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In the aftermath of disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, or events like the New York Transit Strike, businesses can keep phone calls coming in if they plan ahead.

A disaster recovery plan can keep businesses operating even in the event of widespread power outages, transportation strikes, or natural disasters. Business telephone systems can be backed up and distributed to remote locations.

“In watching the news break after hurricane Katrina hit and the flooding started in New Orleans I noticed only one building lit up at night and that was Bell South, said Trinidad. “Bell South had a power generator on the roof plus it also had a major battery back up system in the local central office. This is significant because calls could be re-routed. Realizing that the central office was still up I immediately went our customer West Way Holdings to let them know we could transfer the main numbers on their T1 to route to a another location. They would not miss calls. This is true for most businesses that have T1 , PRI or 800 numbers. Having a fail safe routing plan is essential to avert catastrophe.”

Fail safe routing is having a plan to which in the event of a catastrophe phone calls can be re-routed. It could be as sophisticated as having a full disaster recovery plan in which you might have a back up voip phone system in waiting to allow your office to become virtual or as simple as having calls re-routed to a cell phone. Having a fail safe routing plan is a must for all businesses. You don’t have to operate on a fault line or on the coast to have a plan in place. Fail safe routing can protect your business when a cable has been cut and your phone service with it.

A fail safe plan should contain a few things:

Escalation phone number list. This list should contain the phone numbers of both your phone company and PBX vendor. It should have the names and numbers of everyone up the ladder. The higher you can get it the better. You are probably going to receive faster resolution to your problem if you have the VP of Services’ number then just the customer service number.

Have a designated number to which you can receive calls in case of phone service interruption. You should talk with your carrier ahead of time so they have the number as well. Some carriers like Globalcom in Chicago offer this as part of their service. When they detect an outage they automatically send calls to another number. Do not assume a carrier will offer this to you in the event of an outage. On recent service call we received from a new customer who had been completely with out phone service for the day we asked the carrier why they had not offered fail safe routing to the customer , who had two other locations, they said ” they never asked us to”.

Make sure the plan is in the hands of a few key people. When problems occur it’s always at an inconvenient time. Make sure everyone knows the drill.
Other things to consider is having a full disaster recovery plan. PD Management recently added a disaster recovery plan which included a fully loaded phone system that could be dropped shipped and set up in days notice. When asking Joani Baskins the PBX manager about it she said ” it is essential to our business operations to keep phone service up in the event of a hurricane”. PD Management has locations in Texas and Louisiana.

Having a VOIP phone system set up as a back up system could enable a company to work virtually. Workers could work from home or other locations with VoIP enabled phones or PCs with softphones. Avaya IP Office is a VOIP phone system that can be set up and installed as a virtual PBX. It offers both VoIP phone sets and softphones.

Telcom & Data is a nationwide business telecommunications equipment and service provider based in Chicago. In addition to phone system service, Telcom & Data sells Plantronics Bluetooth Headsets and Avaya Telephone Systems for small, medium, and large businesses. If you would like more information on fail safe routing call 800-335-0229 or visit us on line at www.telcom-data.com

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Contact: Ricardo Trinidad
Phone: 312-432-1192 x152
Email: [email protected]

Working from home is becoming a great way to cut down on travel time, stress, fuel costs and is becoming a major employee benefit. Implementing work from home technology is easier then ever. Microsoft's Windows XP already includes a program for remote access to your office PC. The other key component is the office phone. Being able to work transparently is essential to your working from home. But adding this component is easy. First you need high speed internet access in the form of DSL or cable.

The next thing you will want to explore is adding either a VOIP enabled phone system or adding VOIP to your existing phone system. VOIP technology allows you to harness the features and benefits of your company's phone system remotely. Dialing from your office's phone lines, having calls transferred, checking voice mail, intercom and conference calling are all typical system features needed to work successfully from home.

VOIP enabled phone systems offer the most flexibility. Pure IP based phone sets can be taken from office to home office providing the same functionality whether you're providing customer service, sales support or happen to be the operator. A Softphone is essentially software that can be loaded on to laptops to provide a mobile IP phone solution. Add a wireless card and connect to your office from any Starbucks or other wireless hot spot. From a USB headset you can connect to the office and intercom , page dial out, transfer and receive calls all while sipping your Grande Latte. Do you have a road warrior in your office? Check out Avaya's affordable IP Office System that delivers powerful phone system features from two phones to 360 phones.

