So many menu options you forget which number you need, ridiculously long wait times, the same music on loop every 60 seconds, being disconnected before reaching an actual human being(!)—there’s a list of potentially maddening things to drive your callers, and your customers, away.

Yet despite this chaotic phone landscape, 88% of customers maintain that they want to talk to a live person over the phone when they have a problem or a question.

The key to filling this desire then is to have a quick and convenient phone menu. How do you do that? We help you discover below!

Navigate:

• What is a phone menu?
• What call menu aspects are the trickiest for callers?
• 10 ways to keep your menu for the phone engaging
• Use Your Phone Menu System to Engage, not Enrage Callers 

What Is a Phone Menu?

A phone menu is an automated voice service, also called IVR (Interactive Voice Response). It is used to route calls to the appropriate person, department, or office branch and can also be used to provide information. Any person who has called a business and heard “Press 1 for X, Press 2 for Y” has encountered the phone menu (and, being honest, has been frustrated by it on more than one occasion).

What Call Menu Aspects Are the Trickiest for Callers?

In 2019, Vonage conducted a deep report with a spooky name: “The horrors of IVR: five key issues” where people shared the things they hate most about automated menus. Though this may sound like awful news for a business, in fact knowing what “not to do” is the best way to do something well.

According to the above report, here’s what irks callers most about phone menus: 

• The caller’s reason for inquiry is not among the call menu options (65% of complaints)
• Listening to irrelevant menu options (63% of complaints)
• Can’t get through to a live operator (54% of complaints)
• The phone menu is too long (46% of complaints)
• It wastes their time (35% of complaints)

Sending callers to voicemail isn’t a viable solution, either. According to Forbes, 80% of callers who end up at a voicemail don’t leave a message. Why? Well, younger generations prefer messaging, while others skip them because they doubt they’ll ever get a callback.

10 Ways to Create an Engaging Menu for the Phone

So, what can we learn from the above statistics, that may sound kind of frustrating? Actually, a lot. Here’s a simple checklist to ensure your automated phone menu system is working to aid, and not annoy, your callers.

1. Keep your phone menu system simple

Don’t make callers listen to a long recording with tons of options, such as “Press one for this department, Press two for that department,” and so on. Keep it simple—you should never make a caller listen to six or more voice menu options.

2. Give callers an easy way to connect to an operator

Want to really stand out? Make speaking to a live operator the first option on your phone menu. That’s what most people want anyway, so even if giving them that option right away might make your call center agents or employees busier, it’s also bound to make your customers happier.

3. Use caller ID to route callers intelligently

Caller ID lets your phone system recognize who’s calling. This means you can separate existing customers and unknown callers into different call menus to maximize service. For example, you give existing customers the chance to speak to the account manager they’ve talked to previously, while new callers are directed to the main phone menu.

4. Make your phone menu sound professional

Larger companies sometimes hire professional voiceover artists to record their outbound greeting and phone menu options. Smaller companies should find someone within the company who has a soothing, professional-sounding voice. Using both a man and woman will spice things up, too. Perhaps the female voice is heard first when someone calls and the male voice comes in after making the first menu selection, or vice versa. By mixing it up, you’ll keep callers interested and engaged.

5. Some tips for a successful, professional-sounding phone menu:

Match your tone and your jargon to your brand. If your company imports and sells British goods, have someone with a British accent record your phone greeting and menu options. If you sell surfboards, sound like a surfer and say ‘dude’ a lot.

• Be friendly, relaxed, and authentic.
• Speak in a soothing tone.
• Eliminate background noise.
• If necessary, write a script and practice it.

For more, see the 50 Best Business Voicemail Greetings.

6. Be a little different

Most of us hear the usual “Press one for this, Press two for that” drill too often. If there is a way you can make your phone menu a little more creative, especially to match your brand, do it. For example, you could consider using a touch of humor or irony (if it fits your brand, is actually funny, and in no way causes callers to spend more time listening to your recordings and menus). Be careful here though, uniqueness is a double-edged sword. It can help your branding if done right, but it could also turn customers away if mishandled.

7. Regularly analyze caller behavior and adjust your phone menu accordingly

Just as Google Analytics can help you improve the effectiveness of your website, your business phone system’s analytics can help you better understand which menu options callers chose most frequently, among other things. With that information, you can update your phone menu to improve the call experience. For example, if you learn that a majority of callers press option four to speak with someone in customer support, then consider making that the first option.

