Inbound Guide Cloud. Connectivity. Inbound. Mobile. VoIP. IP Solutions are experts in all types of communication technology. Our services cover:

Transcription

1

2 The telephone is arguably still the most important tool available to business. The immediacy and intimacy of a one-to-one phone call is often the most effective way of fostering a strong, two-way relationship with the people who buy your products and services. Inbound telephony involves much more than a receptionist at the end of a phone line. How you handle incoming queries has a major effect on your reputation, and can be the difference between a loyal and an exasperated customer. Depending on where your customers are located, how many calls you receive and how you channel queries within your business, an inbound strategy can help you streamline operations and free up resources. The right approach to inbound telephony therefore has the power to aid in business development, improve customer service and even generate revenue. From making the most of your phone number to leveraging SMS capabilities, this guide gives an overview of how you can add value and enhance the customer experience. IP Solutions are experts in all types of communication technology. Our services cover: Cloud As one of the earliest adopters of hosted technology, we re perfectly placed to provide best-of-breed cloud-based IT services. Connectivity Working with the UK s leading carriers, we ll provide, implement and manage all of your data connections. Inbound We can help you manage inbound enquiries more efficiently and effectively using tools such as 08 and 03 numbers, call queuing technology and SMS messaging. Mobile With expertise managing international spend and a City location for unparalleled speed of service, we saved our customers 27% on average on their mobile costs last year. VoIP We have more experience and we ve completed more user implementations than any other independent provider, making us the UK leaders in VoIP. T F E info@

3 Increase your inbound enquiries by up to 300% The first step to an effective inbound strategy is determining what phone number will bring the most benefit to your business. For the vast majority of businesses, the answer lies in non-geographic numbers, or NGNs. As the name suggests, NGNs do not correspond to a specific geographic area they emphasise an organisation s national reach and bring significant benefits over their traditional geographic counterparts. Responses to advertisements have been known to increase by between 50% and 300% when a Freephone number is used. 65% of people consider a Freephone number to be an incentive to call. Indeed, research has shown that up to 65% of people consider a Freephone number to be an incentive to call in fact, responses to advertisements have been known to increase by between 50% and 300% when a Freephone number is used. Businesses can also take advantage of a range of revenue-generating NGNs such as 0844 or Government and not-for-profit organisations also have access to 0300 numbers that are cheaper to dial from mobiles. How the right inbound strategy can benefit your business NGNs and Freephone numbers in particular are widely recognised as one of the most powerful marketing tools available. Switching from a geographic number to an NGN is an easy way to give your business a significant boost in more ways than one. Expand your reach By not publicising a local contact number you create the perception that your business has a national presence. Attract interest Whether you are a charity or a business, statistics prove that NGNs inspire confidence, with individuals more willing to dial certain prefixes. Never leave customers stranded Using call recording, queuing and report functions, NGNs help you route incoming calls in the most appropriate way so that customers aren t left hanging, confused or de-motivated after making the effort to call. Enhance and track marketing From geographic analysis of where inbound calls originate to specific adverts that play while customers queue, NGNs supply essential marketing data and services. Maximise revenue How much is each inbound call worth to you? Certain NGNs are revenue generating and may generate thousands of pounds in value each year. The alternative is to offer customers a Freephone number, which can increase inbound enquiries by up to 300%. It s important to identify which route is most cost effective for your business. Reduce your costs Cloud-based technology allows you to manage peak periods efficiently, giving you the ability to handle as many calls as necessary without the need for expensive overheads or infrastructure. T F E info@

