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Global Call Forwarding to Attend iFX Expo Asia 2023

Global Call Forwarding 13th June 2023 Press

We are thrilled to announce that Global Call Forwarding will be attending iFX Expo Asia 2023. As long-time attendees, the expo has been invaluable in helping us forge connections with …Read More »

10 Ways to Use Call Deflection to Improve Caller Experience

Vasudha 12th June 2023 blog

If you didn’t already know — over 50% of customers are likely to abandon one business for another after a single bad experience. Compare this to research that shows customers …Read More »

A New Area Code is Coming to South Florida – 645

Natalia Isabal 8th June 2023 blog

Collaborated with Luke Genoyer Miami is famously home to the iconic Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide — otherwise known as Pitbull. But now there’s a new show in town adding to …Read More »

How to Expand Your Business to Russia as a Foreigner

Virendra Singh Jaitawat 6th June 2023 Learn

Want to expand your business to Russia as a foreigner? You are in luck. Russia, the largest country in the world, is prime for new foreign investments. The country has …Read More »

Call Center Best Practices: 20 Proven Tips for 2024

Virendra Singh Jaitawat 3rd June 2023 Call Management, Tips

20 proven call center best practices for 2020.

Call centers are everywhere and if you want to up your game and become a reliable call center, then you need to make some changes. Here we outline 20 proven …Read More »

What is a Phone Extension? (Benefits & Use Cases)

Kim Sayers 30th May 2023 blog

It’s easy for important calls to get lost in the shuffle or for customers to get frustrated when trying to reach the right person. This is especially true if you …Read More »

How to Tweet-up Your Business

Corinna Underwood 18th March 2019 Learn, Tips

What do you mean you don’t have time to Tweet? If you are a savvy business owner, you should already have a Twitter account and know how to use it for marketing and networking your company. Here are just a few reasons why you need to Tweet-up your business:

Connect with your customers: Sending a potential customer a tweet after they have begun to follow your business is a very good way to increase customer appreciation and trust. You will also benefit from the fact that you can keep an eye on what your customers are tweeting about your business. This feedback is invaluable.
Access to free marketing: It takes but a few minutes for you to create a 140-character pitch for your company. At the click of a button, your message can instantly reach every single one of your followers who is online. And best of all, it’s basically free.
Keep customers updated: Of course, you know how important it is to keep your customers updated. Twitter is one of the best platforms to use for this because its messages are short and clear. So, it’s easy to use to keep your customers posted about your latest promotions, sales, and special offers your business is having.
Market your heart out: If you don’t think that Twitter is a great marketing tool you are very mistaken. In case you didn’t know, all tweets are indexed by Google, this means that they are a useful means of search engine optimization.
Build a community: Twitter is not only good for marketing and customer retention, but you can also use it to build a strong community. Use Twitter chats to connect with customers while also increasing your chances of getting favorites and retweets. These will boost your company’s visibility and give you the opportunity to get more customers.
Tweet-up your sales: Marketing surveys show that up to 60 percent of a brand’s followers are more likely to recommend products or make purchases after following a brand on Twitter. Twitter followers are also more likely to sign up for services or buy from the brands they are following.

If you haven’t started tweeting about your business yet, or you want to make sure you’re getting the most from Twitter, here are some tips to help you out.

customers shopping — Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100009306753

Check Out the Competition

Search Twitter for companies similar to yours and start to follow them. Check out how often they tweet, what they tweet about, and what other content they post links to. This will give you a reference frame from which to choose how to manage your own account, and it will also help you get an edge on your competitors by staying one step ahead of their game.

Setting up your account

Make sure you use a good profile picture of yourself or your company logo. Many people will not follow users without one. Fill in your biography details as most new followers check out bios. If you don’t take the time to make it interesting, why should anyone follow you?

