But the option we’ll discuss here is canned responses.

What Are Canned Responses?

Canned responses are replies you pre-package for common customer queries. These pre-drafted answers can also help close customer support conversations faster.

For example, if your customers keep asking you “How to…” questions like “how to create an electronic signature in Word“, you can reply with a pre-written step-by-step guide.

That’ll then pretty much end the conversation. With this example, it’s easy to see how canned responses also help to improve your first response and customer complaint resolution time (CRT).

You can use customer service responses to address sales, marketing, and customer support queries. You can also automate replies, so customers with specific inquiries will automatically get the appropriate answers when they drop the question.

How Canned Responses Improve Customer Support

People use canned responses primarily to ensure customers get satisfactory replies to their queries quickly.

Nowadays, many customers don’t want to wait for hours or days before getting a response when they reach out to you. In fact, 33% of customers hate waiting on hold during a call.

They want you to get back to them immediately if possible. And if you don’t, they may create negative opinions of your brand, which is bad for business. Canned responses help you avoid this situation.

Let’s explore some of the other benefits below.

Improve Your Customer Satisfaction Score

There are three fundamental things you must do to keep your customers satisfied.

• Provide excellent value for money;
• Be 100% honest and transparent with them at all times;
• And lastly, always be one call, email, or tweet away from them.

These three factors show customers that you care about them and not just your profit. However, the first two are relatively easier to achieve than the third. That’s because, as a rule of thumb in business, you must always provide equal value for money and be honest with customers.

On the other hand, prompt response to customer queries is down to your personal preference. You can decide that you don’t want to do it, and there’ll be no direct penalty for you.

Then again, you don’t have to sacrifice time and resources to be honest, or provide excellent value for money. In contrast, responding to customer complaints takes time you would like to spend on other things.

Thankfully, customer service responses help you keep up with and respond to customer queries in real time. It speeds up the conversation, enables you to resolve grievances quickly, and that, in turn, improves their overall satisfaction with your service.

Helps You Keep Up With Overwhelming Customer Interaction

Depending on your business’s growth level, you probably have thousands of customers. That means you’re likely to have simultaneous customer calls and other correspondences happening at any one time.

It can quickly get overwhelming when you consider combining that with other aspects of your business.

Fortunately, you can use canned responses to take care of most customer interactions while focusing on other essential things. That way, you get to attend to multiple pressing matters in your business at once, without letting them overwhelm you. Plus, you won’t leave customers waiting long for replies.

An excellent example of how this works is when you pre-set responses to greetings. So, when a customer messages you “Hi,” you can send them a pre-set message reading, “Hello (ABC), how are you doing, and how may I help you today?

But of course, there’ll be some queries you won’t have pre-set responses for. Always take out the time to carefully respond to them. Then, you should refine and condense your reply to such new queries into canned responses for future use.

That way, you can use canned responses to handle most of the repetitive customer interactions.

Increase Customer Engagement

Interactive canned messages can help foster healthy engagement with customers. Note that canned responses don’t only work for private messages or one-on-one interactions. You can also use them to reply to comments, reviews, etc. In such cases, a well-designed message will encourage the customer to respond and keep the conversation going.

Tips for Creating Effective Canned Messages

Below are some best practices to maximize canned messages for improved customer support experiences:

Identify and Categorize the Frequently Asked Questions

Canned responses are only effective when they fit the queries. It won’t make sense if a customer asks you about a consulting proposal template doc and you only reply with, “Hi, we’re glad to have you around today!”

That reply is excellent in setting the tone, but you must follow it up immediately with something that addresses the reason for the customer’s message.

Review and Make Your Replies Accurate

You’ll appear unprofessional when you give wrong answers to customer inquiries. However, it’s still reasonable to make such mistakes when replying to unexpected questions.

What would be ridiculous is you knowing the question and preparing a wrong default answer beforehand. You have no excuses for such mistakes.

Hence, you must ensure your pre-drafted replies convey accurate information to the customers. It improves your customer support experience as well as your credibility.

Keep the Responses Concise and Helpful

As much as you want to be detailed in addressing customer complaints, it’s better to stick with a helpful summary. Ensure to keep your pre-drafts precise and meaningful. Prioritize effective communication over unnecessary details.

Maintain a Consistent Tone

Your clients are undoubtedly looking for solutions to certain problems. Don’t confuse them any further by making it sound like they’re interacting with several people at a time.

Be Polite

Politeness is an important customer service tip. Don’t mistake curtness for brevity. Keep your replies concise but respectful, regardless of the customer’s conduct.

Canned Responses Examples

Canned responses are primarily for answering common questions. However, you shouldn’t make the mistake of trying to create a one-size-fits-all answer to all questions that come your way. Instead, you should tailor as many answers as possible for each inquiry. Below are some practical examples of that.

Handling Complaints

Handling complaints requires diplomacy and tact, as you want to avoid aggravating the situation further. Hence, you can take a subtle approach like this:

Need More Details

Oftentimes, customers may make a request without providing sufficient information. In such a situation, you must clearly describe what you need from the customer. For example, this:

Confused Customers

Sometimes, customers ask the wrong people the right questions. If you find yourself having to reply to a query that has nothing to do with you, you can use the idea below.

Confirming Issue Resolution

This type of canned response will work whether you’re communicating with customers via live chat or email.

It’s important to let your customer know you’ve received their recent messages and are resolving the issue. This response gives the customer peace of mind and adds to their experience.

You can always group similar issues and write customizable canned responses for them. Here’s what we mean:

Or you can customize your canned message to indicate when the customer can expect feedback on their query. For instance:

Transferring Customers to Another Agent

There are many reasons a customer service agent may want to transfer queries to another agent. Perhaps, they have limited information about the customer’s query or do not have the authority to make required decisions.

These situations typically mean the customer will wait longer for effective solutions. It’s not an ideal situation for positive customer experience. But you can ease their wait by using canned messages to explain the situation.

You’ll have a suitable answer even before the customer requests an update. And they’ll love you for it.

Here’s a simple canned message template that can do the job:

Putting the Customer on Hold

It’s unlikely that your customer support team will resolve customer queries in two minutes. Even during live chats, there may be a need to put the customer on hold. Perhaps, the customer service agent has to do some digging to find solutions for the customer.

Canned messages for live chat can let the customer know they’re on hold. Here’s a simple template that works:

And if the hold will take longer than usual, you can also use canned messages to let the customer know. You can also use it to request their preferred contact details.

This way, you can contact the customer when you have all the necessary information and are ready to present them with solutions.

Here’s what we mean:

Do Less Talking With Canned Responses

Promptly responding to customers is vital to your business. However, it shouldn’t distract you from taking care of the other necessities of the venture. Canned messages let you spend less time talking with customers while maintaining the same results.

Apply the tips discussed above to improve your customer support experience via canned responses. Your customers and bottom line will thank you for it.

The post How Canned Responses Improve Customer Support (With Examples) first appeared on MightyCall.

Below, we’ll explore what kinds of companies will benefit from an American toll-free number, point out the privileges it entails, and help you choose the best service provider for your needs.

Navigate:

• What Is a US Toll-Free Number?
• What Area Codes Are Available for Toll-Free Numbers in the USA?
• When Do You Need a USA 800 Number for Business?
• How Do You Get a Toll-free Number in the USA?
• Why Buy a USA Toll-free Number From MightyCall?
• Do I Need to Provide Special Documentation to Get an American Toll-Free Number?
• How Do You Transfer Your Existing Phone Number to MightyCall?
• How Do American Toll-Free Numbers Work?
• US Toll-Free Number Format
• Who Pays for a Call to a USA Toll-Free Phone Number?
• What’s the Difference Between Toll-free, Local, and Vanity Numbers?
• Benefits of Getting a 1-800 Number in the United States
• Key Features of US Toll-Free Service
• What Is Required for the Implementation of US Toll-Free Service, Including Equipment?
• Types of Toll-Free Numbers in America
• Important Points About 800 Numbers in USA
• How to Choose Between USA Toll-Free Number Providers?
• Make the Most Out of Your US Toll-Free Number

What Is a US Toll-Free Number?