4 Options available to UK businesses Businesses within the UK have a number of options when it comes to their inbound telephone number; several options are highlighted below. Option Rate Benefits 0800 Free from landline Charges vary from mobile Attract up to 300% more callers Caller pays nothing to call you (from landline) Perception of national presence Easily utilised for marketing purposes p p Caller pays low rate to call you Perception of national presence Easily utilised for marketing purposes Higher revenue share Perception of national presence Easily utilised for marketing purposes 0870 Local rate call Perception of national presence 0871 Up to 10p Higher revenue share Mix and match with an 0800 to reduce costs Perception of national presence Easily utilised for marketing purposes Create a positive first impression Getting the right number in place is just one element of a welloiled inbound strategy following up with poor customer service negates the value of any number you have in place. The customer journey should be smooth and painless, and enquiries dealt with as efficiently as possible. Auto Attendant Increase response rates For small and medium-sized businesses the ideal gatekeeper is Auto Attendant an automated call answering, queuing and messaging service that can instantly improve the flow of communication across your entire organisation. When a caller contacts you via your single inbound number, Auto Attendant directs them to the desired department or person, ensuring all calls are answered quickly, efficiently and professionally. It can be used across multiple sites regardless of location so that calls can be taken centrally and distributed to the appropriate department or office. When the correct person answers the call, a whisper message can be included to relay the call s history allowing for more effective service. In addition to forwarding calls to landlines, mobiles or overseas destinations, Auto Attendant can also take voic s if a call is received outside of the designated opening hours. The voice message is then ed to the recipient. Virtual Receptionist Never miss an enquiry For larger businesses, Virtual Receptionist provides additional added value. Using a single, memorable phone number as a means for people to contact your entire company can be very useful and efficient, but it often requires a full time receptionist. This can be very expensive. Virtual Receptionist provides the perfect solution to this problem, helping callers reach their chosen destination quickly. It includes customisable, multi-level menus that incorporate keypad navigation, time-of-day operation scheduling, missed call notification and two different voic modes. This allows you to handle high call volumes efficiently and takes pressure off of busy departments. Ultimate flexibility Adapt your strategy as required These systems are quick and easy to set up from an online control panel and boast an extensive range of useful additional features. All functions are completely configurable, allowing you to manage all incoming calls, messages and diverting options with ease. Live call queuing statistics will immediately inform you of when your busy periods occur, and service management modules enable you to make almost instantaneous modifications to meet the added demand. T F E info@

5 Evaluate customer service and enhance compliance Many businesses are required to record telephone calls for legal and compliance reasons, or to assist with dispute resolution. Others monitor and use recordings to train staff, evaluate marketing and improve customer service. Hassle-free setup Until recently, the only option for recording calls was to purchase costly digital equipment and install it on site. This came with high investment and limited capacity. With cloud-based call recording you can handle and record thousands of simultaneous calls, meaning there are no capacity restrictions. As it requires no on-premise infrastructure there s no outside equipment or installation required, so setup is quick and easy with no disruption to your inbound telephony. Call recordings at your fingertips This service stores recordings on our network so you don t need onsite data storage facilities. They are automatically backed up and held at multiple locations in accordance with the strictest regulatory requirements. Recordings can be accessed online via our secure portal, and played back on your PC, downloaded for archiving or sent as attachments. All recordings are indexed and can be searched by date, time, duration, calling line ID, dialled number and more. There are no costs associated with hardware, upgrades, maintenance or call retrieval. Staying abreast of regulation Regulatory bodies in the UK have a number of rules in place that affect inbound telephony. To detect and prevent market abuse, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) requires firms to record telephone conversations and other electronic communications including mobile conversations. The retention period is 6 months. Other regulations are designed to strengthen consumer protection. Examples include the following: 0845 call charges are constantly changing is now regulated by PhonepayPlus (previously ICSTIS) under a new code of practice. The 03 range has been introduced for companies who want a national presence without having their customers pay additional charges for getting in touch. It is crucial that businesses are aware of the rate at which regulations evolve. Our IP Solutions inbound team has a comprehensive knowledge of current and proposed legislation, so get in touch to discuss any particular concerns you may have. T F E info@