If you have an existing phone system you can also easily and affordably add VOIP. There are two solutions that are very unique. One solution (MCK) allows connectivity of proprietary digital sets, the other solution (Multitech) allows you to use any analog phone or allows you to connect two or more office phone systems to allow transparency to outside callers.

MCK provides a great solution for Avaya and Nortel phone system users. MCK provides a device that enables a company to use proprietary phone sets such as the Avaya Magix or Definity 8400 series phones. The MCK solutions are great for both the home office or branch office. One phone to twenty-four phones can be connected to digital phone ports off the main company system to the remote location for seamless VOIP connectivity. It's like having a really long phone cord from one office to another except the phone cord is the public internet.

If you are looking for VOIP on the cheap, check out Multitech's VOIP Voice and Fax Gateways. If you have an Avaya Definity, Merlin Magix, Partner, Merlin Legend or any other phone system, you can add VOIP functionality to your existing phone system while protecting the investments you’ve already made. Connect remote offices and home offices to your phone system. Our Voice over IP gateways integrate voice and fax communications to allow remote offices connectivity to your phone system. Allow remote offices to bypass toll expenses by using the internet to transfer calls and intercom each other. Work from home with Multitech and use the features of your office system. Dial 9 to make a call, have calls transferred to you seamlessly, intercom and page just like you were in the office.

There are hundreds of reasons to enable workers to work from home including, working mothers, executives needing more perks, transit strikes, or the threat of the Avian Flu pandemic.

If you're thinking about VOIP you are not alone. VOIP is one of the hottest technologies available. We can show you how your company can take advantage of voice over internet protocol.
Call us at 1-800-335-0229 ext 152 to get a FREE Working From Home Telephone System Quote.

Avaya Phone System Maintenance Support and Service

If you have purchased an AT&T, Lucent or Avaya manufactured phone system or voice mail system you might have also had a maintenance agreement. The maintenance agreement could have been from AT&T, Lucent Expanets or now Avaya. Avaya purchased Expanets in 2003.

Chances are if your phone system is passed it’s prime Avaya may have discontinued or limited the scope of Maintenance Services for your phone system. Once Avaya has declared "end of life," "end of service," "end of support," "manufacture discontinue" or similar designation ("End of Support") you were pretty much out of luck in getting your system serviced by Avaya. However you can still receive expert support from Telcom & Data. Telcom & Data offers maintenance services for most AVAYA end of support products.

Systems that we still support and maintain include:

Definity PBX All Versions
Merlin Legend
Merlin Magix
Merlin 410, 820, 10/30 30/70
Spirit 308/616 and 12/24
System 25 and 75.
Merlin Mail
Merlin Messaging
Audix
Intuity Audix

If your company still has one of these systems and you require a service maintenance agreement or a certified technician call Telcom & Data at 800-335-0229. Service calls start at only $ 125.00 per hour with only a one hour minimum. To receive a fast maintenance quote click here. http://www.telcom-data.com/phone-maintenance.aspx

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), one of the world's leading providers of unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced an expansion of its relationship with Microsoft to include compatibility between Polycom's industry-leading visual communications solutions and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.Polycom currently offers a broad portfolio of integrated high definition (HD) voice and visual communications solutions, including telepresence, for Microsoft unified communications platform, including a complete line of phones designed specifically for Office Communications Server 2007.
"Our expanded integration with Office Communications Server 2007 supports Polycom's VC2 strategy that moves customers from traditional video conferencing to tightly integrated visual communications solutions that are simpler to use and manage and deliver a better user experience," said Joe Sigrist, senior vice president and general manager of video solutions at Polycom. "Polycom's solutions work with Office Communications Server 2007 and will allow users to launch HD voice, video and telepresence calls intuitively using the contact list within Microsoft Office Communicator 2007, presence-enabled Microsoft applications and on Polycom video endpoints. It will also give IT managers a tightly integrated solution that can be easily deployed and effectively managed within their Microsoft unified communications environment."

"Delivering the next generation of communications requires high impact solutions that work across a customer's infrastructure," said Eric Swift, senior director, Unified Communications Group, at Microsoft Corp. "Polycom's delivery of voice and video solutions for Office Communications Server 2007 expands the reach of audio and video conferencing to the broader organization so information workers can connect and collaborate beyond the conference room walls."

