Automatically “check in” with customers every month

Posted on July 27, 2011 | By Voicent Customer Service

This is an excellent idea generated by a user, who asked:

“Do you offer something that would automatically call our accounts each month and, if there is no answer, leave a pre-recorded message, and, if there is an answer, give the call to one of our reps?”

Why, yes, we have just the thing! Voicent’s AgentDialer predictive dialer will automatically dial the numbers of your customers, then leave a personalized message, e.g., “Hi, Mr. Jackson, this is Acme Office Supply calling to see if you need anything. ”

If the recipient answers, AgentDialer pops up a window on the computer of one of your reps so he or she can answer the live call.

You could also use Voicent’s BroadcastByPhone auto-dialer tool the same way, except that if a live person answers, they could be prompted to press a key if they want to speak with a live agent.

With BroadcastByPhone, the live call can actually be transferred to a cell phone, meaning a live agent would not have to be sitting by a computer ready to take live calls.

Posted in Communication Best Practices, SMB Marketing tips |

VoIP and SMS are fast growing but still a tiny part of world’s mobile data traffic

Posted on July 26, 2011 | By Voicent Customer Service

Mobile data traffic grew 77 percent over the past year, according to a GigaOM report published by Reuters. That growth rate far out-stripped the growth rate of fixed networks, according to the report, which cited research conducted by Allot Communications and based on information the network management vendor collected from mobile networks representing more than 250 million customers around the world.

Not surprisingly, video–especially YouTube’s–were consuming the lion’s share of mobile bandwidth. YouTube videos alone accounted for more than one-fifth of all bandwidth consumed. All told, video watching eats up about 39 percent of mobile bandwidth.

SMS and VoIP grew even faster than video–more than doubling in the first half of 2011, but still only accounts for about four percent of total bandwidth usage.

Rounding out mobile bandwidth usage was P2P file sharing (29 percent) and web-browsing (25 percent).

Posted in SMS marketing |

Will AutoReminder appointment reminder work for office with multiple practitioners?

Posted on July 26, 2011 | By Voicent Customer Service

Voicent’s AutoReminder automated appointment reminder software is great for single-practice professional offices. But what about offices that have five separate practices all sharing the same office staff?

Then, it’s not so much great as it is FABULOUSLY FANTASTIC!

Ahem. Sorry. But think about it: AutoReminder automates the tedious, mind-numbing, soul-crushing, time-consuming but utterly essential chore of telephoning patients to remind them of approaching appointments. Without these reminders, no-shows and wasted office hours skyrocket.

With AutoReminder, an automated reminder telephone call is set up as an appointment is made. Then, the call is placed and a confirmation is recorded all without staff involvement. There’s no wasted staff time looking up numbers, dialing phones, waiting for answers, dealing with busy lines or tracking call schedules.

That’s an incredible time- and money-saver when you consider the staff time consumed by that chore.  Factor in an office of five practitioners and, well, the savings increase by a factor of five.

Setting up AutoReminder for multiple-user support is a snap. Simply purchase a 5-user license. You’ll then be able to add a calendar and personalized reminder message for each practitioner. Appointment displays will be color-coded for each practitioner, making at-a-glance management possible.

Calendar filters enable you to quickly view select practitioners’ appointments, and the software will generate separate call-reminder reports for each practitioner.  Purchase an enterprise version of AutoReminder and you’ll even be able to handle multiple office locations.

Simple, eh?

Posted in Automated appointment reminders, How to |