6 Key market insight: Integrating SMS Recent research indicates that no inbound strategy is complete without evaluating the merits of a short messaging service (SMS) option for customers and prospects. Over the past 12 months in particular SMS has enjoyed a boom, and SMS-based campaigns have had overwhelmingly positive results. In fact, this now tried-andtested approach has been shown to increase campaign response by an average of 30% with no additional impact on marketing budget. By sending you an SMS in response to a marketing initiative, your target customer has an easy way to respond to your campaign Couple this with the ability to track the exact offer a potential customer has responded to, and developing stronger leads becomes that much easier. The result is stronger brand awareness and a more accurate customer database. SMS integrates efficiently with your inbound number by having intuitive rules in place that enhance the customer experience. For example, you can send automatic text replies to unanswered calls, including a priority number that ensures the customer s enquiry is dealt with as quickly as possible. Research has shown this specific method increases lead conversion by up to 25% compared to calls that are answered the first time. Revolutionise your marketing at no extra cost SMS takes advantage of the importance of individual mobile phones. It enables information to be sent to groups of people quickly and conveniently in much the same way as . SMS is revolutionising marketing due to the ease and speed with which messages are delivered, and statistics show that 92% Encourage customer interaction Data capture is an essential part of any promotional activity but it can be time consuming, both for the customer providing the information and the business collecting it. SMS services are highly versatile and allow customers to register their interest in a product, request further information, vote in a competition, donate or even pay for an item simply by sending a text message. The result is a considerably higher rate of conversion when combined with traditional tools. The system is powerful and easy to set up and use. Companies can enable automatic responses, and the system collates incoming messages and forwards them to designated addresses. Customer contact details can be automatically added to the system which allows for easy follow-up. Increase customer retention of texts are read instantly. SMS typically increase response rates by 30% without increasing marketing or advertising costs. You can send a specific message to a chosen group of recipients. Once a message has been distributed, you have access to delivery reports that provide an overview of your campaign s effectiveness, making this service a great promotional tool. In addition to forming the foundation of a promotional campaign, SMS is also perfectly suited for sending important information quickly and securely. Repeat custom is essential for all businesses. As such, it is vitally important that you keep your existing customers informed of relevant news, promotions and upcoming events. With SMS you can deliver updates, alerts, news and information directly to customers on a regular basis. Setting up and maintaining this steady stream of reminders is easy and cost effective. Having sent an opt-in text message, customers will automatically receive relevant information securely and instantaneously by text. The flexible nature of the service means that you can send messages to a subscribed customer as and when required, on an automated basis or at pre-set regular intervals all through the easy-to-use online control panel. T F E info@

7 Inbound Guide 2013 Respond to customers more quickly Providing technical back up, product support and service information is crucial but time consuming. Not only do you have to offer genuine value, but support must be run in a manner that minimises the strain on your operations. By utilising SMS, it is possible for both the customer and the company to save time and money in addressing issues and correspondence. It is therefore an ideal way to handle customer enquiries promptly, efficiently and with full accountability. You can set up a robust yet simple service that allows customers to contact you via SMS and receive a response tailored to their requirements. The service is able to resolve common issues quickly by allowing you to set up automated responses to common enquiries. Enquiries that require a bespoke response can be handled by operators using the online control panel. This ensures that workload is distributed effectively to deliver the fastest possible response time. The service also provides real time reports that show specific customer history, messages sent and received, any pending enquires and final resolutions. Call to find out more about how IP Solutions can help your company retain clients and deliver a higher level of customer service. T F E info@

8 T F E info@ IP Solutions 2013 Copyright in this work is vested in IP Solutions. This work may form part of a proposal by IP Solutions and may not be used for any purpose other than the furtherance of such proposal. No part of this document nor the information contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means including photocopying or recording, nor may this document or any part or parts hereof nor the information contained herein be released to any third party without the prior written consent of IP Solutions, application for which should be addressed to the Company Secretary at IP Solutions.