8. Know how you will measure your phone menu’s success

What is the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for your phone menu? Is it to reduce operating costs or to increase sales? Determine what your top business goals are for your phone menu and then use your analytics to measure how well you are (or aren’t) meeting those goals.

9. Alert customers to important updates

If you’re a service company and there’s currently an outage in your service, update your phone menu to let callers know upfront. Tell them you’re aware of the outage and are working to resolve it, then give them the option to speak to an agent. This is a good idea for any important updates or info you have.

10. Know your audience

When creating your automated phone menu, you need to know who the majority of callers will be. ‘Who are my customers?’ is the most important question you’ll ever answer as a businessman. After you know your audience, you need to ask yourself ‘What do they typically want when they call?’If you design your phone menu with these questions in mind, you’re more likely to give your callers the best experience possible.

Use Your Phone Menu System to Engage, not Enrage Callers

Remember this: keeping an existing client is significantly easier and cheaper than attracting new ones. As previously mentioned, callers generally don’t trust voicemails to be returned, and voicemail itself is a huge productivity drain for workers. In fact, some major companies like Coca-Cola and JP Morgan & Chase have all but eliminated landline voicemail boxes for their employees.

With every lost call, you lose a potential customer. Don’t risk that. Build your phone menu following the advice above to route calls quickly, painlessly, and intelligently to your employees so callers don’t have a reason to be aggravated. At a time when customers are increasingly demanding better service, your phone menu has never been more important.

The post Automated Phone Menus Are a Good Tool for Any Business to Have, but They’re Tricky to Get Right first appeared on MightyCall.

• Why missed calls are bad for business
• How an automated attendant can help with caller retention
• How an automated attendant can cut overheads and improve revenues
• Why the MightyCall virtual phone number system is a robust communications option.

Why is an auto attendant good for business?

An automated attendant/receptionist is one of the most popular features found in a business call-processing system. This service is mainly designed to greet callers, forward calls to desired locations, and provide information by means of a voice menu. In short, it’s a core element of any communications management layout- or at least it should be.

Ever since such systems became widely available and affordable, business owners have been paying close attention to them. Nowadays having an auto-attendant as a part of a phone system has pretty much become a de facto standard. Have you already started using one? No?

Well first, consider the consequences of not using it.

Missed calls: aftermath

Much has been said about the necessity of being in touch with your customers 24/7. That being said, it’s easy to get distracted or tied down, especially when you own a business. On those busy days it’s easy to think, “Well, several missed calls a day are not that important. I’m busy, and if I need to I can intensify my marketing campaign in the short run instead of spending long-term cash on communications.”

Actually, you’ll just waste money on inefficient marketing efforts, because nothing is harder than rectifying a ruined reputation. In the mind of a typical customer, a missed call means that your company is disorganized, poorly managed and doesn’t care about its customers. Therefore, this person will not only cease to use your services, they’ll ward their friends off of doing so too.

By the way, according to recent surveys, 40% of respondents switched to a competitor after experiencing poor customer service, while 44% named good customer service among the likely reasons to choose a particular company. And regardless of how good your phone support staff is, little can be done if your communications setup is insufficient.

To further edify the point, the following three steps will help you estimate the amount from your marketing budget lost due to missed calls:

1. Calculate the average cost per call: divide the sum of money spent on marketing during a certain period by the number of inbound calls for the same period.
2. Calculate the number of missed calls: multiply the number of inbound calls by the percentage of missed calls.
3. Multiplying the number of missed calls from the previous equation by the average cost per call from the first step will give you the amount money wasted on your marketing efforts.

What’s worse is that the losses don’t end there. Apart from marketing rendered inefficient by poor call processing, your company also experiences direct loss of potential sales. There is an equation to determine this sum:

• Take the previously-calculated number of missed calls and multiply it by the sale conversion rate (you do have sales analytics, right?) and you will get your potential lost revenue in dollars. Thousands of dollars, probably.

