VOICE MESSAGING APPLICATIONS BY VERTICAL MARKETS
Here's a quick rundown on just a few of the ways people are using voice mail to enhance their businesses. It encompasses a lot of different industries and internal boundaries. If you have a specific application please call for a free consultation. Custom applications is our specialty and is what distinguishes us from the competition.
• Accounting: Store sensitive payroll information safely and securely in specially code protected mail boxes; deliver employee benefit, tax code and bank transfer information quickly and easily by depositing it directly into their mailboxes; collect inquiries and provide information about expense reports, vacation schedules and tax information without interruption.
• Construction: Subcontractors can be assigned mailboxes for the duration of a job, making them and the contractor readily available during construction; suppliers can schedule deliveries and provide contractors with information on material availability, even though the contractors are out on a job site; utility hookups can be scheduled and confirmed without having to make multiple telephone calls; Realtors and prospective buyers can schedule appointments without interrupting the daily work schedule.
• Customer Service: Reduce the holding time and project an image of reliability and courtesy; allow callers to transfer themselves to the desired department; service requests can be directed to repair personnel, orders to the sales department and billing questions to the credit department; provide new product/service information with customized audiotex bulletin boards; let callers reach their desired party through the use of on-line directories; collect new customer information in the event a live representative is unavailable.
• Engineering: Deliver development time info to product managers and marketing personnel; provide accurate technical specifications in a spec. mailbox to prevent the distribution of incorrect and possibly costly information; exchange information about equipment availability without delay; increase engineer availability without costly interruptions; speed the delivery of laboratory reports and results.
• Insurance: Policy information, underwriter's reports, claims processing and billing updates can be reported with a single call; inquiries from policy holders can be delivered in detail, allowing claims personnel to be fully prepared when returning their calls; agents don't miss leads because they're out of the office; agents can use voice mail in the evening to review the day's messages and catch up on needed information and questions. Agents are never out of touch with the office. They can call the system whenever convenient to retrieve their messages.
• Investments: Clients can always be sure their stockbrokers receive their messages accurately and on time, even though brokers are usually on the phone; special clients may be assigned mailboxes and the broker can leave group messages for them when particular investments look good; last minute financial decisions can be delivered to brokers, even after hours or between different time zones; corporate updates and information about mergers and acquisitions can be delivered to voice mail as soon as they are available.
• Law: Clients can stay in touch with their attorneys at all hours of the day (trouble never strikes when it's convenient); clients often won't leave information with receptionists or secretaries but with voice mail, confidential client information can be delivered privately; voice mail messages are accurate.
• Management: Spend less time in meetings by using special meeting mailboxes to broadcast agendas; concentrate on managing instead of memo writing; memos can't "record" the tone of your voice or your inflections; communicate the subtle, yet sometimes most important, aspects of a message to an employee; increase communication with employees and spend less time doing it. You'll cut down on wasteful chit chat when you leave voice messages. You'll find it easier to get "right to the point" and be more professional.
• Manufacturing: Update important production and shipping information and broadcast it to vital personnel; report inventories and production schedules to keep everyone synchronized; deliver test results to product managers.
• Medicine: Doctor's offices, clinics and nursing homes can report office hours, emergency numbers or patient status; medical personnel can be "on-call" all the time and physicians need not deal with a receptionist in order to exchange information; patients reluctant to give personal medical information to a receptionist can leave it directly in a confidential mailbox; doctors can get immediate and accurate reports on test results and/or medications.
• Outside Services: Messages are time and date stamped and trouble-shooters can hear descriptions of problems in the customer's own words; a single dispatcher can do more work because they can spend more time answering inbound customer calls instead of locating service personnel or requesting status updates; assignment schedules, routes, and changes can be posted with distribution list mailboxes in lieu of contacting personnel by telephone or memo; technical product data and changes can be quickly distributed to mobile field personnel.
• Purchasing: Help get competitive pricing and faster deliveries; store quantity, pricing, and contract information; assign mailboxes to regular vendors so they can "reach" the company around the clock; streamline interdepartmental communications by cutting the time lag between ordering and purchasing supplies.
Real Estate: Since timing is essential, buyers and sellers can stay in touch using voice mail; special databases can be maintained to help find the right property for a client; you could have a menu directory for studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, duplex and townhouse listings, for example; sales people frequently out of the office can be kept up to date on lending rates, discounts and escrow information; private mailboxes guarantee that opportunities for new listings are never lost because of inaccurate or undelivered messages; mailboxes can be used to order signs, supplies, business cards, etc.
• Sales and Marketing: Put "non-selling" time to work for field sales staff (even if sales reps are out to lunch, working on a contract or on the road, they can still be collecting leads); allow branch officers to keep in touch outside business hours (don't let the constraints of the nine-to-five business day ruin a potentially lucrative deal); deliver price and availability information with a single call.
• Transportation: Drivers can access a voice mail system at any time while not having to worry about business hour constraints or the difference in time zones; truckers can communicate vital information or problems to their co-workers in the office and the one-way information is dispensed quickly; information can be communicated on a regional level and long distance phone calls are shortened, saving money; drivers don't have to spend valuable time waiting on hold to speak with someone about schedules, routes or other information.