Polycom endpoints and infrastructure will connect to Office Communications Server 2007 using the session initiation protocol (SIP) and will allow seamless video calling with desktop video collaboration applications, high definition (HD) visual communications endpoints and telepresence solutions, providing users with powerful, one-click video collaboration within Microsoft unified communications platform either from a contact list, as an escalation of an instant messaging session, or as part of a communications enabled business process. Making optimal use of the Microsoft unified communications platform, Polycom's integration will also enhance the customer's ability to deploy video communication seamlessly and securely across corporate boundaries.

Polycom solutions will register, authenticate and share presence information with Office Communications Server 2007, allowing users in the Office Communications Server 2007 network to see the presence status of Polycom video endpoints, for example on their Office Communicator 2007 client or on a presence-enabled IP phone. Users of Polycom video endpoints will also see the presence status of others users in the Office Communications Server 2007 domain. This integration makes it simple for users to launch video calls by clicking on presence-enabled contacts. Polycom will also include visual communications solutions supporting Microsoft RT Video codec and RT Audio codec technologies, will allow users to schedule voice and video conferences within Microsoft Office Outlook, and will enable users to launch unified voice and/or video conferences. The solution will also allow users to connect with other standards-based video conferencing endpoints at the highest quality possible (including HD) and join users with different device types (voice, video) on different networks (i.e. IP, ISDN, PSTN) in the same call.

In addition to video solutions, Polycom offers a broad line of phones optimized for Office Communicator 2007, which includes the CX 700 desktop IP phone, CX 200 desktop phone and CX 100 personal speakerphone. The phones deliver crystal-clear, high definition wideband audio and provide full, convenient access to the advanced presence-enabled features of the Office Communicator 2007.

For More Information on Polycom products call Ricardo Trinidad at 800-335-0229 x 152. Or visit us on line at www.polycom-products.com

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the world’s leading provider of unified collaborative communications solutions, today announced general availability of new Polycom HDX high definition (HD) video collaboration solutions, including the HDX 8000™ series for medium and small-sized meeting rooms, and the HDX 4000™ executive desktop system for the personal workspace. The new endpoints are best in class additions to the industry-leading HDX line and offer the only UltimateHD™ experience in their categories. Only solutions from Polycom deliver UltimateHD, the complete HD experience with HD video, HD voice and simultaneous HD content-sharing capabilities.
“The face-to-face experience using Polycom HDX video collaboration solutions is extremely effective and has brought our geographically dispersed teams closer and improved productivity,” said Sergio Soto, video teleconferencing supervisor at CoStar, a leading commercial real estate information company. “Video communications has become a critical collaboration tool for CoStar in many areas, and played a key role in the successful expansion of our operations from the U.S. into Europe, by enabling our teams to work closely despite the distance between them. The new HDX 8000 and HDX 4000 solutions will help us further expand the use of video at CoStar into additional meeting rooms, locations and executive offices.”

The HDX 8000 and HDX 4000 series complement the Polycom HDX 9000™ video conferencing solution for large meeting rooms, classrooms and integrated custom-room environments, and expand the industry’s only integrated and complete HD video collaboration portfolio, including HD video endpoints and systems, HD telepresence and immersive HD telepresence solutions, HD conferencing bridges, HD recording, streaming and playback systems (for both video and content), HD video content management, and integrated Polycom HD Voice endpoints. To assist customers deploying HD video conferencing, Polycom Global Services offers a comprehensive suite of HD Readiness services through channel partners -- from planning and design to evaluating and optimizing HD video performance on existing networks to standard maintenance, training and service options.

Additionally, all Polycom HDX video collaboration solutions now ship with HDX Version 2.0 software that features patent-pending Lost Packet Recovery (LPR) technology with breakthrough QoS for IP networks. LPR maximizes the quality of video, voice and content under tough network conditions common to public IP networks where packet loss and congestion are common. HDX Version 2.0 makes video conferencing more viable for home office workers, remote offices and field applications by providing the most consistent, highest-quality experience over DSL connections, cable modems, and more.

For more information on Polycom's new HD line of conferencing systems call Ricardo Trinidad at 800-335-0229 ext 152

Plantronics has released and is shipping some very nice new Bluetooth headsets. The Voyager line has expanded by 3 and the Discovery line has discontinued the 640e and replaced it with the 650e.

New Voyager headsets include the 520 the 815 and the 855.

The 520 and the 815 are all day comfort and have 8 and 7 hours (respectively) of talk time on a single charge. They have multipoint so they can both pair with multiple bluetooth devices. I have used them and they have excellent sound. The 815 has a telescoping boom that makes for clearer conversations and also serves to answer and end the call, which is very handy.