Toll-free numbers are phone numbers that are free of charge for the caller. The party that receives the call handles the expenses. The US toll-free number list includes “classic” area code 800 as well as 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, and 833. The service is applicable for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) countries: the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.

What Area Codes Are Available for Toll-Free Numbers in the USA?

As the oldest, the 1-800 number is kind of the “Adam and Eve” of toll-free codes. However, as a business owner, there’s no need to think of “800” as a more reliable area code and hunt after it. All of the prefixes mentioned below are perfectly safe, reliable, and free for people making the call.

Here’s a list of nationally free-to-dial area codes:

• 800
• 833
• 844
• 855
• 866
• 877
• 888

Why are there so many toll-free prefixes? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the governing and regulatory authority for US toll-free numbers. When the 800 code, in use since the 1960s, became nearly used up, the FCC created two new options in the 90s: 888 and 877. As their popularity grew, new codes 866,855,844, and 833 were added in the years 2000-2017. These codes are the most widely- available 800 numbers today. New codes 822, 880-887, and 889 are supposedly next in line.

When Do You Need a USA 800 Number for Business?

Secure your professional identity – For decades, these “fancy” telephone numbers were monopolized by large businesses. Today, they are widely available, but customers’ mentality is still the same old – we instantly associate toll-free calls with reputable, professional companies.

Beat the competition – Anyone here doesn’t like free goods? The perk of 800 and other similar phone numbers is that they’re free on the callers’ end. This makes customers twice as likely to dial your number than that of a competitor.

Create a customer base in the USA – Let’s say you’re an overseas online store and need a virtual presence in America. These numbers will make it simple for your customers to contact customer support or other departments just like they would for a business in their own area.

Increase customer experience – Customers love to pay less and get more. That’s exactly what you offer them with this free option. Not only does this help with attracting new clients, but it also retains existing ones who are more likely to contact you again for free.

Keep personal and business numbers separate – With a national phone number, you can route calls to any device. At the same time, you’ll instantly see when someone’s calling your business line.

Get other professional phone features – As part of a business phone system, national free-to-dial numbers come with dozens of team and customer-oriented features that make them an incredible deal for growing a business.

How Do You Get a Toll-free Number in the USA?

How to buy a toll-free number in the USA? It just takes a few steps:

1. Examine the need in your industry/niche – Is your business national or has plans to go national? Are you in e-commerce? Are you a professional practice/firm with a local presence that wants to reach out to clients in neighboring states? All of these are notable reasons to get a toll-free number in the USA.
2. Choose a country – North American Number Plans work with phone numbers with toll-free codes in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. If you need a number for another country, look into international numbers.
3. Register the number – Compare VoIP providers and sign up with the service and subscription plan that best fit your needs. You can also go for a free trial to get a hang of all the features that come with your number.
4. Set up your users and extensions – When you’ve picked a number, don’t forget to add users to your account. These people have access to your company number, and dedicated roles (like user or admin), and are assigned extensions.
5. Share the number with your clients – Now that your professional presence is ensured, it’s time to put it up on those billboards! Don’t forget to make the number visible across all your customer communication channels.

Why Buy a USA Toll-free Number From MightyCall?

1. All-virtual – have your number up and running in minutes, and connect your whole team to the platform, wherever they are located
2. World-class security & reliability: your conversation quality will stand the test of time thanks to our 99.99% uptime, 24/7 network security, data encryption, and protection from robocallers.
3. Other numbers in addition to your 800 number – Competitors often charge extra for adding local phone numbers or vanity numbers, but we know customers need variety and all the tools they can use, so we don’t. You can get these different options with your plan.
4. Great features – get access to dozens of features, none of which are per-month extras. From team-oriented features like call transfer, and conference calls to call recording and voice-to-text, every aspect of the customer communication cycle is covered to help you convert calls to sales.
5. Competitive price – with some of the lowest per-user prices without a drop in call quality or feature set, our packages offer some of the best value on the market.
6. Live Customer support – our customer support consistently gets top reviews because it consists of real people with years of experience. We have numerous ways for customers to reach out if they need help.

Do I Need to Provide Special Documentation to Get an American Toll-Free Number?

National regulations backed by the FCC require all USA toll-free numbers for business to undergo verification to be able to send SMS. This is a recent measure taken to protect users against phone scams. Your provider will instruct you on how to fill out the verification form when you get a new phone number.

How Do You Transfer Your Existing Phone Number to MightyCall?

Some business owners already have an American toll-free number but would like to switch to another provider without losing their company identity – that is, the number already associated with their company and familiar to customers. The reasons for this range from a more cost-effective option to a provider that’s more scalable, team-oriented, or offers more built-in integrations.

Whatever your reasons for switching providers, you can port your number easily. At MightyCall, number porting is completely free and consists of just a few steps, most of which are on us:

1. Collect the information from your current provider – This includes the account owner’s full name, the service address, and the PIN. If you don’t know the PIN, contact your provider.
2. Send the porting request to MightyCall – In addition to the above, we’ll need your email under the MightyCall account, and the LOA – Letter of Authorization.
3. Wait 7-14 days – Most porting requests are completed in around a week but may take longer depending on your current provider.

That’s it! You’re then free to enjoy your old number with a bunch of new benefits!

How Do American Toll-Free Numbers Work?

The post Toll-Free Number in the USA: How to Get One for Your Business first appeared on MightyCall.

• What is a Canadian Toll-Free Number?
• What Toll-free Area Codes are Available in Canada?
• When Do You Need a 1-800 Number in Canada?
• How to Get a 1-800 Number in Canada?
• Why Buy 800 Numbers From MightyCall?
• Do You Need to Provide Any Documents to Get a Toll-free Service in Canada?
• How to Transfer Your Number to MightyCall?
• How Do Such Numbers Work?
• Toll-Free Number Format
• Who pays for a call to a Toll-Free phone number?
• What’s the Difference Between Toll-free and Local Numbers?
• Benefits of Getting Canadian Toll-Free Numbers for Business
• Key Features of Canada’s Toll-free Service
• What Is Required for the Implementation of Toll-free Service, Including Equipment?
• Types of Toll-Free Numbers in Canada
• Important Points About Free Calling Numbers
• How to Pick the Right Provider for Your Company?
• Expand Your Reach With Toll-Free Numbers in Canada

What is a Canadian Toll-Free Number?

Toll-free numbers allow callers in Canada, United States, and the Caribbean to contact your company without incurring any charges. These numbers can have codes such as 800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888, 310, and are accessible in all 20 countries in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP). This service is highly sought after by customers as they do not have to pay to speak with a business, especially if they have already purchased a product and need to resolve any issues with customer support.

This service is not limited to a specific geographic area or time zone, making it highly convenient for customers. This level of accessibility is important for customer satisfaction, as receiving a large mobile bill after addressing an issue with a fridge that suddenly stopped working, for example, can add frustration and may drive them to seek out a competitor.

What Toll-free Area Codes are Available in Canada?

The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a system used to manage the allocation of phone numbers and area codes across the United States, Canada, and other countries in North America. This is because Canada’s phone number list is almost the same as the US’s.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for overseeing this system in the United States. The first three digits of a phone number, also known as the “area code,” indicate the geographical region of the phone number, while the next three digits, known as the “exchange code,” indicate the specific phone exchange. The final four digits of the phone number are known as the “line number.”

Area codes were first introduced in 1947, when the NANP was established. The list of toll-free prefix numbers is constantly growing and expanding to meet the demand.

Some providers allow for 800 numbers in Canada and 310-numbers to be used in a “shared-cost service,” where the call is free for people dialing from landlines but sometimes not free from cell phones.

When Do You Need a 1-800 Number in Canada?

Here are the 5 indications that your company is in need of an 800 number in Canada:

• Increased Call Volume. Your daily call volume has increased and your customers are having issues reaching you. Having this number will help to improve your sales by making it easier for the customers to reach you, since multiple people can take the calls on your end;
• International Market Expansion. You are planning to expand to the international market and want to do so without unnecessary expenses. It will be easier to avoid extra fees with a toll-free service;
• Building Credibility and Professionalism. You want to build credibility and make a professional impression on your customers with a clean-looking business phone number. These numbers are adjustable and can be set to communicate the brand image;
• Call Statistics. You would like to have call statistics by telephone number. Since such numbers are virtual, you will have an easier time organizing your information in a cloud space along with benefitting from other useful advantages VoIP numbers have if you get a toll free number in Canada;
• Multitude of Features. You want to have a multitude of features included with your number: an auto-attendant, communication history, various integrations, custom greeting, call transcripts, business hours, etc. You can obtain a cheap toll-free number in Canada, which will include all of the above at a cheaper price than most regular phone service plans.

