How Call Forwarding can Work for Your Business
Call forwarding has evolved. It’s gone from being a novelty to a potent business weapon—one you can use to enhance customer service, increase customer satisfaction and boosts annual revenues—all while making your company seem bigger and more flexible than you really are. In other words, it can help take your business to the next level.
Call forwarding, however, isn’t a panacea. Misused, it casts your business in a poor light with prospects and clients. That can cost your business. Using automated call forwarding, for example, can drive customers and prospects away, many of whom dislike talking with recordings instead of people. A cost-effective tool, call forwarding’s advantages far out weight its disadvantages.
What is Call Forwarding?
Call forwarding lets you switch calls made to one telephone number to another number. The number could belong to a smartphone, voicemail, or a number at another location—one hundred of miles from a central location
To initiate this service, you’ll need Interactive Voice Response (IVR)—an automated telephony system that interacts with callers, gathers information, and routes calls to the appropriate recipients.
Several types of call forwarding exist. What you choose depends mainly on your situation and needs. See below for descriptions of the basic types of call forwarding:
- Automated call forwarding — This type allows calls to be forwarded based on a set schedule. If you’re’ open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., your calls are automatically forwarded during that time. You can also have calls forwarded on specific days. Put simply, you control when you want calls transferred to you.
- Find me call forwarding — This type is ideal if you’re on the road a lot. Calls go first to your office or central location. If you don’t answer, your system tries another number. If you fail to pick up, your system automatically transfers them to trained customer service people. You set the rules for where a call goes first.
- Manual call forwarding — With this type of service, you control when and where you want an answering service to get calls. You can forward them, for example, to an answering service when you’re in meetings, on vacation, or need a few hours quiet time to work on a critical project. Forwarding calls and taking them back is easy to do manually with the right system.
It’s critical with call forwarding that you choose an approach that fits your specific needs. You can even combine call forwarding types, if necessary. Singly or in-tandem, this telephone service works well in the right circumstances.
Advantages of Call Forwarding
Call forwarding lets you work smarter, not harder. It also lets you support prospects and clients 24/7, enhancing customer service and boosting customer satisfaction.
Call forwarding offers the following advantages:
Increases availability
Call forwarding makes you or your people available to help consumers even when you’re away. You can easily have calls forwarded to your cell phone, with customers and prospects never knowing you’re not in the office.
Eliminates voice mail
Many people dislike leaving voice mail messages. (Can’t say we blame them.) The messages aren’t private and the caller doesn’t know if the receiver gets the message. Call forwarding, on the other hand, bypasses voice mail for customers and prospects.
Boosts communication
Call forwarding boosts communication and mobility dramatically. You can have calls forwarded directly to a cell phone, making it easier for you to travel without reducing communication.
Expands presence
You can have several telephone numbers forwarded to a single location. Clients or prospects, for example, can call a toll-free number, which then transfers them to your main telephone line, switchboard, or answering service.
Permits continual monitoring
Some businesses, like emergency services, must have their phones monitored 24/7. If that sounds like you, call forwarding can help. Initiating call forwarding ensures you never miss a call with a prospect, customer, or client
Simplifies life
You’ll really appreciate this advantage if you’re a parent or a caretaker of someone elderly. You can be away from home to still get callbacks from physicians or other medical providers. You can have those calls forwarded to your cell. And you won’t have to file all your phone numbers with schools or other important offices.
Call forwarding isn’t a silver bullet. It won’t solve all your business or communication problems. But it is a potent weapon that can help you enhance customer service, boost customer satisfaction, and increase annual revenues when in initiated and used correctly.
