Hosted PBX – How an IVR can help your Business

IVR or Interactive Voice Response is a telephony technology that is used mainly by businesses to filter calls, greet customers and many more. However did you know that the same technology can be used in a more clever and efficient way with a hosted PBX? Hosted PBX systems are known for the savings that it generates and unparalleled flexibility on top of smart and efficient features, but putting those factors aside you can highly benefit from an IVR alone if you can deploy it properly according to your business needs and since you are integrating it with a hosted PBX virtually anything is possible with regards to recordings and most service providers will not charge you a monthly fee to upkeep the feature just the set up fee compared to traditional means that a fixed monthly fee is involved. Greeting messages and menu system – Have you ever wanted a professional greeting message that will welcome callers to your business pretty much what big corporations do with their phones? You need not spend top dollar to have one all you need is a recording which you can either provide or have the professional voice actors of your service provider record settle a minimal set up fee and you can have your own professional greeting message in an instant! If greeting your callers is not enough then you can even have a menu system with multiple sub menu levels depending on your business’ needs and your preference. This will help you filter calls and allow the customers to be in touch with the right person and the right department with just a few press of a button. On hold messages – Nobody wants to be put on hold but sometimes it is just inevitable especially during busy times of the day so why not put a twist to your on hold messages and play a trivia or a music this will help keep callers relax and keep their cool while waiting. Custom messages on hold can also serve as an up sell avenue for you; you can play company news, new products and or services including promos so you will be hitting two birds with one stone. Automated booking system – For businesses who are running shuttle services, short stay apartments and the like an automated booking system is a must and a holy grail for phone system. With a hosted PBX having one is easy, you just need to provide your specific requirements to your service provider then they will take care of it and the best part is since it is a hosted solution a monthly fee to upkeep the service is not needed. Out of hour’s mode – Want to inform your callers about your business hours? Or out for a vacation? Then an out hours mode is right for you! Let’s say a call comes through after 5pm your phones will automatically play an IVR informing about your business hours and you will have the option to send the call directly to your voice mail or perhaps your mobile phone so you will never lose a sales lead ever again. There are other clever uses of an IVR which can be custom programmed with a hosted PBX, be sure to discuss with your service provider the various uses of the technology so you can decide which is suited for your needs and for your business.