How to Get a 1-800 Number in Canada?

Follow the easy step-by-step guide to get a 1-800 number in Canada:

1. Select your country (Canada). Then you can select the city or state relevant to your company.
2. Select the desired option and move on to the next step.
3. Be creative and set up your virtual phone number to make it the most relevant to your company.
4. Decide how many users will be answering the phone on your end.
5. Share this number with your clients and enjoy business calls on a whole new level!

Why Buy 800 Numbers From MightyCall??

• Tool set. Check out the multitude of features included in all plans without any extra fees. Call forwarding, transfer, conferences, recording and voice-to-text are all on your fingertips. Every aspect of the customer-communication cycle is covered to help you convert calls to sales.
• Privacy, security & reliability. Get flawless call quality with the 99.99% uptime and rest assured that your sensitive information will stay with you. MightyCall offers 24/7 network security, data encryption and protection against robocallers.
• Competitive prices. Take advantage of some of the lowest per user prices on the market while enjoying the wide feature set and high quality. With MightyCall, you can buy a 1800 number in Canada in an affordable package that suits your company and enjoy the professional tools.
• User experience. Transition to VoIP service with ease. MightyCall offers one of simplest UI’s on the market, all while making sure any and all your questions are answered by an experienced live customer support team.

Do you need to provide any documents to get a toll-free service in Canada?

Elaborating on how to get a 1-800 number in Canada, you will typically need to provide proof of business ownership or authorization to use the service on behalf of a business. This may include documentation such as a business registration certificate, articles of incorporation, or a letter of authorization from the business owner. 

With MightyCall, however, you will only need to provide contact information and billing details.

How to Transfer Your Number to MightyCall?

Quick and easy. Here are the 5 easy steps you will need to follow:

1. Gather the info: your number, a signed letter of authorization, your contact and payment info;
2. Notify your current provider;
3. Submit a porting request to MightyCall:
4. Wait for up to 15 days (you will still be able to use your number with your past provider in the meantime);
5. Start enjoying your experience with MightyCall.

How Such Numbers Work?

Generally, a 1-800 Number in Canada is connected to a specific phone number, be it personal or corporate. When such a number is dialed, the person dialing is redirected – again, free of charge – to the number it has been programmed to.

Sometimes a business phone system – like MightyCall – offers a vanity number. This is a feature that allows you to customize your number. You’ve definitely seen vanity numbers before: numbers like 1-888-345-CATS or 1-888-22-PIZZA.

Here’s a reminder on how it works:

• For caller: If you’re the person dialing, you’d just dial the number as usual to call the company you want to reach and you won’t be charged for the call.

• For business owners: If you’re a company owner, you’d typically pay for a Canadian 1-800 number from a provider (usually it’s a monthly fee).

Previously these numbers were used only to receive calls from customers, but modern providers allow you to use features such as forwarding, recording, etc.

It is recommended to use a VoIP system that will also give you access to advanced features like cloud space, multiple team members answering the calls, transcription, and more, which gives additional flexibility to your business communication process.

Canada’s Toll-Free Number Format

“Is 1800 toll-free in Canada?” Yes, it even has the same format as the US number. It is a construction of elements that serve as a code that wirelessly connects people. Here are the main components:

• + sign,

• international country code (1),

• toll-free code (800),

• 7 digits local number

For example, here is a break-down of the number the RBC uses:

• +

• 1

• 800

• 769-2511

Who pays for a call to a Toll-Free Phone Number?

The person calling a toll-free phone number does not pay for the call. Instead, the cost of the call is borne by the owner or subscriber of the number, also known as the “Responsible Organization” (Resp Org). This is because these numbers are routed through a special system that allows the calls to be made without the caller incurring any charges. The charges incurred by the responsible organization, which can be the business or individual that owns the number, are usually based on the duration and volume of calls received.

What’s the Difference Between Toll-free and Local Numbers?

Toll-free numbers are phone numbers that start with specific codes (800, 888, etc.) and are free for the caller to dial. The cost is borne by the owner/subscriber of the number. Local numbers, on the other hand, are assigned to a specific geographic area and calls to them are charged to the caller. The main difference is who pays for the call.

Benefits of Getting Toll-Free Numbers in Canada for Your Business

If you are wondering how to get a toll-free number in Canada, you are probably looking at what it can do for your business. These numbers are capable of providing a significant amount of benefits for any company. 

You will:

• Project a strong brand image. These numbers are easy to recognize and remember, they appear more professional and they look great on ads;

• Improve customer experience. Your clients will love to hear a polite custom greeting and to be redirected straight to the person who will be able to assist them;

• Set up and scale your company at ease. Being local is nice, but sometimes expanding the company beyond the starting location is the smart move, so having a universal telephone number for all locations can come in very handy;

• Save on telephony and additional features. With MightyCall they come at an affordable set price that will provide you with all the instruments you may need.

Key Features of Canada’s Toll-free Service

A custom phone number service offers a suite of powerful features that will help you impress and retain customers. With toll-free services in Canada, you can:

• Сustom phone number. With this feature, you can create a memorable and easy-to-remember number that customers can associate with your business. This helps to create a strong brand identity and makes it easier for customers to contact you.
• Call redirecting feature. This feature ensures that all calls to your business are redirected to the appropriate department, so you never miss a call from a customer. Whether it’s during business hours or after hours, all calls will be answered promptly and professionally.
• Working hours feature. With this feature, you can set your business hours, and calls will only be redirected to your operators during these hours. This helps customers to know when they can contact you and lets them know that you’re available to help.
• Custom greeting feature. You can create a custom greeting that welcomes customers to your business, introduces your operators, and provides important information. This helps to create a warm and welcoming environment and makes customers feel valued.

Music on hold feature. With this feature, customers can enjoy a selection of music or messages while they wait for an operator to become available. This helps to reduce the frustration of waiting on hold and keeps customers engaged with your business.

These are just a few available features, MightyCall offers an impressive variety of extras included in all plan packages.

What Is Required for the Implementation of Toll-free Service, Including Equipment?

To implement such a service, you will need to get a toll-free number and the following equipment and services:

• A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system or a cloud-based phone system to handle the routing and management of the calls.
• An Automatic Number Identification (ANI) service to identify the caller’s phone number and bill the Responsible Organization (Resp Org) for the call.
• A Service Management System (SMS) to manage the routing of toll-free calls and provide detailed usage reports.
• A Provider to provision the number and handle the routing of calls to your phone system.

It is recommended to contact the provider for more details on the specific equipment and services required.

Types of Toll-Free Phone Numbers in Canada

There are 3 main types of telephone numbers to look at if you want to get a toll-free number in Canada:

Domestic toll-free numbers

These numbers will allow your domestic customers to reach you without them having to pay for it. A great marketing tool that will make your clients feel more welcome to give you a call by making it free for them. These numbers do not have a city or state indicator on them, clearing your number from any potential prejudices.

Vanity toll-free numbers

Customizable and on brand. These phone numbers are ideal for companies that want to stand out and focus on the brand image. You can use words to create memorable numbers that will look equally pretty on your website, ads, and your client’s dial pad.

International toll-free numbers

International telephony fees can be pretty high, making your customers question whether giving you a ring is worth the phone service bill they will get at the end of the month. This is why it is important to consider getting an international number prior to expanding your company to overseas customers. That way you will pay a fixed price that will narrow down the customers’ concerns to questions relating to your product rather than their phone bills.

Important Points About 1-800 Numbers in Canada

How much does a toll-free number in Canada cost?

The cost of a toll-free number in Canada varies by service provider and plan. Generally, there is a one-time setup fee and a monthly or annual fee. Additional charges may apply for features like voicemail and call forwarding. The cost of the call is borne by the owner/subscriber of the number. You can be looking at anything from $5 USD to $500 depending on the provider. MightyCall plans start at just $15 per user.

