Which is best for your needs: landline or cell phone for small business? While a landline may feel more reliable, a business cell phone may offer more mobility in a digital age. It depends on the unique needs of your business.

Pros & Cons of a Business Landline Phone

Since most folks rely on mobile phones these days, you may wonder how landlines work and what benefits they would provide to your small business. You wonder: Do landlines work without power? Do easy to use landlines exist, or should you invest in a business cell phone?

Pros

Investing in the best option means considering your business target market. Here are a few pros of considering a business landline phone:

• Clear connection: A landline almost always guarantees a clear call quality from that end of the line.
• Reliable in emergencies: In case of emergency, a landline won’t die. Your coverage is secured by being hardwired.
• Trust: Though more people are using cell phones, most folks won’t know if you use a landline or cell phone, unless they come into your physical location from time to time. Older generations tend to trust landlines more, just as they prefer to meet in person. It becomes a question of: Who is your target audience?
• Ease of use: Depending on your needs, a landline can be more reliable as it’s connected and in a set place for the day. You don’t have to worry about the loss of your phone. Depending on the hardware involved, your company and its employees may be more familiar with its usage.

Cons

What about the cons of a business landline? Is the phone cord more like a leash for your business, restricting your movement and leaving you waiting by the phone?

Landline costs can prove expensive depending on the landline phone features you add on to your service. Here are the downsides to choosing a business landline:

• Limited availability: In a mobile world, you are connected to your customers as far as your landline goes — leashed to your desk, if you will.
• Missed leads: How much of your time is spent waiting by the phone to act on a lead that never arrives?
• Ease of use: While a landline may be hardwired, depending on the size of your business and the phone utilized, it may be difficult to juggle calls along with call volume.
• Rates: Unfortunately, long distance conference calls are still exorbitant. Extras included on a business cell phone plan or via a free app may come at an extra charge with a business landline plan. Plus, you have the additions of complex installations and hardware.

Pros & Cons of a Business Cell Phone

There are benefits to having a landline, but it doesn’t exactly keep your business mobile in a digital world, especially if your office is remote or moving, too.

Pros

The truth is that you have to keep your business on the go! From business availability to cell phone plan prices, here are a few pros to investing in a business cell phone:

• Savings: For smaller businesses with one to two people, you can significantly cut the cost of the landline. bundling your phone and internet savings.
• Mobility and availability: Your business stays with you on the go with a mobile office right in your pocket. You can quickly connect to your customers from anywhere with your small business phone plan, from a simple call to social media. Your accessibility will increase customer and business associate loyalty as engagement levels rise.
• Instant help: Along with that availability, you can pull up receipts, invoices, contracts or queries to quickly answer customer, vendor or business associate queries. Access and backup everything on the cloud.
• Conduct quick to-dos: Dreading getting back to the office to check email, issue invoices and file paperwork? Do so with a tap of a finger with your smartphone or tablet.
• Ease of use: Less devices to manage with greater and faster access to documents and information through apps and the cloud.
• Quickly act on leads: Follow up with local and international leads on a dedicated business cell phone line that works from anywhere. Multitask with notifications to address leads by phone and digitally.

Cons

Modern technology equips smartphones and smart devices with innovative apps and features. However, owning a business cell phone as your primary line of communication can have its downsides with shoddy cell reception in rural areas.

What if you lose your phone? When it comes to cell security, how secure is your business and customer data then?

Cell phone ease of use may not be a benefit for older generations who prefer landlines, but keep in mind that 52.5% of U.S. households are wireless only. Older generations are slower to give up landline use, but the number is on the rise. Here are a few cons to consider as you contemplate investing in a business cell phone:

• Cell security: If secure measures aren’t taken or if encryption isn’t available, the phone could fall into the wrong hands and valuable company data shared via hacking. Employees must be trained in secure phone usage.
• Poor Connectivity: Between rural areas and dead zones, like basement offices or other enclosed areas, mobile phones may not always have a strong and clear connection, which inhibits communication. Coverage may only be limited to how extensive the network is. Where are your customers, vendors and associates?
• Ease of use: Depending on experience with smartphones and tablets, less inexperienced and older employees may feel incompetent without training on how to use specific apps and features.
• Loss of savings: Depending on the size of your business and budget, you may incur more costs if you plan on supplying each employee with a device and training on it. However, this loss may be temporary if it means saving more money in the long run with gained efficiency and less red tape due to paperwork you can now do digitally.

