I attended a business lunch recently where Graham Hill made a presentation. Who’s he? He’s the Founder and Director of Verbatim The Phone answering Service. Graham is an interesting man with an interesting business – answering phones!
He presented us with some statistics – For example: On average, a business will miss 15% of incoming calls.
He later emailed me a couple of documents:
The Facts behind UK Telephone Behaviour
and
Basic Telephone Skills
So if you thought you knew how to answer the phone, think again!
This is the latest addition to the DSX-10 range, the DSX-10v. V because it’s VoIP only – there is no provision for PSTN hardware in this box – and you can see why – at 215mm square it’s tiny!
Small in size, but big in features. It’s capable of handling up-to 60 extensions with all the features you’d expect from a modern PABX. Call-groups, hunt-groups, music on hold, voicemail, etc. All controlled by simple star codes from any phone, or via a web interface.
And remember, ‘v’ is not just for voice, it’s for video too. This unit supports video phones (eg. the Grandstream GXV3000 and ATL IP400) out of the box.
Ever had a call from someone who just hung up? The chances are that it’s a marketing call system and alas, you’re going to get more …
What to do… Firstly if they didn’t withold their number, then look it up. How? Several ways and they might not even cost you anything. Firstly, find the location – if it’s a UK number (starting 01, 02, or even 08, 07, etc.) Try this site: Magenta Systems. That will tell you where (in the UK) the call originated from. Maybe it was just your long-lost Aunt Flo from Durham?
Then… Google the number. The chances are you’ll either find the companys website (if it’s legit!), or you might find the number listed it a “Who called me” website. One I’ve used in the past is: Who Calls Me.
And if there is a human on the end of the phone? Well, Speak to them. Tell them that you’re not interested (which you won’t be!) ask to be added to their do-not-dial list. They’re paying for the call, so just waste a little of their time and get on with your life.
And if by-chance you hear a robot saying something like “Please press 9 to be connected”, then don’t wory about and rumours that you might hear or read about – there’s no-way you can be charged (yet) in the UK for an incoming call, so go-ahead and press 9 – it’s just their way of making sure there really is a human at your end, and then waste a little of their time, then get on with your life.
Do not call the number back. Especially if it’s an 09 or 070 number. (Note: 070 is NOT a mobile number, it’s a premium rate service!). All that’ll do is waste your own time.
Finally, register every number and address you have with the Telephone and Mail preference services.
Took delivery of a pair of Grandstream GXV3000 video phones this morning with a view to seeing if they work, and how well they work with my DSX PBX system…
And what can I say… I plugged them in, gave them a simple configuration, assigned 2 accounts on my office DSX PBX and made a call.
And they “just worked”. Fantastic!
(OK, so I had to tell the PBX to expect a video phone, but after that it really did just work!)
I have to say they’re even better than I imagined them to be. For under £300 for a pair you seem to get a fantastic amount of technology. The phones have a built-in photo gallery feature – digital photo frame if you prefer. And how do you get data into them? via USB sockets at the back of-course. They even have video and audio out connectors and I’ll plug one into my TV later – just because I can.
They also can take RSS feeds and display them on the screen when idle, as well as act as a simple web browser, although using it is somewhat tricky!
A quick update… Just had a video conversation with someone who has an ATL IP400 Videophone (After a somewhat tricky set-up procedure!) all went as well as it ought to. Shame the ATL phone is twice the price of the Grandstream )-:
