Technology TransactionsThrow Out Your Answering Machine
Are you frustrated with your phone service? Are you still anchored to
answering machines and voice mail? Are you missing the opportunity to provide
quick, efficient service to your customers through an integrated phone system?
Have you ever lost a customer because of your phone system?
As local phone service providers inundate you with single phone user
services such as call waiting, caller I.D., and caller I.D.- call waiting, they
may be missing the big picture. A much larger opportunity exists to serve
customers - especially those with small businesses, in the office or at home.
Small businesses, even if they are only as large as one-man show, need
better business phone systems to compete. This is especially true for the
Realtor, who lives or dies by the expediency of his/her business equipment -
especially the phone.
Bizfon Inc. has introduced a new
integrated phone system that is so inexpensive and timely that the company is
even marketing it to local phone companies as a small business solution. It
particularly has some worthwhile solutions for the Realtor.
Bizfon’s primary product is a communications switch that incorporates call
management, voice mail, automated attendant, fax-on-demand and Internet access
in a single, low-cost package. With functionality previously found only in
expensive, complex systems requiring third party integration and support,
Bizfon provides everything the small business needs at a price it can afford.
Designed for companies of 25 persons or less, the Bizfon system includes a
basic system with four telephones (more can easily be added) for a purchase
price of under $1,000 or a monthly lease price of $35. What you get is a fully
digital communications switch, desktop telephones and installation services.
Bizfon has exactly what a small business needs to be competitive - voice
mail, caller ID, conference calling and professional call greeting and routing
capabilities.
How is this system different from the one your local phone company may be
offering as a small business solution? According to Bizfon president Michael
George, local servers offer what is called " Centrex services."
"With Centrex services it is very difficult to understand what you get and
what it costs. The fees for the services are based on the amount of usage so
you don"t know what the services will cost," says George. "Ours is a flat-fee
service."
Let"s say your office is closed on a Friday night. A client comes to town
and has decided to make an offer on a house. With Bizfon, the call is
transferred to your home or your car phone, and you don"t miss the call. The
caller also has the option of requesting information on demand. They can get
daily mortgage rates, new listings, or other information. It means the office
can be open 24 hours a day, whether you are in or not.
Another scenario - you are at a showing and your buyer is ready to make an
offer. Is that chandelier included? To make sure, you call the selling agent,
but can"t get her on the phone. Biz Phon will transfer you to her cell
phone. You have your answer and the sale can move forward.
The upshot is that whatever capabilities your office phone system has, you
will also get on the road. Bizfon also comes with a modem and Web server built
into it.
What about support? You know to dial 911 if you"re in trouble. When you are
having trouble or want to make a change on your Bizfon system, you dial 299. If
you are on the road and need to transfer your calls while you are out of town
and don"t happen to have your manual with you (and who wants to read one,
anyway?) you can access the call center at 299 and a customer service agent
will take care of transfering your calls for you, as well as any other system
configurations you may want.
You can pick and choose what you want in your phone system. The system is
easily upgradeable, and can also include caller ID, five-party digital
conferencing, automatic voice/fax switching, external paging, and both local
and remote call forwarding. The base system is expandable up to 24 incoming
lines and 32 phone extensions.
Each user of the system can specify how they wish their calls to be handled
when they are in the office, on the phone, or out of the office. Each user can
be notified of new messages by pager or telephone, day or night, ensuring that
when your office is closed it doesn’t have to sound like it is.
The system is plug-in ready. Answer a few questions, and you are ready to
make phone calls.
Welcome to a life without busy signals.
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