Who owns a phone number after purchasing?

When you purchase a phone number, you are renting it from the service provider that controls the number. They retain ownership and can reassign it. As a customer, you have the right to use the number for the duration of your contract and can transfer it to another service provider. Phone number allocation and management is regulated by regulatory bodies like the FCC.

Can the US dial Canada’s 800 numbers?

Absolutely! US and Canada operate within the North American Numbering Plan, meaning that they often share the number dialing codes. People in the USA will be able to dial numbers from Canada, and vice versa.

How to Pick the Right Provider for Your Company?

There are millions of Canadian toll-free numbers for business and, because of the nature of the NANP, there are tons of providers located all over. Below are a couple things you might want to keep in mind when choosing a Canadian toll-free number provider:

• If you have a small company you may want to look into a VoIP provider. They often have extra tools and open pathways to other possibilities that other kinds of providers do not.
• Look for toll-free service providers that allow simultaneous conversations to be going on at the same time. This will reduce client wait times, which means it’ll be less likely that they’ll end up hanging up on you.
• Having a vanity number option is always a great idea. It will help your number stand out beyond the mass of “800-1234” numbers.
• Make sure that your provider has portability for these numbers. If down the road you decide to move to a different provider, you don’t want to lose your phone number. Having portability as an option means you can take your virtual number with you.
• Prices are tricky. Too high and you’re probably getting ripped off, as the multitude of providers should mean you get a good rate. Too low and you’ll probably get poor service (which means your clients will get poor service too!).

Expand Your Reach With Toll-Free Numbers in Canada

Canadian toll-free numbers are an invaluable instrument when it comes to giving your company a professional look. They project a strong brand image, improve customer experience, aid with scaling up and help you save your funds with a multitude of additional features. It is the logical step in the direction of leveling your company up.
With MightyCall as your provider, you will be able to get your hands on all the above features and more. It has been around for over 10 years, so if anyone knows what virtual telephony is and what small and medium sized businesses are looking for when it comes to telephony, it’s MightyCall. It has one of the best price-value relationships on the market, along with a clean design, excellent flexibility, 7 days customer support and all necessary features on your fingertips even with the cheapest plan available.

The post Toll-free Numbers in Canada: How to Get One for Your Business first appeared on MightyCall.

Here we will talk in detail about these particular digits, including what they look like, how they work, their advantages and their disadvantages. We’ll also be addressing how to understand whether your company needs one and, if it does, how to get a 1-800 number.

In this article we cover:

• What is a Toll-Free (1-800) Number?
• When Do You Need Toll-Free Numbers?
• How to Get a 1-800 Number for Your Business
• Why Buy a Toll-free Number from MightyCall?
• How Does a Toll-Free Number Work?
• Benefits of Getting a Toll-Free Number for Your Business
• Useful Tips for Getting an 800 Number for Business
• Important Points about Getting Toll-free Numbers for Business
• 1-800 Number Providers Overview
• Best Ways to Get Toll-free Numbers for Your Business
• Getting a Toll-free Number is a Step Toward Growth

What is a Toll-Free (1-800) Number?

These numbers, also known as freephone numbers, are used for calls where the caller does not have to pay; instead, the owner pays. This is great for interested clients, as they let them contact a company or individual from afar without paying long distance fees. In addition to 800 codes, these also begin with: 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833.

Company owners typically use these digits for customer service, for increasing sales, and for providing additional information about the company. All three uses benefit greatly from the fact that these digits cost nothing to connect with.

When Do You Need Toll-Free Numbers?

There are many reasons why businesses decide to get a 1-800 number. Here are some following indications that it may be time for you to follow suit:

• It’s difficult for customers to contact you – perhaps you live far away and they don’t want to pay the cost of connecting with you.
• Personal phone calls getting mixed up with business calls – if you have one number for personal and business calls, it can be difficult to handle all incoming messages. But getting one specifically for your work enables you to keep things clearer.
• Your company is rapidly scaling up and you need to reach new audiences – You’ve expanded lately and you’re ready to get more customers. How can you do it? One solid way is with a 800 number.
• Your company operates in a few areas of the country – congratulations! Your company is spread out and booming. But now you can’t stick with the local number you started out with; after all, why would someone in Pennsylvania want to pick up the phone for someone they don’t recognize, calling from California? But when you get an 800 number, you instantly go national- and everyone recognizes those opening digits.

How to Get a 1-800 Number for Your Business

Choose a toll-free number service provider and analyze the offered features

There are a lot of VoIP phone systems out there. Each provider offers their own combination of features, customer service, and of course, digits available for purchase. Analyze each carefully, as each is oftentimes built for a particular type of customer.

Choose your toll-free number prefix

Firstly, you have to pick the first three digits. Oftentimes known as the “area code”, the prefix for a toll-free number for business is something like we previously discussed, starting with something like 888.

Set up the Account

Next, set up your account. Depending on who you went with you may have to do things like input your call forwarding and your caller ID settings.

Set up a 1-800 number

Setting up these sorts of digits doesn’t require anything particularly different from ordinary ones, at least on your end. If your chosen VoIP company allows for extensions, however, you might want to get those situated.

Start using your toll-free business number

Use your newfound national reach to get into contact with folks from sea to shining sea.

Why Buy a Toll-free Number from MightyCall?

1. Unlike bigger name telecom companies that rent out their physical phones, MightyCall is all virtual and can be up and running in minutes.
2. World class security & reliability: your conversation quality will stand the test of time thanks to our 99.99% uptime, 24/7 network security,  data encryption, and protection from robocallers.
3. MightyCall has any number type an entrepreneur could possibly need: toll-free virtual numbers, local, vanity numbers, and international. Competitors often charge extra for these numbers, but we know customers need variety and all the tools they can use, so we don’t. You can get these different numbers with your plan.
4. Great features: get access to dozens of features, none of which are per month extras. From team-oriented features like call forwarding, call transfer, and conference calls to call recording and voice-to-text, every aspect of the customer-communication cycle is covered to help you convert calls to sales.
5. Competitive price: with some of the lowest per user prices without a drop in call quality or feature set, our packages offer some of the best value on the market.
6. Live Customer support: our customer support consists of real people with years of experience. Our chatbot isn’t there for show and we have numerous ways for customers to reach out if they need help.

How Does a Toll-Free Number Work?

If you’re the caller, it’s simple: just punch the digits into your phone and wait for someone to answer. You won’t pay a dime.

If you’re a business owner, you’ll most likely be buying from a business communications or VoIP company. The fee is oftentimes monthly.

Previously, toll-free business lines were used only to receive calls from customers, and of course the owner paid. But now, modern providers allow you to use new and advanced VoIP features along with the standard functionality.

Benefits of Getting a Toll-Free Number for Your Business

• People Are More Likely to Call When It’s Free to Do So: It costs you nothing to call toll-free – that’s why it’s in the name! And everyone knows it. If you have one of these numbers, folks are way more likely to give you a ring.
• Simple Prefixes: Toll-free 800 numbers have simple prefixes. They’re very, very easy to remember, as pretty much everyone has grown up surrounded by ads with them in them. 
• Professionalism: “Serious” companies have these numbers – at least, that’s what people think. If you have one, you’ll be seen as more established and “real,” even if you’re a very small business.
• Be Accessible Across the Country: These numbers are available from Chicago to LA and back to New York. They massively expand your potential for new clients.
• Make it Easier for Employees to Work Remote: With VoIP, your employees can log on and make calls from wherever they are – including, of course, their home or other remote location.
• Divide Your Personal Life from Your Work Life: Using one strand of digits for all aspects of your life can be frustrating. When you buy one of these, however, a barrier can be erected between your work life and your personal life.
• Keep Yourself in People’s Thoughts: By having a number with a prefix people are already aware of, it becomes much easier for people to remember you, instead of thinking of you as a totally random strand of digits.