The Voyager 855 is same design as the 815 but with an added ear bud for listening to music. Please Note: It will only work if your (smart) phone has the A2DP profile which streams music wirelessly over a bluetooth connection. If you don’t have that profile you cannot listen to music on your bluetooth headset. You’ll have to check with your carrier to see if your phone has the A2DP profile.

If your company has a new headset roll out coming up and would like to evaluate our products to establish headset standards at your company please contact me. Evaluation units are available for that purpose.

Call or contact

Ricardo Trinidad 800-335-0229 ext 152 or visit us on line at www.telcom-headsets.com

The Plantronics M22 Audio Processors “formerly known as” the M12 or M22 Headset Amplifiers because they do so much more than just amplify the sound. They always have, we just forgot. This fact became apparent to me the other day in a live test in a contact center that was using direct connect cables on their VoIP phones and experiencing different types of audio issues. All of them were cleared up with the installation of an Audio Processor (amplifier) and there are added benefits that I’ll explain below. You should read this if you are connected to a Contact Center in any way. If you are not, please forward it to them. They might thank you!

Please note this article pertains to corded headsets. NOT wireless headsets. Wireless headsets have the Processor built in.

A little history. Years ago all phones needed an amplifier to make a headset work because phones were not wired for headsets. So everyone who needed a headset got an amplifier and the audio quality was excellent. Newer phones, most notably VoIP phones, were then designed with a jack for a headset that was wired to allow users to plug one in with a cable instead of an amp and save money! These phones have the amp built in so why buy one, right?

The reality is that although those phones do have rudimentary amplifiers built in, they just provide the rewiring necessary to make a headset work and add little value beyond that. If you are using a direct connect cable with your headset on a VoIP phone you know what I mean. If you are running a Contact Center using direct connect cables you really know what I’m talking about. In the Contact Center the deficits of the built in amp are magnified over all the agents and the cost of this money-saving solution becomes very apparent.

Issue number one is volume levels; the “amplification” provided by the amp. You don’t have very much control over that with a cable. You can turn up the volume on the phone but sometimes that’s not enough. Turning up the phone volume also turns up any hiss that is on the line along with the call volume. What if the person on the other end says you sound too low to them? No solution for that with a cable. What about a 3 way call where one caller’s volume is low and the other high? What can you do about that if you only have a volume button on the phone? What about acoustic shock? That’s a very loud noise that comes unexpectedly. It can happen over the phone. Fax machines, white noise, audio feedback etc. can all create sound spikes that hurt your ears. What does a phone amp and a direct connect cable do to protect people from this painful risk? Nothing. What about echo? That can happen on a VoIP system where the voice traffic is running over the data lines. VoIP phone HAND-sets are designed to reduce echo. No help here if you use a headset with a cable. The fact is that these are very real issues and they can all be solved with an Audio Processor.

Solving problems is great and in itself justification for the added expense of an Audio Processor but can we add other benefits as well? What if the Audio Processor automatically reduced the transmit volume (agent’s voice level) when the agent was not speaking thus complementing the noise canceling mike making it even more effective. The M22 does that. Can we do anything to actually increase call clarity and make it even better than the best handset conversation? We can! The Audio Processor moves the tonal range of the conversation up an octave. That’s like turning up the treble a little. Why? Because the human ear perceives sound in this range more clearly than it does in the mid or lower tonal range and that improves intelligibility. The person using an Audio Processor will understand the caller better and that can save time and reduce errors! Does it sound tinny? At first maybe. After 5 minutes, no.

What is the big problem with the Audio Processor? It costs more than a cable. “Holy Acoustic Shock, Batman! You mean these benefits come at a price? What about the budget??!!”

What about the budget? This is a very real problem too. All businesses encounter it whenever they want to spend more than a few dollars. Luckily most businesses are in the business of making money so anything that either makes them more or saves them some has a pretty good chance of being approved if the business case is strong. In fact the stronger the business case the faster the project will be funded because the organization will recognize that every minute of delay will result in lost revenue or unnecessary cost. (Businesses are so logical.)

So the problem becomes making the business case for the Audio Processor so that those in charge of the purse strings clearly understand the cost of not having them. Below are some ideas for making a strong case.