To illustrate this, let’s take a believable real world example:

Let’s say your company spends $20,000 on marketing and receives 1,000 inbound calls a month. That means each call costs you twenty dollars (20,000/1,000 calls = $20 per call). If you miss 15 percent of your calls, you’re throwing away $3,000 each and every month (15% of 1,000 calls = 150 calls missed; 150 calls x $20 = $3,000). Now if 10 percent of your inbound calls convert into a sale of $5,000 you can then multiply 15 of those 150 missed calls by $5,000 and you’re essentially losing $75,000 in missed sales every month!

Whatever numbers your company is working with, that loss doesn’t exactly seem like it’d be palatable for most small businesses. Frankly, those are enormous losses- which makes it all the more amazing that it takes so little to minimize the losses and improve revenues. Let’s see how a virtual phone number system with an automated attendant can help to amend the situation. What advantages will an AA give you?

Positive impact on your business image

As an owner of a small business, it’s understandable that you can’t really pay for trappings of a larger enterprise. The issue, of course, is that those expensive attributes of professionalism and success are highly valued by the target audience.

In certain cases, potential clients will perceive a professional setup as a guarantee of quality. While an attractive website is the face of your company on the internet, a masterfully-recorded greeting and sophisticated voice menu impacts your initial callers, helping to convert them into customers.

Increased accessibility

For a small business, every single call is precious: if the initial call is missed, the vast majority of potential clients will give you only a one more chance before taking their business elsewhere (in fact, only about 20% of people make only a single call before proceeding to other options). A small company implies limited staff capability. Therefore, a typical SMB team member wears many hats and it’s not always possible for them to pick up a ringing telephone. Hiring a dedicated full- or even part-time receptionist seems inefficient in terms of costs, so many calls end up without a response. While it is possible to forward calls from your virtual phone number to your personal devices, it’s understandable that not many people will be thrilled to receive business calls to their personal numbers when business hours are over. Thus, late callers are usually ignored.

An automated attendant integrated into a virtual phone system can become a truly affordable solution to this problem. If nobody is able to answer at the present time then music, messages, and on-hold options will increase your acceptable waiting times, because callers will not feel ignored. As for after-hours calls, you can configure the attendant’s voice menu to prompt callers to leave a call-back request via voicemail. What’s more, a correctly-configured self-service voice menu allows a late caller to get essential information regardless of phone operator availability. You can set up an automated attendant to provide information about business hours, special offers, service availability, office location and anything else you wish to relay.

Enhanced user experience

An automated attendant allows your team to process incoming calls in the most efficient and convenient manner. As virtual phone number services generally provide multiple inbound/outbound lines, your system can be able to distribute all the calls accordingly.

You can set this to be done both automatically (depending on customizable routing rules) or by having the caller select an item from the voice menu. The menu provided by the auto receptionist typically sounds like “press 1 to reach Department X, press 2 to reach Department Y, etc.”, and is fully configurable. It will allow callers to reach a desired expert ― tech support specialist, sales manager, delivery team ― directly. For customers it results in increased speed of getting through to a person they need, while your team doesn’t lose time on forwarding the flow manually or answering stray calls.

Reduced communication expenses

Besides optimizing response time and minimizing the number of missed calls, you can also save money on infrastructure. Modern cloud call-processing systems can work literally anywhere (on landlines, mobile phones, softphones, etc.). It means that once you get the power to redirect inbound calls from your virtual phone number to any device, you are free to use whatever infrastructure option you find the cheapest or most reliable.

Don’t want to equip your team members with landline telephones? No problem, just forward the calls to their computers (headsets cost peanuts nowadays). Your bandwidth too low to allow high-quality voice exchange? Then route calls to cellphones ― it will be especially handy if your staff is always on the run (like sales agents, couriers or other staff working out of the office most of the time). Bring-your-own-device integration will also come handy if you need to provide connectivity to remote employees ― let them in on being a part of the team!

Music on hold and call queue

These two options are immensely important when it comes to caller retention. A large-scale Google poll proves that 1 out of every 3 US callers expect to get an immediate answer, about 27% find it acceptable to wait for a minute, and another 30% will wait for up to five minutes but no more. However, having hold music allows you to reduce the wait time as perceived by your callers by a third. Promotional and informational messages played on hold are even more effective ― the waiting time is perceived to be as low as two-thirds of what it really is! Plus, with a virtual receptionist you can to upload your own music themes and recorded messages.