Useful Tips for Getting an 800 Number for Business

When getting these types of numbers it can at first seem daunting, especially if you’ve never done so before. But don’t worry – if you follow the helpful tips below, you’ll get through the process just fine:

• Start with why you’re buying a new number – why have you decided to go with a new number? You are moving in the right direction if you’re opening up a new hustle (especially online or e-commerce shop), going national with your existing company, or have a national customer base regardless of region.
• Consider a vanity 800 number – these are a great way to get attention and keep your company in your customers’ thoughts, especially if you’re not a local business that they’re used to seeing.
• Use digits which are easy to remember – think about repeating digits, like 5555, or alternating ones, like 1212.
• Be open to prefixes other than the standard 800 – you can use other prefixes, like 888. These still have a national presence but will change it up from the standard.
• Research which companies offer which toll-free phone numbers – some companies don’t offer these, so you want to make sure ahead of time that they do before signing on.
• Don’t wed yourself to a particular combination of digits – sometimes your preference may not be available. When selecting digits, think of a few possibilities ahead of time.

Important Points about Getting Toll-free Numbers for Business

Toll-free prefixes

When people think about these numbers, they more often than not think of the classic 1-800 prefix. But here’s the thing about that: a standard number has 7 digits. If it starts with 800, there could be around 7 million different combinations in total. That may seem like a lot, until you realize the United States has over 330 million adults. This necessitated more prefixes to be created. Therefore, they can begin with the following codes:

• 800
• 888
• 877
• 866
• 855
• 844
• 833

All of these function the same, but they all start differently. 1-800-555-5555 will go to a different person than will 1-888-555-5555.

What countries support 1-800 numbers?

The 1-800 digits we’ve been talking about operate only in North America. If you make calls outside this area with them, you’ll still end up paying fees (ditto if you call them from outside the US). Other countries do also have these sorts of numbers, but they’ll differ because each country has a “country code” beforehand (America’s is +1, for example, and Australia’s is +61).

Who owns toll-free numbers after purchase?

As soon as you obtain a toll-free number, you become its owner. These are portable; this means that they are your property and that no operator can refuse to port it to another operator. But keep in mind- if you are going to port your to another operator, do not cancel service with your current operator until the porting is complete.

1-800 Number Providers Overview

There are a lot of different business phone number companies. Here’s a handy table to give you a broad overview of the major competitors:

*All prices valid at time of publication.
**Prices dependent upon number of users.

Best Ways to Get Toll-free Numbers for Your Business

There are lots of ways to get a toll-free number. And there are a lot of companies which offer them. Some offer for free, while others are more pricey but come with more features when you get a toll-free business number. Following is a comprehensive look at various business phone services and what makes each of them unique.

MightyCall

MightyCall is a business phone system industry leader and is a great pick for companies of all different sizes. With a focus on strong customer service, powerful security, and the ability to get a toll-free number, more and more callers are increasingly finding that MightyCall is their business VoIP solution. Along with their features, they also offer the ability to get an international toll-free number and the possibility of vanity numbers. For example, a local burger joint looking to open up a second restaurant would be a perfect fit, as would a widespread IT-help company.

Pros:

• Free 7-day trial for all plans
• Full of pertinent features
• Reactive customer service team
• Easy to create a 1-800 number

Cons:

• Only 1000 minutes in the lowest-tiered plan

Price* per month:

• Business: $15 per user
• Enterprise: $150 (unlimited users)

Best for: Mid-sized and small businesses

RingCentral

RingCentral is a cloud-based business phone system for callers with a particular interest in video conferencing. These sort of calls are growing greatly in popularity. As such they would be a great pair with companies helping other companies arrange travel tours.

Pros:

• Video calling accessible
• Texting available in all tiers
• 20 users available for lowest tier

Cons:

• Customers have reported dropped calls
• Voicemail reported as not always operational

Price* (all per user/per month):

• Essentials: $19.99
• Standard: $27.99
• Premium: $34.99
• Ultimate: $49.99

Best for: Home and team-based work

Dialpad

Dialpad is notable because it links seamlessly with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, making work across those platforms very easy. Like RingCentral, they too offer video communication and calling features. They’re very useful for companies who may be spread out across a large geographic area but want to keep a close relationship to their clients, like accountants.

Pros:

• Lowest tier includes unlimited SMS
• Call- and voicemail-transcriptions

Cons:

• Dial-by-extension only available on highest tier
• Global SMS not available on lowest tier

Price* (all per user/per month):

• Standard: $15
• Pro: $25
• Enterprise: Contact Them for More

Best for: Companies with a wide net of customers

Ooma

Unique among many business number companies, Ooma sells itself as both an office and residential-type company for callers. Ooma offers their customers the ability to get hard phones along with their plans. If you do a lot of your work from home and don’t particularly mind mixing personal and work, Ooma might be a choice for you.

Pros:

• A lot of different work configurations
• They also act as an internet provider

Cons:

• Complicated pricing structure
• Lots built around hard phones, which can mean less flexibility

Price* (All Ooma Office and month/per user):

• Ooma Office Essentials: $19.95
• Ooma Office Pro: $24.95
• Ooma Office Pro Plus: $29.95

Best for: Home-based work

Nextiva

As an app-based solution, Nextiva is useful for those entrepreneurs who are frequently on-the-go, as their systems can be accessed on phones or computers. Someone who works in

Pros:

• Strong customer support
• High number of features

Cons:

• Lowest tier does not offer text messaging
• Price for all tiers changes depending on number of users

Price* (all per month, 20-99 users):

• Essential: $18.95
• Professional: $22.95
• Enterprise: $32.95
• Ultimate: $57.95

Best for: Marketing professionals

*All prices valid at time of publication.

Getting a Toll-free Number is a Step Toward Growth

When you get an 800 number for your business, you purchase an effective marketing tool that provides clients and callers with a quick and memorable way to contact your company via toll-free calling. Many VoIP phone systems offer getting an 800 toll-free number as a feature of their services. However, there are situations where the fact that you can get an 800 number for small business may not be a slam dunk for you. If you do most of your operations in one region, you may not need to serve subscribers all over the country, so a local number or a vanity phone number, if you want to grab attention, would be better.

With that in mind, MightyCall might be what you’re looking for in a VoIP phone system. While they offer the potential for you to unlock toll-free service, some people need more than just toll-free calling. Features like call recording, visual voicemail, auto attendant, business hours, and more all come with MightyCall’s respected support staff.

The post How to Get Toll-Free Numbers for Your Business first appeared on MightyCall.

This National Women’s Small Business Month, we talked to the femalepreneurs who learned how to effectively combine these three staples of well-being and build them into a balanced personal life. Their lessons didn’t come easy, either in life or business— either because of an initial failure or because they had to push through a wall of challenge. Yet in complete defiance, these women took their métier from scratch to thriving while fighting more than one battle. Fighting and winning.

Here’s how all of us, regardless of gender and entrepreneurial experience can celebrate the courage of women entrepreneurs and get inspired by their leap of faith.

Renee Powers: When one door closes, another opens

When we imagine our life going a certain way and think we’ve got all the details filled in — never relax. Quite unapologetically, that may be exactly the moment when the Universe gives us a kick you-know-where, and in a totally different direction than we sought. How it does this is usually brutal: snapping a door shut right in front of our face. For Renee Powers, founder of Feminist Book Club, the “aha” moment coincided precisely with a snapped door — and a window that opened into another reality.

“I didn’t start off as an entrepreneur. I was planning on finishing my Ph.D. and pursuing a career as a professor and researcher,” Powers says. “But after 8 years in grad school, I failed my dissertation proposal three times. I finally dropped out of my Ph.D. program and funnelled everything I had learned into a successful business.”

Currently, Powers runs the Feminist Book Club, one of the most popular book subscription boxes recognized by Oprah Daily, Marie Claire, the Tory Burch Foundation, and Readers Digest, among others. The club has just announced its exclusive collaboration with actress Gabrielle Union.

“I definitely think I failed up, not down”, Powers laughs. But at the heart of that statement is what she earnestly credits as rudimentary to entrepreneurial success: the patience to see through closed doors.

“I truly think that success as an entrepreneur, especially in the digital age, requires a great idea, a deep understanding of your niche, integrity, consistency, and time. There are very few overnight successes. Sometimes patience is the most necessary skill.”

