Problems With Call Forwarding

Several problems with call forwarding can hinder your ability to connect with customers.  You can bypass these problems by using the advanced features provided with your toll free number.   These features let you control how your calls are forwarded, and when, and let you check call quality.  Better still, you can change your settings from any device that gives you web access.  By utilizing your call forwarding service and all its tools, you can give your customers the best calling experience and keep them coming back to your brand.

Problems With Call Forwarding

 1. Caught Out of the Office and Missing Calls

Perhaps you use your desktop phone the majority of the time for your business calls.  But, if you find yourself away from your desk for period of time, you should set up call forwarding to have calls sent to your mobile device.

Call forwarding allows you to route calls to a single number or man numbers, ringing them in sequential order, for example.  If you find yourself out of the office and realize that you are missing important calls that are going to your extension, you can use your customer self-service portal from any mobile device or laptop computer to forward your calls to your mobile phone until you return to the office.

You won’t have to miss important opportunities because you’re flight is delayed or you are stuck in traffic.

2.  Forgetting About Time Zone Differences

We are living in a global economy, which means that more time has to be spent connecting with clients and colleagues remotely.  If you have international customers, time zone differences can be an issue if you are trying to stay in contact with your callers.

Staying connected outside of your typical business hours should not be an issue with call forwarding features.  For instance, depending on what time of day it is, you’ll be able to forward your calls to another office or representative that is available to answer calls from your international customers. Setting up the call forwarding feature for different time zones will greatly increase the chances that there will always be someone available to answer the phone.

3.  Forgot to Test Your Call Forwarding Rules

You have your toll free number and set up forwarding to different extensions and mobile devices.  But did you remember to test your forwarding plan to make sure all those extensions and devices are working and can accept calls?

When setting up call forwarding it is important to verify that the forwarding is activated and ringing to the correct number.  After setting up call forwarding in the online self-user portal, make sure that the “ring to” number or multiple numbers are active.  Test this process by using another line to dial your “ring to” number and confirm that the forwarding is active and ringing to the correct number or set of numbers.

Verifying your call forwarding activation helps you avoid missed calls to your business and ensures your calls are set up correctly.  Better still, testing all your forwarding rules ensures that your customers get the top quality experience you intend for them.

4.  Ignoring Your Call Recordings

The call recording feature available with your toll free number enables you to audit completed calls to your toll free number to ensure that customers are getting the right answers, the right support, and prompt assistance.

If you forget to enable your call recording feature, or if you fail to monitor your call recordings, you may not recognize that your organization is delivering less than the best customer experience.  And without auditing the recordings, you won’t know why.

Use your call recordings to audit customer calls for quality, courtesy, and approach.  Every time you audit, you’ll find a goldmine of problems to fix, such as customer calls going to an extension that is not in use, or customers getting the wrong information do to training issues on your end.  By auditing your recordings, you can detect and correct these problems to help ensure that your customers get a good experience.

Recordings are accessible through the online self-care portal online, which means reviewing calls is extremely convenient.

5.  Power or Internet Outage

In circumstances where your phone service is not working because of a power outage or network outage, call forwarding can help your business recover.

If your local internet connection is down or you face a power outage, you can literally access your customer portal from your smartphone or from a laptop at another network location.  Within the customer portal, you can re-point your toll free number to ring to another location or to mobile devices.

This change is simple and can be done with your laptop or mobile phone.

If you wish, you can record an emergency announcement that all customers will receive, and let your incoming calls go to voicemail.  When your power is restored, you can revert that change, and then go back through your call recordings.   You can use your IVR to actually create separate messages for your customers and for your employees.

Summary

There are several problems you are likely to encounter with call forwarding.  By using features provided with your toll free number, you can mitigate or prevent each of these.  Call forwarding  always allows you to forward your incoming calls to another number.  By configuring your call forwarding preferences correctly, you can ensure that you never miss an important business opportunity again.