Wouldn’t it be wonderful for your customers to call after hours and still be directed to the appropriate person! Even if your business is closed, that doesn’t mean that operations have to stop too. Phone.com (News - Alert) offers many great features with their Virtual Office phone system. When callers dial your business’s Phone.com Virtual Office number outside of your business hours, they are greeted with a after hour menu like the following:

 

“Thanks for calling! We are unavailable at this time. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. If you know the extension number of the person you are trying to leave a message for, you may dial it now. Press 1 for sales. Press 2 for customer service. Press 3 for the billing department. Press 9 for our Dial by Name Directory or stay on the line to leave a message.”

 

As part of Phone.com’s Virtual Office Business Phone Service, customers are offered the Dial-by-Name Directory feature. A computer generated auto-attendant voice will ask callers to enter the first or last name of the person they’re seeking, and then will read the person’s name and extension to the caller.

 

Customers can also set the Dial-by-Name Directory type! Set the Dial-by-Name Directory categorized by last name or by first name. When a caller dials into the Dial-by-Name Directory, they use their keypad to enter the first few letters of the party’s name, it’s that simple!

 

If there is a specific extension you do not want to include in the Dial-by-Name Directory, the option to opt out.

 

In order to provide caller’s access to the Dial-by-Name-Directory, you should set a Menu Option or rout the call via the Call Handling Rules to the Dial-by-Name-Directory.

 

Phone.com’s Virtual Office also has menu features to keep you and your business organized.  Customize each menu by name, such as “Sales Menu” or “Main Menu.” Choose or customize the outgoing message your callers will hear when they reach your menu. Save your callers the time by adding the optional feature, Extension Dial with your menu. Extension Dial is if a caller knows your direct extension, they can dial it at anytime while the menu is playing.

 

Each menu also allows an Invalid Entry Message in the event a caller dials a key that does not exist within your options. The caller would then hear, “I’m sorry, I did not understand your selection. Please try again” and is returned to the main menu. This feature is also optional.

 

Listen to a “Live” Menu Demo by dialing 888-868-8674! To learn more about this exiting product visit Phone.com’s Website or check out their channel, Virtual Office, on TMCnet. 

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