Depending on your company budget, you must consider the pros and cons of landline vs. mobile business phone systems. When it comes to small business phone solutions, choose Teltik, as you can trust us to catapult your business into the digital age, and to provide you with mobility, savings, transparency, trust, and connectivity your customers and partners will back 100%. That kind of investment quickly spirals into success for your brand.

The post Should You Get A Cell Phone or Landline For Business? appeared first on Teltik.

Almost 1 in 6 Americans were cheated by scam calls in the last year, per a recent report by the US Spam and Scam Report by Truecaller. Phone scammers long ago perfected their pitches, but technology has made them more innovative in their tactics. Luckily, all Teltik plans come with free Scam ID and Scam Block, which alert you to potential scams and block unwanted calls. However, as they say, knowledge is power, and so to keep you and your employees informed on the latest tactics scammers may use, here are the top ten business phone scams to look out for:

1. Tech Scam Calls

You receive unsolicited calls from “tech support workers” who inform you that you have a computer virus or other issue. These dangerous computer scams often include Microsoft scam calls and Apple scam calls. The tech scammer walks you through various steps to “correct” the issue, but in reality, you’re downloading software that gives the scammer remote access, lets him hijack your system, or installs malware on your device.

Scammers may then gather sensitive data about your business or your customers. They may also install ransomware that makes you pay to unlock your own files.

2. Money Scams

Businesses are often targeted for money scams, from Western Union scams to bank scams and bank fraud.

Bank scams make efforts to access your business bank account. Popular check and bank scams include:

• Overpayment: The scammer sends you a counterfeit check from a bogus associate. Once you deposit the check in your account, you wire the extra back. However, as the check was counterfeit, you lose what you wired and must pay the bank back.
• Check fraud: You receive a check and wonder about its origin. Is it connected to a customer or associate? Many businesses are so busy that they don’t think to ask that question and cash the check anyway. Unfortunately, this may be check fraud. If you cash the check, you can be considered to have authorized the purchase of certain items or signed up for a loan you never applied for.
• Automatic withdrawals: Your business signs up for a free trial with a fake vendor, authorizing an automatic debit from your business’s bank account.

3. Social Hacking Scams

Your customers aren’t the only ones subject to social hacking scams. In the Information Age, businesses are can be tricked into to releasing sensitive information through business social media accounts.

Unfortunately, confidential information can also be given out unintentionally by well-meaning customer service agents through simple manipulation and coercion tactics. Train your representatives to stand their ground when faced with these misleading tactics.

4. Office Supply Scams

Beware the toner pirate who will involve your business in a printer ink scam. Scammers will pretend to be office supply vendors and trick you into paying money you never owed them.

It starts with a questionable call to your business. It sounds innocent enough. A client or associate confirms an order, verifies an address, or offers a free trial of their office supplies. Unordered merchandise arrives at the office, and shortly after, you receive demands to pay for items you never added to your cart.

These are violations of the Unordered Merchandise Statute and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. Sadly, such scams can happen to any business. Recently, in two different actions, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Maryland-area companies with sending unordered office supplies to businesses and following up with falsified invoices. Fortunately, settlements were reached. Also, note that scammers may offer you a “discount” off the fake invoice total.

5. Business Listing Scams

“Hello, it’s Google/Yellow Pages calling to verify your business listing.” The drone of the monotone voice makes you hesitate, as you want customers to be able to locate your business. It’s the one instance where a call from a bot doesn’t make you hang up at once.

If you did hang up, this puzzling call may lead you to search for “Google verify my business”, which takes you down the rabbit hole of business listing scams. It turns out that scammers will pose as Google or other major business listings in order to make you give over confidential information or make you pay listing fees, while claiming they need to verify your listing or make sure your listing doesn’t get taken down. The Google business listing scam is one of the most popular scams because of the search engine’s popularity, and it’s ability to make or break your business virtually.