Use Twitter Lists

Twitter Lists are a neat built-in tool that enables you to organize your followers and their tweets into specific groups. You can also sort your lists into public or private groups that only you can view. Lists allow you to use Twitter to deliver information globally to everyone and locally to your target groups. You can also automate tweets to match specific time zones.

What to Tweet About

Post crisp and concise sound bites that are 100 words or less, so that followers can read them quickly and remember them. Use hashtags (#). A hashtag which directly precedes a word or phrase has a number of beneficial uses. Place one before the name of your company or brand (#mybusiness) to improve the chances of other tweeters finding it via a targeted search. You can also ask users to include them in their tweets as part of a marketing campaign.

Monitoring Your Competitors

You can use Twitter search to check up on your competitors and see what people are saying about them. But bear in mind, if you’re on Twitter, your competitors are probably keeping an eye on you and your followers too.

Making the Most of Marketing

Twitter is also a great way to get feedback about your business. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and always answer promptly when you are asked for information. As well as talking about your products and services, promote those of others, as this can help get retweets from other people to expand your network. Post links to interesting information and news relating to your business. Don’t forget, Twitter helps you maintain a global human connection; share some information about yourself to develop strong connections.

Don’t sweat too much about your number of followers. If you keep your posts regular, informative and honest, you should soon develop a steady following that benefits your business and marketing efforts all around.

How To Keep Your Customers Close

Corinna Underwood 18th March 2019 Learn, Tech, Tips

In these days of rapidly changing, competitive business markets, customer retention is crucial to business success. The way you treat your customers, could, in fact, be one the of the key factors which differentiate you from your competitors. Here is a rundown on some of the best strategies for keeping your customers close no matter what type of business you run.

Reward your customers: Loyal customers deserve something in return. Send them a gift, offer them a discount, make purchasing with your company a continuously pleasurable experience. If they are business owners, give them a lead.

Use their services: If your customers are business owners too, use their services or buy their products. This is a great way to build loyalty.

Show your thanks: Make sure you show your appreciation to loyal customers by sending them a thank you note on a regular basis.

lady holding shirt — Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100213196672

Be prompt: Don’t beat around the bush when it comes to returning calls. Call your customers back as soon as you can.
Be true to your word: Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you state you’re going to do something, do everything possible to follow through.
Don’t be tardy: Always do something when you said you were going to do it. If, for some reason, you can’t stick to the arranged schedule, let your customer know as soon as possible.
Be accessible: Show your customers that you are always available if they need to communicate with you. You should always be open to meeting with your customers if they wish to see you.
Be trustworthy: It’s important that you establish your credibility straight away. Otherwise, potential customers will drift over to your competitors.
Stay in touch: Bear in mind that your best customers are the ones you have now. Don’t take them for granted. Stay abreast of their wants and needs.
Be able to apologize: Sometimes things unavoidably go wrong. Always be ready to apologize but saying sorry isn’t enough. Have a gift you can send to customers when you make a mistake.
Make business a pleasure: Make it easy and pleasurable for your customers to do business with you. Make sure your business practices are for the convenience of the customer, not just your own. The more enjoyable it is for customers to do business with you, the more business you will have.
Get to know your customers: A great way to do this is to set up a customer advisory team. The team can collect and collate information about your customers’ needs and wants so that you can develop a more customer-oriented business.
Be a solid resource: Whatever your customer needs, make sure you can get it. This applies even if it is something unconnected to your business.
Speak your customers’ language: Don’t fall into the trap of using jargon or terms that your customers will not understand. Keep things simple without talking down to them.
Maintain a good attitude: Always be kind and patient with your customers, this will increase customer loyalty. Never be indifferent towards them.
Maintain a mobile state of mind: Remember, these days, customers interact with businesses on mobile devices more frequently than ever. Make sure that you provide your customers with a positive mobile experience.
Offer limited time promotions: This is a good way to keep customers coming back, especially if you’re discounting products that they buy frequently. You can highlight promotions at the checkout stage.
Stay social: Social media offers unique platforms for staying in touch with your customers. You can keep them posted about sales and special offers, as well as new products and services. You can also get feedback from them.
Engage relevantly: Your company must be able to engage relevantly with your customers. Otherwise, your brand will be letting you down. For example, in the case of cart abandonment, you can send a follow-up email to encourage the customer to complete the purchase and also set up recommendations for future purchases.
Celebrate occasions: Don’t just celebrate holidays with your customers, try to find out when their birthdays are, even if you are in different parts of the world. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are also good times of the year to send a personal note if your customers are parents. As well as a note, a gift card is a nice sign of appreciation.
Create a VIP program: Achieving status can be a big motivator for customers. A VIP program enables customers to collect loyalty points and use them to get special offers. Because buying products increases customer rewards, your customers will do business with you more often; they are more likely to shop.