A call queue allows customers to hold the line while all your staff is busy. It’s not a simple line, but a flexible call-processing instrument. The place in the queue can be changed to allow more prospective/important clients to get connected faster. The choice is fully configurable and depends on the item chosen on the voice menu of the automated attendant, the dialed number (if you have several numbers within one system) and the caller’s number (which can be included on a VIP list).

MightyCall: a virtual phone number to rely on

MightyCall virtual phone system includes all the aforementioned features:

• virtual receptionist (IVR),
• automatic call distribution,
• versatile integration (landline, mobile, VoIP…)
• and many more useful functions with affordable rates.

Should you need extensive website integration, MightyCall is ready to provide:

• a seamlessly working Click-to-Call WordPress widget, which allows your visitors to dial the virtual phone number and send messages.

MightyCall makes living in the multichannel world easier with its advanced Journal feature. It shows all the communication queries from your business number, email and website widgets . The information is aggregated at our mobile application (supports iPhone and Android) and a web-based dashboard for you to sort out the activities and assign them to particular team members, if needed. You can even transfer an incoming call on-the-fly.

Also important is that the dashboard provides detailed statistical data on all your communication channels. With this service you will be aware of any bottlenecks in your communication model to fix them promptly. And teamwork is enhanced with unlimited extensions, conference calls, several numbers in one, system integration, and presence statuses. Call recording may be activated to keep telephone conversations for later use (for training purposes or as proof of conversation), while voicemail transcription allows you to conveniently read through your voicemails without actually having to take the time to hear the messages.

Virtual phone systems are praised for low-to-no overheads. Ours is no exception ― you don’t need any additional equipment, you don’t need to think about maintenance and you can start calling literally within three minutes after subscribing. With no equipment needed and a 30-day money-back guarantee, MightyCall offers a perfect opportunity to try out a sophisticated call-processing system. In terms of reliability, we guarantee high quality sound. Refugees from other business number providers will find shelter with us ― porting and existing a number is not only possible, it’s free!

And if you can’t decide on a package or find configuring our product confusing, have no fear- MightyCall has an extensive knowledge base with all the instructions you could possibly need. In case the instructions fail to help, or if some problem occurs, our customer support team is always at your service.

Still waiting? Choose your rate plan and improve your communication model now ― increased revenues will follow!

The post Why It’s a Good Idea to Have a Virtual Receptionist first appeared on MightyCall.

That’s why you need to protect yourself, especially if you’re an entrepreneur and have a business number. Billions of robocalls means millions of hours wasted, and that isn’t a statistic you want to be included in.

1. Register on the National Do Not Call Registry

The first step is to register on the National Do Not Call Registry. However, even that won’t stop the majority of robocalls. Registering will stop telemarketing calls from companies abiding by FCC rules; it will not stop scammers other illegal robocalls.

2. Get robocall blocker app

If you want an app to block or alert you to robocalls, there are some cheap (or even free) options out there.

A few of the more notable ones are:

• Hiya
• Truecaller
• Nomorobo

3. Get a virtual phone system for your business

However, you have another option as well. You can get a virtual phone system. Virtual phone systems offer a wide range of features and functionality to give you the capability to do almost everything you need for your business straight from your phone.

At MightyCall, we have our own solution to dealing with spam and robocalls: the block list. No, it’s not the NBC television show or the year end list of the best unsold scripts in Hollywood—it’s a feature that allows you to automatically drop calls from certain numbers.

You don’t even need to answer and waste time with robocalls—if you deem a number suspicious, you can add it with a click to the block list and any future calls from that number will be dropped within seconds, and before your end of the line even rings.

Considering the calls are dropped automatically, it’s highly unlikely scammers will continue to call your number, saving you the time and hassle.

It’s difficult for callers to get around the block list too, because the feature is just one link in the system’s chain. The heart of any virtual phone system is the auto-attendant, which administers the call routing rules you put in place and is the point where block list numbers will be automatically dropped.

Whenever someone calls your business number, the auto-attendant plays a custom greeting for them and, if you have it enabled, a short phone menu; this serves 2 purposes:

1. It helps to more accurately forward calls to reduce call wait time, and
2. It acts as call screening.

If you have a phone menu, robocalls will be out of luck, unable to proceed forward at all and timed out without blocking your phone line. For scammers and call centers, if they do get through to a person, once their number is added to the block list they’ll be out of luck.