Due to the benefits described above Audio Processors save money by:

Improving productivity by reducing the length of the call. If the agent or the customer don’t have to ask each other to repeat what they said, the call will be shorter. How many seconds shorter? 5, 10, 20 seconds shorter? Multiply that by the number of calls per day then by the number of agents = hours saved per day/week/month/year = surprisingly high $$$. Shorter average call lengths mean each agent can handle one or two more calls per day multiplied by the number of agents and maybe you don’t need that additional headcount…
Reducing data input errors due to poor call clarity. What is the cost of an error? That depends on the business and on the error of course. If you track error rates and have an average cost this one is easy. If not, a little effort should result in a justifiable average like $25 per error. Just one error saved per agent per month can justify the investment in Audio Processors.
Eliminating any potential medical costs associated with hearing damage caused by acoustic shock. It can’t happen with an Audio Processor which reduces loud noises to safe levels in 6 milliseconds.
Reducing turnover. Let’s face it, if you were on the phone all day and the audio experience was less than completely comfortable and there was nothing you could do to improve it and you were shocked by loud noises occasionally and your boss was complaining about your error rate, you might look for a new job too.
Audio Processors make money by:

Saving it! See above.

Improving the customer experience because they can hear and be heard with no effort. If the audio experience is unpleasant due to low volume or loud background noise, customers will be dissatisfied with the experience and the company.
Reducing turnover, thus providing an experienced agent who is more able to maximize the revenue potential and/or improve customer satisfaction than a new employee.

So what can Plantronics do to help? How about a Promotion? It’s called the M22 12 pack trade up! Buy 12 M22 Audio Processors and get your choice of 3 more M22s or 1 Supra Plus Wireless unit if turn in 12 of your old cables or headset/amplifier combos.

By Bob Shay

Call Telcom & Data at 800-335-0229 for your Plantronics Headset needs! or visit us online at www.telcom-headsets.com

2007 Daylight Saving Time Changes

The United States and Canada recognize a new US Government policy regarding Daylight Saving Time. Starting in March 2007, Daylight Saving Time will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday of November. Below are instructions for updating your computer and phone systems.

Year DST Begins at 2 a.m. DST Ends at 2 a.m.
2006 April 2 October 29
2007 March 11 November 4
2008 March 9 November 2
2009 March 8 November 1
Update Your Computer System (Windows XP)

Your computer will need to be updated for the new DST (Daylight Saving Time) changes. You can find out exactly on how to do that by visiting Update Daylight Saving Time.

Update Your Date and Time On a Merlin Legend System

To change either the Date or the Time on the Legend system, you must program it from the main System Programming console (MLX-20L). This will change the Time or Date on all the display phones throughout the system, except the ATL (Analog) display sets. These phones must be programmed on each individual set.

How to change the Date in the Legend system:

Press Menu.
Press System Program.
Press Exit.
Press System.
Press Date.
Enter date in following format: mmddyy (where MM is the month, DD is the day, and YY is the year).
Press Enter.
Press Exit.
Press Home to exit programming mode.
How to change the Time in the Legend system:

Press Menu.
Press System Program.
Press Exit
Press System.
Press Time.
Enter the time in military/24 hour format: HH:MM (where HH is the hour, 01-24, and MM is minutes, 00-60).
Press Enter.
Press Exit
Press Home to exit programming mode.
To change the date, day or time on an ATL set:

All ATL display telephones have the ability to show the time, day, and date on the display.

Note: When you touch the Set button the first time, you will see the word ALARM in the display screen. If the Alarm is not to be set, press the Set button two more times until just the Hours and the A or P (A - AM, P - PM) are flashing in the display window. If you do not need to set a particular item, press Set to bypass it.

Press Set until the item you want to change flashes.
Press Fwd or Rev to advance or reverse the Time, Day or Date.
When you have the correct Time, Day or Date, press Set.
If you only want to set a particular item, such as Time, Day, or Date, press Exit after programming it.
If you have programmed them all (Time, Day and Date) just press Set not Exit. (If you press Exit, you will see four zeroes in the place of the Date. This is for the Timer. Press Exit again to display the corrected Time, Day and Date.)
Update Your Date and Time On a Merlin Magix System

The time and date is a system feature rather than an individual telephone feature.

To change the date in the Magix system, from the System Programming console:

Press Menu.
Press System Program.
Press Exit or Start.
Press System.
Press Date.
Enter date in following format: mmddyy (where MM is the month, DD is the day, and YY is the year).
Press Enter.
Press Exit or Back.
Press Home or Exit to exit programming mode.
To change the time in the Magix system, from the System Programming console:

Press Menu.
Press System Program.
Press Exit or Start.
Press System.
Press Time.
Enter the time in military/24 hour format: HH:MM (where HH is the hour, 01-24, and MM is minutes, 00-60).
Press Enter.
Press Exit or Back.
Press Home or Exit to exit programming mode.
Update Your Date and Time On a Partner ACS System

To program the System Time on Basic Partner Release 4.1:

This System Programming procedure sets the time that appears on system display phones.