Inspiration

“Dr. Brene Brown is my role model for countless reasons. Like my own background, her career began in academia and everything she does is rooted in her rigorous research. But what I admire most is her humility and generosity of spirit as she continues to build upon her success.”

Nicole Johnson: There’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all

Business is one of the greatest grounds for metamorphosis, transformation — secondary, perhaps, only to fairy tales. We know how awesome products are born out of an untapped market need and an ability to fill in that need. But sometimes, to close a market gap, you don’t need breakthrough ideas. Like Nicole, you may just have to zoom in on a problem, and the humble pumpkin will transform into a magic carriage.

Nicole Johnson was a sleep-deprived first-time mama when her business, The Baby Sleep Site sprang out of a personal quest for motherhood peace. From researching sleep methods and baby developmental needs to scheduling routines, Nicole went to extreme lengths to figure things out — just for herself. What she didn’t realize is that this would be just the “pep talk” before helping thousands of women.

“What I didn’t like about all the books out there is that they contradicted one another and didn’t fit my parenting style,” Nicole says. “So, I overcame my son’s sleeping issues in a way that matched my own parenting style, and knew it was my mission to help other tired parents ‘find their child’s sleep’”.

“I started to help other parents on a message board over 12 years ago and after enough people told me that I should write my own book, I started thinking maybe they were right. I started a blog and using my technical background as a computer programmer, a Sleep Helpdesk where I help fix other parents’ sleep problems faster than I could fix my own. I started the website in 2008 two months after the birth of my second son and it grew faster than I imagined. Now, The Baby Sleep Site gets over 500,000–1 million visitors to the website each month.”

Managing a bustling business comes with its own challenges — and in order to not be (ironically) sleep-deprived the second time around, Nicole had to learn again. This time, not just technology to delegate work effectively between her team, but psychological balance to scale back in order to go forward.

“One of my main business challenges has been not trying to help everyone I can. With so many website visitors, you want to help everyone who is having problems but that leads to long hours and burnout. I love to help families personally but also need to watch my own work/life balance. Hiring an assistant and other sleep consultants has been the best decision I’ve made. Not only can I comfortably take a vacation once or twice a year knowing the business will function well in my absence but I’ve also given other moms the ability to work from home (even before it was considered more normal) while also raising their own families. This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life: helping parents with their problems while also providing employment for other moms.”

Inspiration

“My main motto is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for every baby and we need a unique approach for each unique baby. Their age, temperament, and personality will all come into play. You can use this same motto for [business and] many things in life as well. What’s right for you might not be right for me and vice versa. And, that’s OK! There’s no right or wrong, only what’s right for each individual.”

Donna Ralston: Do good to as many people as you can

When Donna Ralston opened up non-profit organization South Metro Medical Equipment Loan Closet, she dreamt of more than launching a business. She was fulfilling a personal mission to meet the needs of the most vulnerable part of her community — people in need of medical rehabilitation equipment who couldn’t afford the expenses.

However, at one point her own business needed help. In business since 2016, the Denver-based NPO faced troubling times in spring 2020 when COVID-19 forced it to close its doors for several months. Far from breaking its spirit, however, the pandemic eventually brought several adjustments to the organization’s operations.

“I was an executive director for several non-profit organizations for over 20 years and used the skills I had to establish and operate this organization,” Donna says. “So I was able to organize the activity, the paperwork, the insurance, the legal stuff, and coordinate the training of volunteers so everyone has a good idea of what they’re supposed to do.”

NPOs function differently from regular businesses since people power is literally their fuel. It was this “togetherness” and groundedness in her own faith and values that kept Donna going throughout the pandemic.

“[When running an NPO] you have to recognize volunteers for their effort, their skills, and the time and effort they put into assisting the organization. Our volunteers are very faithful and dedicated, and they really like doing the jobs they’ve chosen to do.”

Donna reminds women who aspire to open up nonprofits that business skills and innovative technologies (like the business phone system used by this NPO) run hand in hand with deep personal values. The way you make an NPO work is by “using the skills of your people and building on them” while using the networking opportunities, especially word of mouth, within your community to grow.

Inspiration

“Being a Christian, I really believe you should do good for as many people as you can, in as many ways as you can, as often as you can, for as long as you can. That’s been my motto. I’ve had a lot of mission trips overseas and mission projects locally. South Metro Medical Loan Closet evolved out of my passion and the mission to help people.”

Eden Cheng: You are who you surround yourself with

When we start a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the anticipation and enthusiasm. A first-timer entrepreneur’s vision feels unbounded and we entrust it to others hoping that everyone has our best interests at heart — often enough, without taking account of the people and circumstances. But just like hearts, business plans can get cracked with the wrong people.

Eden Cheng, co-founder of software company PeopleFinderFree, is one entrepreneur who’s learned to be selective through the tough lessons of initial failure.

“When I launched my first software company a few years ago, I just wanted to get the business up and running and I made bad decisions about who I recruited,” she says. “At the time I was so filled with over-eagerness and excitement that I wasn’t always careful to have the right people around me.

As a result, Eden faced a problem that leads to the crash of many startups: her team wasn’t a team of visionaries but just people who’ve “come along for the ride”. “It was inevitable that we suffered extended project delays, which ended up costing me a significant amount of money in the process, and ultimately, stalled the project so much that we had to shut things down permanently,” she says.

Now well into her second and successful startup, Eden holds the lessons from that initial failure as “hard but valuable”.

“Now, I make sure to take my time to hire people that are genuinely interested in my success and understand what we do here,” she says. “They have to be highly skilled at their given specialties and be able to pull their own weight, while I focus on handling on my own. Anything less than that is not acceptable. And as harsh as that may sound, I have learned to be okay with that because I can attest to the fact that the quality of your team really can make or break you.”

As a female founder who has experienced most of the struggles of femalepreneurship, Eden says she’s often battled the urge to call it quits. What helped he through was a strong support network of family, friends, partners, and coworkers in line with her company vision.

“A founder’s strength doesn’t start in the workplace, it starts at home, with your personal life. And, on the professional side of things, this also involves making sure that you always hire the right people for your business, not just based on skills and qualifications, but on personality and character, as well.”

Inspiration

“Jessica Alba is more well-known for her work in film [but] over the past few years she has transformed herself from being a Hollywood starlet … to becoming the co-founder of a billion-dollar company, whose mission of selling chemical-free diapers, wipes, cleaning products, and more placed her in business magazines and lifted her into the world of successful startups. What impresses me the most is the fact that she built a purpose-driven business that does well to deliver the eco-friendly products that their customers needed all under one roof by staying true to environmentally sound practices.”

Christina Kaye: Rule out insecurity and fear

We live in a culture that is entrepreneurship-hungry. Among the younger generation, 63% plan to start a business at some point in their lives, 99% of all businesses are SMBs, and digital businesses take as little as a few hundred dollars to launch. All this makes aspiring business owners pretty confident — until their first brush with reality.

Christina Kaye is a former trial and litigation paralegal who made a pure “leap of faith” with her digital coaching business, Write Your Best Book. In 2019, challenges kept on piling as Christina’s law firm — and with it, her steady 22-year law career — found itself on the verge of shutdown, her difficult marriage ended, and she found herself on the brink of unemployment with two teenage daughters. She was certain that her plan would find support.

“I decided to at least try to turn my 10-year side hustle as an author coach, book editor, and writing instructor into a full-on business,” Christina says. “[But] when I shared this decision with my circle of friends and family, the reaction I received in response was NOT what I had hoped for. Most stood strangely quiet and never offered much of a convincing “go get ‘em,” but more than one person made their opinions known, loud and clear.”

Instead of a warm word of encouragement she hoped for, Christina met with a wall of skepticism. “[I was told things like], “No one who ever starts a business is successful the first time around’, ‘What are you going to do when it fails and you can’t support yourself, let alone the girls?’, “You’ve never run a business before. How can you possibly expect that to work?’ And my all-time favorite, ‘Why don’t you find a nice, steady job at the grocery store?’”

Add to that a global pandemic launching almost in line with her new business, and the circumstances would’ve been enough for most people to give up, but not Christina.