A review from MightyCall user Varga Gulshani (Elegant Paining) directly mentioned how well this has worked for his business number, writing,

Simply put, if you’re looking to avoid robocalls and maximize your phone, MightyCall has you covered.

The post Put an End to Robocalls first appeared on MightyCall.

This article covers:

• What an interactive voice response is and how it works;
• What benefits IVR provides to business;
• How to create a professional voice menu;
• MightyCall’s virtual phone number ― an option to consider

5 steps to a perfect voice menu

When a person dials a company’s business number, the first thing he/she usually hears is a voice menu of a “for Sales, press 1” kind. However, have you ever noticed that some of these menus make you feel uncomfortable? After a couple of calls you feel an inexplicable surge of irritation, while your desire to dial this number again vanishes. At least, until you have no other choice. Large corporations can even benefit from this effect, thus encouraging self-service and relieving their call center loads. Unfortunately, this is not an option for a small business owner, who values each and every client because of the tremendously competitive environment. How do you utilize an auto attendant with 100% efficiency? How do you make an appealing voice menu? This article provides the answers.

Interactive voice response: behind the scenes

A voice menu is one of the features of an IVR (auto attendant), which is an important element of any more or less sophisticated call processing system. In technical terms, is allows customers to interact with call-processing system software by sending DTMF signals when pressing keypad buttons on their phones. The phone system decodes the signals and feeds them to the program, which controls routing. According to specified rules and the button pressed, the call is then forwarded to the desired location (a particular phone, group of phones, voicemail, etc.)

Now it is possible to dispense with costly on-premises equipment and opt for a virtual phone number with associated call-processing features. Interactive voice response has become an indispensable part of a typical communication model for business. Why? Because it offers numerous advantages, such as:

Error-free call routing. Robots do not make mistakes: if a caller is sure of his destination and presses an appropriate button, the system will ensure his call reaches the right person. Being tossed from one desk to another is frustrating, so achieving instant routing contributes to a better user experience. Customers direct their calls themselves, so it becomes possible to processed more incoming calls in comparison to a live receptionist. Oh, and by the way, a hired phone receptionist is no longer needed at all.

Improved efficiency. An appropriately configured voice menu will lead a customer to the best available expert of the company. It means, that the vast majority of questions will be answered, requests fulfilled and issues resolved at the first call. Thus, customer support employees waste less time on doing “not their” job and seeking help of more qualified personnel. And when every cog of the machine does exactly what was intended, the overall efficiency rises.

Self-service encouragement. Customers differ: not all of them are happy to talk to a live operator when the task is fit for a robot. You can tune your automated attendant to receive call-back requests, redirect callers to voicemail and provide essential information about your company even after hours. A virtual receptionist makes self-service more accessible, preventing unnecessary communication and saving staff time. Thus, your company is able to provide better services within less time. There result is improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is crucial in terms of profits.

Improved call-processing capability. With the help of an IVR you will be able to process extensive numbers of inbound calls without hiring more staff. Modern virtual phone numbers combine IVRs with advanced call routing systems, capable of processing multiple telephone lines with forwarding to any device. Setting different forwarding models helps to maximize accessibility, while such options as music/messages on hold improve caller retention when they are waiting in a queue.

Caller differentiation. Besides creating blacklists for unwanted callers, a cloud PBX can optimize your call processing by prioritizing certain customers. It is possible to create a list of VIP clients, so they will override the queue and get services immediately. You may also incorporate several virtual phone numbers into the system and prioritize one of them. Let your company never lose a valuable client due to inaccurate redirection and long response times!

Improved company image. In fact, self-service menus and automated routing are standard for professional communication. An average customer may feel quite puzzled when, after dialing your business number, he/she hears beeps. It’s hard to say whether it’s worse to hear a pending or a busy line, but either is far from optimal. A voice menu will not only shorten response times, it will make your small business appear bigger that you are. It’s no secret that for customers, “big” sometimes equals “trustworthy”.

A guide to making an appealing voice menu

Once we’ve found out that a virtual phone number with incorporated voice menu is immensely useful, let’s proceed to making this menu appealing and efficient. First of all, you will need to gather basic information about your company and clients.