Enter the time in 24-hour notation. In this scheme, the hours of the day are 0000 (12 midnight) to 2359 (11:59 p.m.). Since each time must have four digits, use leading zeros when necessary. For example, to set the time to 9:00 a.m., enter 0900. For 4:45 p.m., enter 1645.

The time appears on system display phones as a.m. or p.m. (not in 24-hour notation).

To change the System Time using a display phone at extension 10 or 11:

Press Feature 00. Press System Program (Left Intercom button). Press System Program (Left Intercom button). Press # 103. Enter the time in 24-hour notation. For example, to set the time to 2:15p.m., press 1415. A display similar to the following appears:

System Time Data 1415 Note: The time will appear on system display phones as 2:15p.

Select another procedure or press Feature 00 to exit programming mode.

VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol works. We are well beyond the wait and see of the technology and if your company is not embracing it, another company will be stealing your best employees with it. Offering VoIP to employees makes sense now more then ever. With commute times ever increasing, the sky rocketing cost of gas, and the environment, implementing a telecommuting company policy makes good business sense. The best reason to offer telecommuting is to attract and retain talent. Ask any employee what's important to them and the answer will be family. Telecommuting allows employees to spend more time with the family. Spending more family time provides employees with a better and less stressed life style. A happy employee is going to stay longer and be more productive. Offering telecommuting even on a part time basis can have a huge impact.

Who is using telecommuting now?
Check out www.workingmother.com for a list of the best companies to work for. All of the companies on the list offer telecommuting. The corporate consulting giant Accenture scored big with a recent ABC documentary about it's telecommuting policy. The ABC report focused on three companies including IBM, Accenture and a smaller company called Crayon. According to the report 42% of IBM employees telecommute saving the company over 100 million dollars annually on real estate. 92% of Accenture employees, with a work force of over 24,000, utilize telecommuting. Implementing telecommuting is easy and inexpensive. You don't have to fork over an arm and a leg to offer it. The price of VoIP phone systems have really come down and, with other features such as built in conference bridges, new IP based phone systems can pay for themselves with a short ROI. Other devices enable you to add VoIP to any existing phone system for an investment only a few hundred dollars. For more information on how your company can implement telecommuting check out http://www.telcom-data.com/voip-systems.aspx

From the desk of Ricardo Trinidad
1-800-335-0229

It is a banner time to reach out to telcommunications technology to help improve your business. The technology currently available used to be only available to Fortune 500 companies. Technology has improved and is affordable to any size company and able to help you create better customer relationships, improve productivity, lower costs and increase sales. In Jeffery Gitomer's excellent book "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless" (Bard Press), Mr. Gitomer explains in a powerful and fun approach how to make customers love you, keep them coming back and tell everyone they know about you. He calls it the WOW factor. In other words does your customer say WOW when thinking about or describing your company? As in so many businesses, everything starts with the first impression and in most cases that first impression is in the form of a phone call. There is much to be said about that first call and how it was answered. We have defined several areas to help improve upon that ever so important first impression. Everything begins with the first impression:

How was the customer’s initial call handled?
How many rings did it take for the call to be answered?
Was the caller greeted in a friendly and enthusiastic manner?
Are you able to listen to calls to ensure proper handling?
How many calls are you receiving?
How long are customers sitting on hold?
How many callers hang up after holding too long?
What are people listening to while hold?
When holding, did your customer receive information to help them make informed decisions about your company’s products and services or a radio commercial about your competitors company?
When the call came in, did you know it was your best customer or just another call?
When the call was transferred, did the customer end up in voice mail or did they speak to a live person?
Are you able to hold meetings for monitoring and reviewing customer calls?
Knowing the answers to these questions can make the difference between being memorable and being forgettable. It all begins with the first impression. If you don't know the answer to these questions, it’s time to talk to Telcom & Data about stepping up your game. Enhancing the complete customer service experience is paramount to staying in business. There are 3 types of customers - customers that are merely satisfied, customers who are dissatisfied, and customers who are WOWED. To learn more about giving your customers the WOW experience, contact Telcom & Data today at 800-335-0229 to receive a free consultation with an ROI analysis. Ask for our WOW solution!

From the desk of Ricardo Trinidad
President
Telcom & Data Inc.