Developing close relationships with your customers is something you should be thinking about 24/7. There are many opportunities for you to strengthen the bonds between new and existing customers. It’s good for business, and it’s good for morale. Try these tips, and you can’t go wrong when building a strategy that keeps your customers as the top priority.

This is How Customer Service is Done Best

Ilsa Morales 8th March 2019 Tech, Tips

What can you do to gain loyal customers, expand your business, and increase your earning potential? Upgrade your customer service. A skilled customer service team knows how to engage with their customers, problem-solve, and is empathetic to others’ queries.

Customer service is one of the most critical pieces of your business as a whole because your customer service team makes up the face of your company. They are the ones that you are trusting to interact with your customers face-to-face, over the phone, and online. Many loyal customers are created through positive customer service interaction. Therefore, your agents need to be trained in the best ways to serve your clients.

Top businesses know this to be true, and your business can compete with others by following these tips.

1. Humanizing Traits

Your customers want to speak to another human that can listen and answer their questions, but the humans that you hire as your representatives need to embody many skills. Empathy and patience are necessary skills to have when a customer is angry. Your agents must also be able to adapt to every customer, and they should be able to handle your clients’ varying moods, questions, compliments, and complaints.

2. Good Communication

The overarching skill that representatives need is communication skills. This means that your agents can express clearly and intelligently what they want to say. They should stay positive, but not overly so. All customer service agents need to understand what they are selling. If your agents do not understand the product on day one, there should not be a day 2 in their future without further training.

3. Strong Work Ethic

Your agents should be confident in their abilities, embody time management skills, and be able to focus on multiple things at once. A strong customer service agent is also aware of how long they have been on the phone with one customer when they have others waiting. Prioritizing is a top skill you need to look for in your representatives.

customer service — Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100177914106

4. Handling Criticism

Unfortunately, a big part of the job is dealing with negative customers. Many times, a customer is so frustrated with a product or wait time, that by the time they get to speak to an agent they are fired up and ready to attack. Your agents should have thick skin and be aware that the customer’s anger has nothing to do with them.

5. Record Calls

The best way to train your team is to show them exactly how a call should go, and should not go. Call recording is a useful feature that Global Call Forwarding offers and it can help your business to ensure that the right skills are exhibited on every phone call.

6. Relate to Customers

Your representatives should be able to find common ground with every customer that they come into contact with. A great way to do this is for your agents to engage in active listening, that way they can truly understand where a customer is coming from and sympathize with their situation.

7. Follow-Up

A useful trick in customer service is to follow up after a query has been resolved. It ensures that your customer was indeed helped, and if they weren’t, they can now get the help that they need. Additionally, this can be done to let your customer know that their issue was important to your company and you are happy to see that they are happy and things are resolved. You can do this through a quick email or by reaching out with a feedback survey.

8. Personalize the Experience

If your company deals with several of the same clients, be sure to assign a customer service agent to each one so that they can get used to each other and form a bond. Treat your top customers and clients like they are important to you by sending them gifts or personalized emails. Also, invite your customers to trade shows, host webinars, and always interact with them on social media. Opening up this dialogue is also a way to learn what your customers would like to see from your business.