Make a list of departments. Every company seeks to narrow a field of tasks performed by particular employees to let them perfect their skills. These individuals are grouped into department to facilitate cooperation. Even if there are, say, five people in your company, their range of duties should be clearly defined. A typical business model includes such departments as human resources, marketing, sales, production, shipping and customer care. Every company offers different products and services to customers either locally or globally, so the list of teams varies. Once you have the list, it is possible to to identify the vital departments that would receive higher numbers of inbound telephone calls (e.g. sales and customer support).

Assign each department a number by popularity. A voice menu prompts the customer to access a desirable department by pressing a number on a stationary or mobile phone keypad. It’s only logical that you assign these numbers in such a way that saves a caller’s time. To do that, evaluate the (potential) number of inbound calls per department and give number 1 to the most popular.

It’s only logical that the team in the most demand appears first on the menu. For instance, if your company is involved in software development, it will likely be technical support; if you own a general merchandise store, the first place goes to sales. Such an arrangement will greatly enhance user experience. As a bonus, your staff won’t have to interact with callers annoyed by waiting until the needed department is voiced by the menu. By the way, assigning 1 to a live receptionist (if you have one) is generally considered to be a sign of respect to those who are in a hurry or simply dislike robots.

Note: Set up fewer menu items. Keep in mind that all human beings have limited patience. Most likely, customers will not listen a 10-item menu to the end and choose to hang up or contact a live operator (if the list starts with this option). The best configuration for the perfect interactive voice response system is having a maximum of 5 items. Don’t list departments a customer doesn’t need, like an internal IT technician or accountant. It will save customers’ time and help them memorize an item they use often.

Configure the system. The next step is to bind the keypad presses to corresponding extension numbers, so that the software interprets tone signals correctly and acts accordingly. Virtual phone systems are generally easy-to-configure: typically, a centralized administration panel offers this function in wizard or flow-chart format. If you have difficulties during this step, contact your call-processing software provider to clarify your doubts. It is always better to spend some time on doing everything correctly than to return to this issue again and again.

Note: Ensure an appropriate pause. In case of cellphones, a caller has to pull the phone away from his/her ear to press a button; the pause between items should be enough to do it. However, more advanced systems allow choosing a desired option within the whole duration of the menu. Just keep in mind that a customer needs time to process the information he/she hears and make a decision ― not everyone is aware of which department they need beforehand.

Record the company greeting and voice menu. Of course, the system has to playback something, and it should be adequate. You have two options here: use standard (downloaded) speech samples or record on your own. The first variant is ideal for people who prefer unsophisticated out-of-the-box solutions. The advantages are professional sound quality and instant availability in exchange for personalization. The second option will suit owners of non-standard department arrangement and those who want to differ from competitors.

Various companies offer high-quality sound recording by professional voice actors. They will ensure that sound properties are close to ideal and the speech is free of regional accents or pronunciation mistakes. Surely, it is the best, but costly way. The DIY variant is also possible either by means of rental equipment in a studio or at home/office. However simple it may seem, the recording process is quite painstaking and the resulting product requires additional software processing (reduce noise, tune pitch, etc.). An interesting fact: according to scientists, a male voice is easier to distinguish, because it is lower than female.

Note: Descriptions should precede numbers. Attention and memory span is extremely limited because ― at least for some people ― calling a company is a stress. That is why the first thing a caller hears should be a department description and only then the number to press. Instead of “Press 1 to talk with a sales representative” opt for “To speak to a sales representative, press 1.”

Test extensively. After you configure the system and activate it, it’s time to check it out. Never make any permanent changes to your communications model without proper testing. If, by chance, your company has remote employees all over the country, ask them to dial your virtual phone number. It would be good to test how the system works across different channels ― different mobile carriers, landline phones, VoIP (if supported). Does everything work properly? Then you’re ready to receive customer calls.

Note: Don’t forget to test all the items from the menu to ensure that call forwarding works as intended. Also pay attention to sound quality: the recorded speech should be understandable and, ideally, pleasant.