Scammer calls will typically revolve around a Google listing update, claiming to need more information for your listing, additional fees to cover costs, or a verification of your business. They may also ask to update your listing in the Yellow Pages. In reality, Google and Yellow Pages listings are free, and they won’t call you to verify listings. In fact, if you get one of these calls, Google wants you to report it to them.

6. Fake Invoice Scams

What do you do when a fake invoice shows up at your physical address or in your inbox? Related to business listing and office supply scams, these “invoices” target you in the hopes you will pay for services or products you didn’t order. You may have had a real interest in certain items, but they are never delivered or have no real value.

Common fake invoice scams and subscription scams include directory listings, compliance services, printer toner, paper, magazine subscriptions and signs. Beware of invoice fraud and billing fraud.

7. Energy Scams and Utility Fraud

Utility scams target businesses threatening to cut off their public utility services or to make an overdue payment. However, your utility company will always notify you in advance, and in writing, regarding a disconnection notice. Never interact with these scammers, or you risk falling for an energy scam and disclosing sensitive information.

In some cases, utility fraudsters will even come to your door. Always ask to see identification.

You can quickly identify a fake utility bill by comparing it to existing bills and calling your provider. Unfortunately, electric bill scams and utility scams are among the most common types of scams to target businesses.

8. Vanity Award Scams

You receive an email indicating that you’re on the INC 5000 list or other business awards that sound prestigious. What business wouldn’t call back?

Local area business award scams are easier to identify than “national” awards. One tell-tale giveaway is when the scammer asks you buy awards. You shouldn’t have to buy your own business awards. Some of these are not truly scams, as you will get the award in the end, however there’s no real value in having an award that you’ve paid for yourself. It’s better to spend your money on something that will actually help your business’s professional image, such as a dedicated business line.

9. Appraisal Fraud

According to a 2016 Report, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) states that businesses lose approximately 5% of revenue to financial misstatement annually. Small businesses are often more vulnerable to valuation fraud because they have less system checks in place.

It’s wise to conduct a business valuation every year to know where your business stands in terms of its value and place in the market. Scammers know this and take advantage of small businesses, often starting with a commercial property appraisal and working their way into your business to steal sensitive information.

10. Charity Scams

Businesses often make doing public good a part of their mission statement. Unfortunately, companies can fall prey to scammers who run donation scams and charity scams.

Many times, fake charities target businesses after a tragedy, such as a natural disaster. Your desire to help your community may end up with you giving money to 501(c)(3) fraud instead of providing real relief. You can prevent donation scams by researching charities online through websites such as Guidestar and Charity Navigator.

How to Block Scams and Scam Calls

How do you stop scam calls in the Information Age when scammers are even more innovative in their theft attempts? Begin with educating yourself and your staff about these top ten business phone scams. After all, prevention is the best medicine.

You can also have technology to block scam calls through screening. All of Teltik’s phone plans offer Scam ID, which displays “Scam Likely” when a scam call comes in. We also offer Scam Block, which automatically blocks scam calls so you don’t waste your valuable time on scammers.

Illegal caller ID spoofing is on the rise and an industry-wide adoption of standards to stop such calls are necessary to prevent fraud as technology continues to advance. Fortunately, STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) standards are being implemented by many business phone plan providers. Each call with be authenticated through the new standards and greatly reduce the degree of scam calls, but vigilance by business owners remains the best effort for defense.

The post The Top 10 Phone Scams Businesses Should Look Out For appeared first on Teltik.

Consider the proliferation of gig and freelance work, such as through apps like Uber, Lyft or Fiverr.

Traditional work is undergoing a massive shift toward independent contracting, part-time work, freelancing and solopreneurship. Data recently gathered from the Gig Economy Index reveals that almost 40% of American workers produce 40% of their income through independent work.

Thus, business trends also shift. More businesses are virtual these days or have a virtual component.  These workers and entrepreneurs need more flexibility in business. As we get busier, we have to take our business — and everything else — on the go. Why not rely on the office in your pocket? Here are five ways a business cell phone offers convenience.