More than Just a Number: Why Your Toll Free Number is Essential to Your Business

Ilsa Morales 7th March 2019 Tech, Tips

Toll free numbers began gaining popularity in the 80s and 90s with almost every business because it was the simplest way to communicate with customers all over the country. Now, in the age of information and the internet, toll free numbers are still essential to have for your business and they remain popular with major companies all over the nation.

1-800 numbers were created in the 1960s as a way for businesses to connect to people all over the country without those people having to pay for making the call. Businesses began to realize the convenience of this service and started using toll free numbers to give their companies a convenient and free way to communicate with them. Eventually, toll free numbers became so popular that an additional six three-digit codes were added.

Customers Expect a Toll Free Number

Because of how popular toll free numbers have become, customers now expect that all businesses, even smaller ones, will have a toll free phone number that they can connect to, with zero cost to them. Toll free numbers aren’t just convenient for your customers. They are also essential to your business. When your company uses a toll free number, it increases your business’s credibility as well as heightening the possibility for customer loyalty. Having a dedicated toll free number for your company also allows you the ability to set business hours.

Your business could be losing customers not local to your area if you do not offer a toll free phone number. Toll free phone numbers allow customers from outside of your local area to reach your company, and if you don’t provide a toll free phone number, a customer outside of your neighborhood may decide not to use your company because they don’t believe that you will be able to deliver what they need.

For example, if you run a cake shop and are able to make deliveries all over the country but you only offer a local phone number, somebody looking to buy your cake in the next state over may bypass your company because they fear that your company would not be able to deliver to them. With all of the refrigeration delivery tools available, your business can most certainly deliver to them, but it is likely that these potential customers will not take the time to find out. You are potentially missing out on a lot of income when you only offer a way for certain people to get in contact with your business. It is essential for a growing business to increase their reach if the company is to be successful.

Virtual Calling Made Simple

Another benefit to using toll free phone numbers for your company is that you can set up a line that is entirely virtual. This means that you don’t have to set up a new phone line, you can just use the business phone you already have or even a home line or cell phone. Virtual toll free numbers from Global Call Forwarding allow you to connect to several different lines so that you can work from anywhere. You can also set your hours, which means you won’t get calls forwarded to your personal line when you are off the clock. Instead, they can be sent to a customized voicemail, your email, or a fax machine so you can get back to your customers at a later time. The lines are also set up so you know whether you are getting a call from your personal or business line, that way you can guarantee you properly answer your phone. It is also completely secure. Your customers will have access to you, but they won’t know your personal phone line.

A Necessity for Advertising

Toll free numbers are also a great advertising tool, especially if you decide to purchase a vanity number. People find these vanity numbers like 1-800-FLOWERS to be much easier to remember than non-vanity numbers, and they can be placed on billboards, flyers, or your website as an easy way to market your business. These vanity numbers are great tools for lawyers and real estate agents, as well.

The bottom line is that having a toll free number proves to your customers that your business is worthy of their trust because you can provide them with a number that allows them to contact your company with no cost to them.

Streamlining the Vendor Selection Process

Ilsa Morales 7th March 2019 Learn, Tech, Tips

If you are looking to streamline the process in which you select your vendors, consider a Request for Proposal or RFP. An RFP is precisely what it sounds like, and it is a proposal that you can use to compare and contrast offers from a variety of different vendors. Once you are able to analyze your options, you can create a better picture of what is best for your business and for your customers.

Building Relationships with Vendors

Outside of RFPs, you can also have a more direct dialect with one or several vendors, whether that is in person or by reaching out through email or phone. When you build a relationship with a vendor, trust begins to burgeon, and you will start to feel more comfortable with the people who you are buying from and vice versa. These relationships help vendors to understand what their buyers want and need and therefore won’t need to offer a service that the buyers don’t need. This also allows buyers to narrow down their selections because they have already seen demonstrations. They can then move on towards comparing prices and quality.

