Integrating your Call Tracking Virtual Numbers with the IVR Auto Attendants: Instant Voicemail!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
By Jeff Spisak
So you’ve finally decided to purchase some call tracking numbers. Let’s say you have one on your website and one on a billboard just above the old town square (yes, some towns still have them!) Both numbers will forward to your main business line, and callers will be none the wiser. But you will be. Now you play the waiting game. Which number will generate more calls? CallFire’s call tracking products will certainly record every incoming call, but they can’t answer if you’re not there. Wait, all that time and energy to get the incoming call, and it’s all for naught! Have no fear, the CallFire IVR is here! For the same price as “basic” call-tracking (simple number-to-number forwarding), you can route your number through the CallFire IVR and, in so doing, reap the benefits of a whole host of useful features.
Let’s consider some of the advantages of using an IVR auto attendant with your inbound local phone number. Firstly, you can incorporate a voice mail module to capture messages when you are not around to pick up the phone. CallFire provides a simple out-of-the-box voicemail box for just this purpose. Your callers leave a message which is recorded in the call logs, and we can even email you the sound file right away. To further customize your numbers, why not consider using a timeout in conjunction with an after-hours time setting? For example, allow your call forwarding number to ring several times before playing a message that “all lines are busy” and sending your callers to voice mail. This is ideal for the busy working day, but what about after-hours or on the weekend? Simply program the IVR to send calls at certain times directly to an after- hours message. Not only convenient for you, it gives your callers the impression that you will be attentive to their needs 24/7. A second advantage of the IVR is the ability to forward to multiple numbers. You can specify a particular order of transfer, or have multiple numbers ring at once. This is beneficial when you have several employees or agents around who can take the call, and by having each of their extensions ring, you lower the chances of losing the call or seeing it go to voice mail. Normally, when a call is transferred, you will see the caller ID of the incoming caller. Now while CallFire will always record this, we do not necessarily need to display it on the incoming call. With the IVR, you can specify the caller ID so that your employees will know where the incoming call is coming from before they pick up, and tailor their pitch accordingly. Have all your Google-directed callers appear as 5552222222 and your Yahoo-driven ads display 9991111111. You will know at a glance how the caller got your number and what they are looking to hear. These are just some of the many different ways you can integrate your call tracking virtual numbers with an IVR auto attendant. Here are some additional resources to learn about call tracking and IVR virtual receptionists.
So you’ve finally decided to purchase some call tracking numbers. Let’s say you have one on your website and one on a billboard just above the old town square (yes, some towns still have them!) Both numbers will forward to your main business line, and callers will be none the wiser. But you will be. Now you play the waiting game. Which number will generate more calls? CallFire’s call tracking products will certainly record every incoming call, but they can’t answer if you’re not there. Wait, all that time and energy to get the incoming call, and it’s all for naught! Have no fear, the CallFire IVR is here! For the same price as “basic” call-tracking (simple number-to-number forwarding), you can route your number through the CallFire IVR and, in so doing, reap the benefits of a whole host of useful features.