“Despite the not-so-favorable circumstances under which I started what I call my ‘Act Two,’ and in direct defiance of those who couldn’t be bothered to even feign support, I had earned my first 6-figures before the end of Y1Q3! Now, year two (my second 6-figure plus revenue year) is closing soon, and to date, I’ve helped over 300 authors successfully write and launch their books, I’ve gone “viral” on Tik Tok, I’ve gathered over 100,000 followers and subscribers, and I’ve been featured almost monthly on every website for authors, as well as other media outlets, blogs, and podcasts.”

What Christina credits her uphill business success with is the strength to face, accept, and love herself. “Dig deep and find that part of you, no matter how deeply buried, that knows your worth and knows exactly what you are capable of, push past the insecurity and fear, and put yourself out there for the world to see, warts and all. […] The first time I recorded a live event and somehow stumbled into the topic of my recent divorce and subsequent trauma, the replay and repost of that video not only received hundreds of thousands of views and likes … I went “viral,” something that would never have happened to the insecure, unconfident woman I once was.”

Inspiration

“Had the two of us ever met, we’d have had hardly a thing in common. Yet I have always cited Ruth Bader Ginsburg as my role model for one simple reason. [She] is one of the most famous women in history who achieved the highest level of success possible in her chosen career path by being steadfast in her personal opinions and speaking out against opinions she firmly disagreed with. [I admire how] she voiced her opinions and her dissent quietly but powerfully and with class.”

Final thoughts

One of Christina Kaye’s favorite quotes is by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Fight for the things you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” That’s exactly what these femalepreneurs did to succeed. No matter the view people had of them, personal insecurities, lack of funding, or the circumstances life threw their way, they held their flag high. They won and they keep winning because, in business, fighting and winning is a daily endeavor.

What all of us, regardless of gender, can do to empower more women in business is to provide a safe space around their physical, mental, and professional wellbeing that we celebrate this month. Thank you to everyone who helps bring this reality closer, and to all femalepreneurs out there — Happy National Women’s Entrepreneurship Month!

The post How 5 Femalepreneurs Defied Failure to Start Their Hustle first appeared on MightyCall.

• WhatsApp Business features
• How to use WhatsApp Business with MightyCall
• Why should you use Whatsapp Business with a virtual phone number?
• Why should they choose using Whatsapp Business with VoIP over hundreds of other options?

Whatsapp is the most popular messaging app in the world, with over 2 billion users in 180 countries worldwide. More importantly for your business, Whatsapp recently launched Whatsapp Business, which has already racked up more three million users.

WhatsApp Business features

Through Twilio, Whatsapp Business is more of an API than a direct VoIP competitor, which actually makes it a capable and sharp companion to any VoIP system.

The direct features include:

• a business name,
• a business description,
• business hours,
• business category and
• other identifying information like your business email, website, and address (if you have a physical store).

More in-depth offerings include a business catalogue complete with pictures and info, easy grouping tools for your contacts and greetings that you can use for various situations.

There are not any hardcoded, classic VoIP features like call queues, call recording or even auto-attendants. Whatsapp is not necessarily trying to take over that corner of the market, but rather to complement existing structures to help businesses provide the best communications experience possible—similar to the revolutionary way they helped bridge the gap between everyday communications as well.

While VoIP still focuses heavily on the calling experience, with other methods of communication—texting, social media, etc.—gravitating around it, Whatsapp has always focused on messaging—likely the main reason the app’s popularity exploded in the first place.

If that tandem sounds like something your business could use, or you already have Whatsapp and simply want to see what it can do, then installing it for use with a virtual phone number is quite simple. In all honesty, the process is no different than installing Whatsapp with a regular, sim card-attached number.

How to use WhatsApp Business with MightyCall

Please note: Due to 2022 WhatsApp policy changes limiting WhatsApp Business registration with VoIP numbers, please contact MightyCall Support at +1 (888) 256-8312 ext.2 or support@mightycall.com to check compatibility with your VoIP number.

It is important to note that you need to already have a MightyCall virtual phone number (or a number from any VoIP provider) before linking them.

• Step one: Download the Whatsapp Business app for either iOS or Android (it’s free)
• Step two: As you go through the sign-up process, enter your MightyCall virtual phone number as your contact.
• Step three: You will receive a verification text (found in the History – Texts section of your MightyCall profile); enter the code and then your Whatsapp Business account is ready to go!

Another important note: While MightyCall allows for unlimited devices, Whatsapp Business limits you to using one device at a time.

That means that if you want to use the MightyCall+Whatsapp combo, you can only be signed in with both on one device at a time.

If you are signed in on one device and try to use the Whatsapp-linked MightyCall number on another device, the first device will automatically sign you out. If you want to use Whatsapp Business on multiple devices, you will need multiple phones/devices (which kinds of defeats the purpose of VoIP, which eliminates the need to carry several phones in the first place).

Why should you use Whatsapp Business with a virtual phone number?

There a few obvious reasons and others that require a bit more analysis. The basics is that Whatsapp is free to use, has end-to-end encrypted messaging (which protects your privacy, and more thoroughly than the majority of messaging apps can say), and is both extremely easy to use and extremely popular.

Now, typically jumping on the hype train and doing/using something just because others are doing/using it is a bad idea, but in the case of Whatsapp, the fact that there is a userbase a billion+ strong in every corner of the globe ensures the best product and easy use since the majority of people you know will probably have it installed too.

Whatsapp even lets you send a limited number of messages monthly to people who don’t have the service, a big convenience with how fallen out of favor imessage has become and how untrustworthy social media messengers have become (and yes, Facebook does own Whatsapp, but they don’t want to kill the golden pony, so it has retained much of what makes it distinct since Zuckerberg & co. took over).

Those are the reasons anyone should be using Whatsapp, but what the business community?

Why should they choose using Whatsapp Business with VoIP over hundreds of other options?

Moreso than any of its competitors, Whatsapp enables “conversational commerce”, the fancy term for what every business—especially small businesses—crave: being able to have meaningful interactions, whether it’s answering a customer question or following up, in a way that feels genuine and not drenched in the cynicism of sales. Unsurprisingly, these interactions more reliably lead to purchases and future relationships with the brand.

Businesses have started using Whatsapp because it works. While VoIP and calling still holds immense power in business today, messaging is nearly as important, particularly with younger people. A Dimensions Data survey found that 9 out of 10 consumers would choose to message a business before any other method of communication. In response to this, businesses have quickly adjusted, with the majority now including Whatsapp as a support channel for customers experiencing troubles, while other businesses have even more fully incorporated Whatsapp into their network, going so far as to take orders via the app (in fact, I had this experience just last week when booking a massage).

With a robust 100-person maximum on the number of people in a group chat, Whatsapp has even become a reliable internal communication system—one that doesn’t require employees to learn complex systems or manage messages in a CRM. Better yet, with documents, images and videos easily shared among contacts, there are few things a team cannot do on Whatsapp Business.

Of course, those tasks have their place in business management, but that is where the VoIP half comes into play. Whatsapp Business keeps things easy and clear while VoIP powers the more demanding aspects of customer communications. Just as VoIP has modernized and, in many respects, replaced conventional desk phone systems, Whatsapp has modernized and largely replaced email as the preferred method of quickly contacting both businesses and colleagues.

With it being free of charge and so simple to use, there is no excuse to not combine Whatsapp Business and a virtual phone number to at least see how much your company can improve its customer communications.

The post How to Use Whatsapp Business with a virtual phone number first appeared on MightyCall.

A car rental service business is one of the most challenging startups. But if you handle it well, you’ll make a mark.

Neil Abrams, president of Abrams Consulting Group Inc., says the car rental business is full of tough issues and great opportunities. And he’s confident that it’s a great way to make money even in times of economic insecurity.

Tourists and businesspeople prefer renting a car to using public transport or spending money on taxis. Locals also hire cars. For example, when their personal car is under repair or for weekends out of town.

We’ve collected a few tips and ideas to inspire you to take a chance:

• Business opportunities
• Legal issues
• Build your fleet
• Office & operations
• Marketing

Business opportunities

A car rental business usually starts in one of the following ways:

• A franchise of a successful rental company. You can read information about Budget, Sixt, Hertz etc. franchising on their websites.
• Dealership car rental. Still not very popular among clients or a profitable market share.
• A company with a clean slate. Launching a new rental company requires much effort, commercial sense, and a substantial financial cushion.