Request for Information and Request for Quote

When you are interacting with your vendors, another way to approach the buying process is with a Request for Information and a Quote. These are less detailed reports of information that answer some frequently asked questions. This concise and to the point report is used to give enough information up front to where the buyer will then be able to ask informed questions and in return, get an informed response. These vendors target the specific needs of the buyer in question and then focus their energy on what the buyer has decided is important.

An even more concise report will come in the process called Request for Quote. RFQ is highly detailed and broken down by a list of the pricing of the object which includes things such as the number of licenses you will need and their prices. The RFQ works similarly to the Request for Information and a Quote because it’s the main focus to create communication between the buyer and the seller by allowing the buyer to ask questions and then receive a detailed response in return.

businessman cellphone coffee — Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100133329530

Keep Your Options Open

Don’t forget that you can also “shop around.” The internet offers a large number of cloud solutions for your company, and the sites typically advertise everything that is provided and what the prices usually come out to be. Websites often have a chat option, or at least an email and phone number which you can use to get into contact with these vendors. Once in touch, you can then ask more questions and get an even better idea of the exact pricing. Usually, on websites, they are true to what they are selling and if a vendor does not seem to meet your needs, making a phone call is typically a waste of time. If they had the feature that you need, it would be advertised on the site. There is a blind trust in using the internet to select your vendors because it is likely you will never meet the seller in person, which is preferable for some and a turn-off for others.

So which one of these options should you choose for your business? Well, that depends on some different factors of your business. Is your company large in scale? That could mean you would need an RFP or sometimes you can get away with an RFI/Q. You must also weigh the risks and complexities of your business as well. Can you trust a source that you have never met or are you concerned about security and fraud?

However, if you have a smaller business or a more straightforward business plan, then you can easily find a cloud-based solution online. You can choose on your own time when you will carry out your internet research where you can compare and bid on different vendors. This flexibility is great for smaller businesses and offers simplicity for your process. Plus, because the website often advertises its standard offerings and pricing, you don’t have to guess which one might be better for your business.

No matter your business, take your time to consider the best vendor for it. It could take weeks to months of research, but it will be worth it to know that you’ve chosen the best vendor for your company.

Things Customer Service Representatives Should Do On Every Call

Ilsa Morales 7th March 2019 Learn, Tech, Tips

The customer service representative is one of the most critical pieces of your business. They are the face of your company and the people who you trust to speak one-on-one with your customers.

We may sometimes forget how important a customer service representative’s role truly is. They are given the duty to treat customers with respect and find solutions for a myriad of issues that can arise. An angry customer is not an easy challenge to overcome, and your staff needs to be adequately trained in customer service skills and must be talented enough to know how to handle various situations. Read on to learn how each customer service representative should handle every single call.

1. Swift Responses

Timing is a very crucial part of customer service. The response time to every inquiry should be dealt with quickly and accurately. Customers do not want to wait on the phone all day to ask an agent a question. They also do not want to wait for extremely long periods for a delivery or an email response. Your representatives must be trained properly to reduce hold times. Call center agents must understand the importance of timeliness in business.

2. Patience Is A Virtue

Many customers make calls to customer service lines because there is some issue with the product, whether it be damaged, missing pieces, or something else. This can undoubtedly frustrate some people, and therefore some people may come off as combative at first. A customer service representative that is patient, however, can easily diffuse situations with a negative customer. You might like this resource from Barbara Khozam about how to practice patience.

3. Positivity

Agents who can maintain a positive attitude despite dealing with a negative customer will be the most successful. Those with a positive attitude are aware that they do not need to bring their jobs home with them and become more successful overall. While positivity may be a mindset, there is training that you can cover. For example, you can train your agents on positive language to use over the phone and in person, such as “I can see how that would upset you, let’s try to find the solution.” Plus, a happy brain performs better.