MightyCall is at your service

The size of your company doesn’t matter. The field of your business doesn’t matter. Even your budget doesn’t matter. What matters is that you wish to have a top-notch, yet affordable, call processing solution. Look no further than Mighty Call, a virtual phone number provider with a host of advanced features. With additional equipment needed, subscribe now and get superhuman communicational abilities:

• To forward calls to any device
• To use a local, toll-free or vanity virtual phone number
• To customize your voice menu and IVR at your whim
• To ring multiple phones at the same time
• To monitor all your communications
• To mask your number and screen inbound calls
• To access all communications channels through an exclusive mobile app
• To assign tasks on the go

…. And many other powers described at our Features page. Don’t hesitate to become a true master of efficient interaction with MightyCall.

The post How To Create a Voice Menu Your Customers Will Love first appeared on MightyCall.

In this article we cover:

• why a restaurant needs a call center software solution;
• making reservations with the help of a restaurant call center;
• managing customers’ feedback with the help of call center software.

What’s on the menu for restaurants in the next year? Rising food and labor costs, increasing competition, and less-than-robust growth, for starters.

A recent forecast from Technomic predicts three percent sales growth among U.S. restaurants in 2014 and 2015, which translates to a slight decrease of four percent with inflation factored in.

Some restaurants are thriving, of course, especially in foodie havens such as New York and San Francisco. But others — especially small “Mom and Pop” eateries — continually struggle to stay competitive in today’s slowly recovering economy.

Why a restaurant needs a call center software solution

A standard phone system has fallen behind for most small businesses. VoIP services advantages speak for themselves:

• High-quality communication is many times better than any telephone channel. Even a perfectly-trained hostess can’t work their professional magic if the phone connection is bad.
• Any device with internet connection can become your phone.
• The cost of all calls is notably low.
• IP keeps corporate conversations confidential.
• Additional features: rich media service, voice menu, conference calls, auto dial, etc.

Besides that, a business number binds all staff: manager, accountant, marketing specialist, IT and others. Everyone has personal extension phone number. As a restaurant rarely has space for a back office to gather all team members for a work meeting, a conference call is a solution for business maintenance while staying where they usually work.

Everybody knows: first impressions are half the battle. Like in any business, a restaurant’s professional look commonly determines clients’ choice. A business phone number is an “icing on the cake.” It’s engaging to have an easy-to-remember number, or even a number presenting the motto of the restaurant or its name.

Making reservations with the help of a restaurant call centre

At any restaurant, the staff is generally busiest before and during lunch and dinner. Typically, this is also peak time for incoming calls, as customers phone in to book a table for the upcoming meal.

During these peak times, the host may be on the line with another caller or is away from the phone seating customers. The chances are good that many callers will go to voicemail. But they probably won’t leave a message. If a restaurant patron is trying to get a lunch reservation at 1 p.m., it’s already noon, and no one answers the phone at his first restaurant choice, he’s likely to hang up and call the next place on his list.

Nobody wins in that situation. The customer ends up booking a table at his second (or third) choice restaurant. And the restaurant that missed the call also missed a revenue opportunity.

If the restaurant used a cloud contact center software solution, calls could automatically be routed to available team members to avoid sending customers to voicemail. For example, if the reservationist doesn’t pick up the phone after two rings, the call can automatically be routed to another staff member in the restaurant.

Managing customers’ feedback: how call center software can help

As the lunch or dinner crowds begin to thin out, customers may update their Facebook or Twitter feeds with comments about their meal. Someone may rave about her pasta dish to Facebook friends — or rant on Twitter about the poor service she received.

Either way, it’s important for restaurants to monitor what’s being said about them in real-time and to respond within 20 minutes, if possible. When the comments are positive, you want to share them with your followers quickly and thank the customer for the great feedback. When customers voice complaints on social media, you want to address them immediately, too, to show you’re “listening” and to keep the situation under control.

A call center software solution can enable restaurants, or any business, to easily manage multiple communication channels — including phone calls as well as social media posts — and to have the appropriate team member respond right away.

Restaurants can also leverage cloud-based contact center software for proactive customer service. For more on that topic, see “Don’t Miss a Reservation Again”, “Learn How Proactive Customer Service Can Produce More Revenue” and “How Small Businesses Can Offer Proactive Customer Service.” Also, check out how Boke Bowl, a ramen noodle house, turned its contact center into a customer experience management tool.

The post How Restaurants Can Utilize Call Center Software first appeared on MightyCall.