Benchmarking of chosen location shows market saturation and demand. Before starting up a car rental business, the entrepreneur should think of the level of service to offer.

• Who is the target audience? Tourists or perhaps legal entities? Currently, management of some companies finds more advantages in long-term car rental than maintaining its own fleet. It’s an opportunity for productive cooperation.
• What will form the fleet: regular or luxury cars? A posh car is a great expense, which can turn into a great profit. More people rent high-end cars nowadays. Instead of buying one of the extremely expensive cars, they’d rather rent one for a few days or a vacation.

Legal issues

Each state has its rules and authorizations for a new business. There is a list of licenses and permits by a state on the U.S. Small Business Administration site, so that every interested enthusiast can learn about launching any business.

Besides license, a company requires a fire department permit and to comply with zoning regulations.

The crucial point for the car rental business is insurance. It’s different from private vehicle insurance. Pay particular attention to the terms and conditions of an insurance contract. The fleet should be in good condition and have appropriate insurance cover.

Joining a franchise eliminates insurance red tape, as this issue is already resolved by the master company.

Build your fleet

The size of your primary fleet depends a lot on your financial base. You can try to purchase cars outright, though this is costly, or lease the vehicles. Look into small business support and financing programs. You’ll hardly obtain the attention of angel investors, as they prefer novelty business ideas, but you can count on banks and SBA loans for the startup.

Obviously, your fleet won’t be large at the very beginning. Jack Taylor, the founder of Enterprise rent-a-car, started his business with 7 cars in St. Louis, in 1957. Today the company boasts a fleet of 7,200 vehicles in 30 countries. An excellent example of proper scaling.

Keep in mind, your fleet makes your profits. Clients expect well-maintained vehicles. Consider a partnership with a local auto service.

Office & operations

Location

Office location is crucial. Locations near hotels, train stations and airports are perfect options. Consider also the most popular tourist trails. An impulse decision to rent a car comes to city visitors when they walk around exhausted.

Even if you are sure of your location’s security, it’s a good idea to set up alarm systems and cameras.

If your office works 24 hours, you will attract more clients. Lots of tourists and business people arrive late evening or at night. They will apply to those operators who are open. Your scheduled hours can be your competitive advantage.

Website

This is an absolute must. If a car rental business doesn’t have a site, potential customers won’t even consider it and will go with someone else. Customers are impatient and want to be able to make arrangements online when convenient for them. Make your website a comprehensive medium for proper online booking of a vehicle with automatic booking confirmations and email reminders. It should require some web-developer work, but it will be worth it.

Operations

Automatization of business processes increases efficiency, saves employees time and mitigates human error. CarsProSystems provides cutting-edge technology within the rental, leasing, and fleet business fields. This software manages all relevant business processes and has gained its goodwill rightfully.

For car rental services, MightyCall offers a solution in communications. No matter how carefully designed is your website, clients will call for booking. Millions of questions about rental office location, cars drop-off, insurance events — you phone won’t be silent.

Besides a customized business number with an extension for each employee, MightyCall offers such features of call settings:

• Working/non-working hours
• Call transfer to a queue
• Call forwarding
• Connect to a voicemail
• Connect a call to a single number
• Call recording

MightyCall also provides a Social Media Tracker to monitor messages and notifications on social media. Each mention is added to the activity dashboard for further attention.

Marketing

A car rental business is profitable when a car from a fleet is booked for 72% of the total time. For the sake of such readings, spare no expense and efforts on marketing. Explore a market in your location. What do you know about clients and rivals?

If you are an independent startup, you need to create your unique selling proposition. The car rental business is straightforward. So you can only emphasize your service quality — this stands high with clients. For example, car delivery to a place named by a client. People will pay a premium to save time and for convenience.

Register your business name and design a logo. The name has to work. It should be catchy, easy to say and spell. Use all available marketing platforms for making your name known: magazines, social media, brochures etc.

Search for marketing collaborations. Propose a deal to a hotel next door. Refer clients to each other. Prepare and distribute hand-outs about your partnership.

The way to success is continuous challenging of your business model. Is everything like it should be? What are your goals for the current year and the next 5 years? Are you working toward those goals? What is missing? The market is fluid — your business should be as well.

These guidelines should help you to mark main steps of car rental service launching. Remember “All things are difficult before they are easy.” Go for it!

The post How to Launch a Car Rental Service first appeared on MightyCall.

This isn’t just an annoying problem- it can actually impact your small business’s bottom dollar since it keeps you from being able to talk to the people who *actually* want to do business with you, and clogs up your phone line.

To help you out with that, we’ve put together a guide of the best ways to stop these robot menaces and put an end to robocalls. Below we’ll cover what exactly spam calls are (and why they’re so hard for you to get rid of), methods of blocking spam and robocall numbers, and then specifically how MightyCall has a bunch of tools to deprogram these annoying bots.

In this post:

• What are legitimate and illegitimate spam calls?
• I’m on the National Do Not Call Registry. How am I still getting called?
• How do I block a number from calling my business phone?
• Does *61 block unwanted calls?
• An easier option: blocking calls with MightyCall

What are legitimate and illegitimate spam calls? Who even is calling me?

There are primarily two kinds of callers that people want to block: aggressive/rude callers and spam callers. The former are hopefully a rare breed, and you won’t have to worry about them so much. The latter are a nuisance because they seem endless.

Spam callers themselves are mostly two categories: real people and bots. Yes, unfortunately, real people do genuinely sit around their phone all day and attempt to scam people out of their social security numbers or whatever else they’re trying to get. These people just have a list of numbers that they’ll go down.

The latter type, bots—short for robots, as you may have guessed—are automatic calling programs which digitally go down their list and can make thousands of calls a day, usually with some robotic program talking about how the IRS is going to arrest you unless you hand over bank information.

Further, keep in mind that there are legitimate “spam” callers (salespeople doing cold calling) and illegal scammers — the dangerous kind trying to get to your credit cards and private information. However, just because a call is legitimate doesn’t mean you ‘ll want to keep getting dozens of those per day. Especially when you’re a business person with not a moment left to waste.

Wait — I’m on the National Do Not Call Registry. How am I still getting called?

The National Do Not Call Registry is useful against precisely the above-mentioned legitimate sales callers. However, it does not protect against scammers.

For the latter, the National Do Not Call Registry is a lot like a bank putting a “Do Not Steal” sign in their window. If someone is gonna’ rob the bank, the sign won’t stop them. Same deal here; as the Federal Trade Commission says, these people are already illegally scamming people- why would any registry stop them? That said, the FTC recommends that you report all scam callers to reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Learn more: FTC Takes action against robocall epidemic

How do I block a number from calling my business phone?

You don’t just want to hang up on someone- you want to permanently block them, never to see or hear them again.

On iPhones, it’s pretty straightforward: go to your calls, tap to the right of a number that called you, scroll down, and hit Block. Android phones differ, depending on the phone, but it’s a similar process on those devices. However, this doesn’t really solve the problem of repeated different spam calls.

If you have desk phones, that’s a horse of a different color. You’ll have to talk to your IT department or supplier, as everyone is going to have a different way of going about it.

Read more: how to block robocalls on your iPhone 

Does *61 block unwanted calls?

If you’re using AT&T, dialing *61 blocks the number which most recently called you. To get to this, you’ll first have to dial *60 and listen to the instructions. Other major services have similar options, though you’ll have to go to them directly to find out what to dial, as all of them differ.

An easier option: Blocking Numbers with MightyCall

MightyCall’s virtual phone system comes with a plethora of tools for silencing the numbers who you’d like to never hear from again.  The greatest of these (and one that you’ll be using for plenty other things too) is the call flow and the auto attendant. The call flow is the path you set up ahead of time which callers will follow when they call you. You can set up different “flows” for different situations, like times of days and holidays, and various other settings (like how calls are doled out to your employees). What this means is that those annoying robots are going to run into something they can’t process; they’re not smart enough to navigate the auto attendant, so they’ll never be able to waste your time.