4. Communicative

Customer service representatives spend their time interacting with customers. Therefore they need to excel in business communication skills. If they are not professional and conversational, perhaps they’re not right for this particular job. Agents need to be concise, but they also know when to make a little small talk. This adds a human touch, but your agents should not be overly conversational, merely adding a personal comment to the situation your customer is describing is enough. Do not interrupt people and resolve their issue as fast as possible without being robotic.

Things customer service employees should say on every call. — Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100230923000

5. Empathetic

Empathy is an essential trait in any customer service agent. The ability to understand a customer’s feelings and being able to relate yourself to their situation can turn a bad situation around. When customers call customer service, they’re usually unhappy with something, and it is important that your customer service representatives apply empathy to every story they hear.

6. Knowledgeable

Being knowledgeable about the business whom these agents are representing is key in delivering excellent service. Be sure that all of your agents undergo a proper amount of training so that they are equipped with all the tools they need to be successful in this position. Training should happen regularly, not just at the time of hire. Agents should always be knowledgeable about current promotions, new products or services, and on technology updates to the systems they regularly use.

7. Attentive

All agents should possess excellent listening skills. Sometimes customers need to explain their issues in greater detail, and an agent needs to listen during the entire explanation actively. Also, when an agent offers solutions frequently, the customer is not interested in all of them, and an agent must be able to understand their customers’ opinions and come up with more flexible solutions to suit the person.

Along with all of these skills, customer service representatives should always try to go above and beyond for their customers when possible. The best customer service representatives display all of these skills in each and every phone call. But that is not all, they also should be undergoing training, and it is important that your customer service agents stay motivated so that they can excel for your company and turn your customers into loyal brand followers.

If you like this article, you should check out this ultimate list of customer service tips for 2020.

The Importance of Setting Goals, Both Personal and Professional

Corinna Underwood 11th January 2019 Learn, Tips

People who don’t set goals tend to get tangled up in minutia and begin to devote time to activities that do not help with long-term growth. Everyone has desires. Whether yours is getting a promotion, returning to school, writing a novel, or getting in better shape, it will never come to fruition if you don’t set goals.

When it comes to setting a goal, the first thing to remember is that it must be reasonable. If you set yourself a goal that is unrealistic, you will give up before you even get close to achieving it because you will be disheartened by your lack of progress.

With that in mind, here are three ways that setting goals can help you grow.

Prioritization: By setting yourself a challenge to work towards, you are organizing your priorities. This will give you a clearer perspective, allowing you to set your more important wishes and desires apart from the less important ones. For example, if you want to write the first chapter of your novel, you will probably decide that sitting down with a pen and paper is more important than watching your favorite TV show.
Once you have set your goal, you’ll find it much easier to steer towards productive activities and away from ones that are wasting your free time and blocking the path to your goal. Once you do away with distractions, you’ll find the path to your goal is much clearer, and you will soon have something to show for your hard work and determination.
Movement: If you want to get into better shape, one of your first steps might be joining a fitness class. If your wish is to get a promotion, you might sign up for an online course to increase your knowledge of your field of business. If you complete your class or course, you can look back and see what progress you have made. You will also be able to easily identify any challenges or obstacles that made attaining your goal more difficult. This will allow you to make adjustments for putting your next goal into play.
Motivation: Setting a goal is making yourself a promise that you will see it through to the end. This type of commitment helps you stay focused and motivated. If you begin to struggle with your motivation, break your long-term goal into a series of more manageable short-term goals, so you can pat yourself on the back when you reach each landmark. Because you stay motivated, you will avoid slipping into the swap of procrastination and getting bogged down by worrying about whether or not to set your goals in the first place.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals

Short-term goals are markers on the way to reaching a long-term goal. It’s important to have short-term goals so that you can see you are making progress and getting closer to your ultimate desire. They can help you minimize distraction and stay motivated. Long-term goals can take a year or several years to accomplish. Your long-term goal may be to become a senior partner in your company, to expand your business overseas, or to retire by the time you are aged 50. Each time you reach a long-term goal, it is a culmination of all the short-term goals which preceded it. Over time, long-term goals may change or grow even more ambitious.

Personal Goals vs. Professional Goals

Personal goals could include losing 20 pounds, joining your community softball team, saving for an overseas vacation, learning to ride a horse, or improving a personal relationship. You need personal goals in order to feel fulfilled in life. It’s important to keep a balance between your personal and professional goals, if you satisfy one at the expense of the other you will not feel fully satisfied and may soon begin to feel depressed.

Professional goals might include advancing up the corporate ladder, starting your own business, changing careers, or going back to school to advance your current career. Everyone has a unique personal objective for their career. The important thing is to stay focused and motivated and remain on the path that is leading you to the achievement of your goal. Professional goals often have to be timed carefully, so that family and social needs are not neglected.

Whether you need to make some changes in your personal life or your professional life, setting goals is the way to get started. They will help you stay focused, avoid distractions and overcome procrastination. Remember, goals are markers to help you focus your energy in positive ways; they can be changed whenever you wish. You can drop old ones and add new ones as your life changes and progresses.

How to Take a Break from Business

Corinna Underwood 11th January 2019 Learn, Tips

If you’re like 99 percent of business owners, you probably never turn off from running the company. You may feel like going on vacation is a waste of your time, you may take breaks but then end up working through them, or you may feel too guilty about leaving the company to take any time off at all. But one very important thing that you need to remember is that taking a break could be the best thing you ever did for your business and for your health.

Why You Need to Take a Break from Business

It’s an actual fact that your business is only as good as the person who runs it. That means if you don’t allow yourself to relax from time to time, you’re not doing what’s best for your company. Not only will a break from business to help your health, but having some distance will also give you a much better perspective of the company when you return.

Making the Vacation a Holiday

You’ve planned your vacation days for a whole year, just you and your family, soaking up the sun and relaxing by the ocean. But what about work; how will they manage without you at the office while you’re away, and how often should you be checking in? You don’t have to cut yourself off completely from the world of work while you’re on vacation, but try to remember that the purpose of a break is to leave business behind, have some fun and recharge your batteries. If you don’t unplug yourself, you run the risk of work-overload stress during the summer months, and this can lead to poor health and depression later in the year.

The Ups and Downs of Staying Connected

Obviously, you should be thankful to have a business and be doing everything you can to keep it running successfully. However, staying plugged-in during vacation time can lead to stress and frustration because you’ll never quite feel as though you can separate your personal time and your time as the company owner. This can mean that your long-planned summer holiday at that exotic beachfront destination soon turns into an extension of your office and before you know it, you are overwhelmed with input from work and spend less and less time relaxing and enjoying your leisure time. Don’t worry; it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not so hard to unplug from work without having to feel guilty.

Slave to the Gadgets

Technology is a fundamental part of business life. Cell phones, digital secretaries, and tablets make everyone all too easily accessible via email, texting, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and virtual voicemail. If you really want to take a break from your business while you’re on vacation, you have to be strong enough to unplug at least some of your gadgets. If you must take something with you, limit it to your cell phone, just in case of emergency, but don’t be afraid to turn off your phone, or at least silence the ringtone while you’re having some downtime, and by all means, don’t succumb to the temptation to check your voicemail every ten minutes. Should you really need to check in with your company while you are away, use time-based routing. Give your office specific days and times that you will be available so that they won’t have to encroach on your ‘you time.’

To Mail or Not to Mail

So you can’t survive without your laptop even on vacation; perhaps you want to upload your sunset photographs or check in with your friends on Facebook, but beware; the minute you start answering emails, you have opened the floodgates. One simple way to avoid the distraction of work emails is to have them forwarded to a temporary email address that you can check when you get back to work; another is to put your email account on hold until you return.

Unplugging is a State of Mind

Leaving your technological gadgets behind is not only about leaving work at the office, but it’s also about creating a state of mind. It allows you the opportunity to escape from data-daze and to fully recharge your mind. Without your gadgets you’ll find you have time to do many more different activities, like swimming in the ocean, reading a book, taking a walk on the beach, catching some sunsets, or visiting galleries and museums. Don’t forget your family members too, without the constant finger-tapping of Droids, iPhones, Xboxes and PSPs; you might actually have time to do something fun together.

Take a break from the business even if it’s only a couple of days now and again. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how much better you will feel when you return. So stop feeling guilty and book your next vacation now; your life will be better for it.

Legal Issues Regarding Call Recording

Magaly Fuentes 31st December 2018 Learn, Tech, Tips

Someone may wish to record a phone call for any number of reasons, but it is important to take into consideration that there are both federal and state laws pertaining to the recording of calls. Being aware of legal issues regarding call recording is important for companies, in particular, who wish to record all customer service calls, as an example. United States federal law requires that at least one party taking part in a call be notified that the call is being recorded.

In addition to federal law, there are laws in some states that require only one party to be notified of the call recording, while other states require two parties to be aware of the call recording.

All-Party Consent States

Approximately 13 states in the United States require all parties to consent to a call recording. Those states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington State.

Call Recording in the UK

In the United Kingdom, there are several laws that cover the practice of recording phone calls. Unless you are able to guarantee that the call recording will not be shared with any third party and that the call is being recorded to either gather evidence, prevent a crime, or ensure regulatory compliance, it is the safest bet to consider the United Kingdom a jurisdiction that requires all parties of a phone call to consent to a call recording.

Canadian Laws on Call Recording

In Canada, there is an established single set of rules for all call recording, which is built into its electronic privacy law. Canada also has an all-party consent approach so that in order for a call to be legally recorded, a person/business must notify the others on the phone call that the call will be recorded, what the purposes of the call recording are, and that the call may only be recorded with the consent of every person on the phone call.

Call Recording in Ireland

Ireland also requires all party consent in order for a call to be recorded legally. The purpose of the call recording must be explained in detail to each participant of the call and each party on the call must give informed consent.

When companies are considering implementing a recording of phone calls for both outbound and inbound calling, it is customary to hear some type of default message that is either pre-recorded or stated by a company staff member. One that is heard commonly in announcing the recording of calls is, “For quality assurance, this call be recorded.” Another common one is, “This call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.”

Some of the reasons companies may wish to record calls are for records-purposes. That is, if there is a dispute regarding an agreement regarding a contract or a payment, the company has the recording to fall back on for review and resolution of the dispute. Call recording is also used in order to support the improvement of customer service practices and for staff training purposes. For example, a recording may be used to demonstrate to new incoming staff members how a particular situation should be handled. In the same way, a call recording could be used to show new incoming staff members how a situation should not be handled. Call recordings can be very useful for staff training.

Legal issues regarding call recording can be complicated and sometimes controversial. It is the choice of a business owner to comply with all relevant regulations and any industry standards. Accomplishing the task of compliance requires careful research related to which laws apply to particular types of businesses. Legal issues regarding call recording also encompass a variety of call recording functions. These include, but are not limited to, issues of participant consent, regulations regarding the storage of recordings and the legality of putting a pause on and then resuming any live recordings.

In order to research legal issues regarding call recording for a call center, for example, a number of agencies and resources must be checked to ensure all aspects are covered in recording calls from and to various areas.

As it is easy to see, legal issues regarding call recording vary from state to state within the United States and they also vary from country to country. For a business that operates in various countries, it may be simpler to adopt an all-party disclosure and consent rule rather than aim to investigate and follow the rules of each market the business works within. Making sure that you and your legal team has a clear understanding of legal issues regarding call recording and always obtaining consent when in doubt is paramount.