Are You Stuck in a Small Business "Groundhog Day?"

If you're anything like me, tomorrow will be spent celebrating Groundhog Day by watching the comedy movie of the same name. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Bill Murray classic, it is about a man who becomes trapped in a day-after-day repetition of the same events, occurring (you guessed it) on Groundhog Day. The only way he's able to break the cycle is to change aspects of his behavior that had been holding him back - both professionally and personally.

Does this sound a little familiar? Do you feel like your day-to-day at work is sometimes spent doing the same thing over and over again, and you wish you could break the cycle and have more time to spend on projects or new accounts? Well, we've got some tips on how to use Vocalocity's small business VoIP phone service to free up some time and help you become a little happier - weatherman or not.

CRM Integrations

One of the reasons we created the MethodCRM, Microsoft Dynamics and Sugar CRM plugins is because we feel your pain - we know it's no fun having to wake up at 6:00 AM just to spend the day constantly opening a piece of software and struggling to find your caller's information each time you need to make a note about a conversation.

With each of our CRM plugins, your preferred CRM will actually launch with each and every phone call. It'll automatically bring up your caller's information within your preferred CRM system so you can quickly take notes about the call, look up billing history or do whatever else you need to do in order to have a more productive and personalized phone call. For example, when Nancy Taylor calls in, an automatic screen pop can show your "notes" section of the account, reminding you that you sat next to her in Mrs. Walsh's high school English class and that she signed on as a client after your last reunion.

Call Announce

Our latest included feature, Call Announce, will actually announce the path of your inbound call once you've configured your settings. If you run a music school, you can configure your Virtual Receptionist to have an option dedicated to "New Students" or "Piano Lessons" so your phone can notify you that an incoming caller is hoping to talk about lessons, pricing and availability.

7-Digit Dialing

Tired of typing in the same area code, sales call after sales call? With Vocalocity's 7-Digit Dialing feature, you can actually configure your phone to call out when you enter only the last seven digits of a phone number. It's perfect for offices that deal exclusively with local business. If you're a local insurance agent like Ned Ryerson, it's a great way to quickly and routinely stay connected with local clients without having to follow them down the street. Current customer? Learn how to set up 7-Digit Dialing today.

Click to Dial

Or, if you're the type of person who has to make dozens or maybe even hundreds of calls a day, save yourself the effort of pressing that dialpad at all by using the helpful Click to Dial feature. Let's say you run a bed and breakfast and you're calling your list of upcoming bookings to confirm their reservation. Instead of dialing each of the 200 numbers on your spreadsheet, you can actually just click their number from your computer and your Vocalocity phone will automatically connect your call. You can download Click to Dial from the product page.

If you're not using these great features you've got to charge the opportunity like a bull! Do you have questions about other ways you can use Vocalocity's small business VoIP phone service to work more effectively? Just leave us a comment below, and we'll comment back. We got you, babe. *

*There are seven hidden Groundhog Day references in this post. If it seems a little confusing, check out the movie!