Business Cloud Applications Create a Paperless Office

Cut down on red tape by reducing the amount of paperwork your office needs to physically use, store and reorder. Use business cloud applications for many tasks while on the go, such as scanning, faxing, filing and billing. When you email a client an invoice, they can send the payment digitally, and you don’t have to wait on the mail to deliver a check.

When utilizing the cloud, you also give your employees and yourself faster access to important information via digital files. Your employees solve customer issues more quickly and provide a higher quality customer experience. Besides, the added benefit of saying that your company is eco-friendly helps improve its reputation in consumer eyes.

Assign Tasks And Manage Remote Employees

Many offices are putting money back into the company and investing directly in their employees by maintaining a remote workforce. From the office in your pocket, you can easily conduct employee management and assign employee tasks.

Unsure of the technology needed? Try team task management apps like Slack or Chanty, or utilize project management software like Basecamp or Hive, which also have supplemental apps. Always read reviews and study the features thoroughly before making a commitment.

Conduct Business Communication Over Virtual Meetings

Stay connected to every important call and avoid robocalls with the help of a virtual receptionist. Take meetings over phone or video conferencing.

Always be available for your business associates, employees, vendors and customers. All calls get answered during business hours with the help of a virtual receptionist, and your phone’s business directory boosts your professional image and reputation.

Live Marketing With Social Media

More consumers are looking to invest in experiences over transactions. Younger consumers prefer a digital shopping experience, and companies must adapt their business marketing strategies or die. Yet, 53% of consumers recall their most recent, enjoyable shopping experience in a brick and mortar store. Across the board, shoppers value experience first, personalization second and product quality third.

Where is your online presence? How do you engage with your customers across platforms?

Take advantage of live marketing to tell your story. In June 2018, 400 million users added to their Instagram stories daily. Social media fosters a bridge between brand and consumer for engagement and authentic sharing. People love to learn! Recently, the Sprout Index found that:

• 61% of marketing strategists prioritize social media posts that inform or teach.
• 58% of businesses aim for telling a relatable story and 53% curate posts that inspire.

Access Data From Anywhere Securely

Your business phone provides an office in a pocket that allows for secure data management remotely. You can access data from anywhere on the go.

Quickly pull up a customer account or sensitive data across devices without fear of it being compromised. Be present whether you’re flying across the country or in line for your morning Americano.

Taking The Mobile Office to The Next Level

Many of these convenience factors are assisted with the addition of apps. However, many business phone features can take the mobile office to the next level when you invest in a business phone plan.

Take calls from anywhere and never miss important calls with the help of a virtual receptionist. Your business directory will guide your customers and make your company look even more professional. Make use of business cloud apps to create a paperless office and manage employees. Quickly locate vital information across devices.

Business cell phone plans fill the remote office on-the-go gap with features that empower your business and propel the success of your brand.

The post Office in Your Pocket: 5 Ways a Business Cell Phone Offers Convenience appeared first on Teltik.

With countless emails to be read, phone calls galore and recurring business meetings, maintaining a good work-life balance has become a struggle for many of us. In fact, the majority of business owners say that work-life balance is the biggest challenge they face, according to research from NodeSource. Even more, research from the Alternative Board states that 30% of small business owners report working more than 50 hours per week, nearly 20% report working 60 hours or more and almost 80% report feeling like they work too much. Much of this is due to an unspoken entrepreneurial culture that glamorizes long hours and minimal personal time.

The Benefits of a Good Work-Life Balance

Having a good work-life balance is vital for every business owner and contributes to business success. Business owners need dedicated time to focus on things not work-related in order to recharge and re-energize. There are both personal and business advantages of a good work-life balance. From a personal standpoint, work-life balance improves mental health and well-being, increases engagement and motivation, and creates a more positive outlook and mindset. On the business side, work-life balance helps to increase productivity and competitiveness, improves customer service, helps businesses react to changing market conditions more effectively, and boosts staff morale. Additionally, having a good work-life balance helps to stimulate creativity and innovation.

When you lose work-life balance, everyone suffers the consequences. There’s a large pile of evidence that indicates that working more doesn’t necessarily mean getting more work done. One startup founder actually attributes the failure of his first startup to working too much. