Extending your reach

Welcome e used to think of the working day as nine to five, Monday to Friday. Nowadays, whilst those times remain the centre of the business week, both life and business go on outside the core office hours. If you’re a small-business owner, you don’t stop thinking about your business just because it’s turned 5pm and neither do your customers. With many businesses now project-based, you need flexibility in terms of your time, the way you work and the location you work from. That’s why we all work from our mobiles or via the web these days: this technology allows us to be connected 24/7. But, when someone wants to get in touch with you for the first time, is email too impersonal? What happens if they ring when you’re busy? Will they call if you only list a mobile number on your website? Do you really want to put your personal phone number out there? This is where cloud-based telephone systems and virtual phone numbers make a real difference to the way we work today. By using virtual local numbers, you can give yourself a local presence wherever you want and yet have all calls connect to your existing landlines or mobiles. Call routing allows you to choose when or where the calls flow, so you can have the flexibility you need to run your business the way you want – and have a life at the same time. Through the use of cloud telephony and clever call routing, businesses of any size and scale – from micro through to enterprise

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level – have gained real advantage and reduced wastage. The fact that your call is answered and doesn’t go to a voicemail makes a huge difference to all businesses. Imagine how much money you spent in getting them to call in the first place – the last thing you want is for that investment to be wasted because no one is available to answer that line. Cloud-based telephony and virtual phone numbers allow you to make the most of your opportunity and throughout this guide you’ll see how.

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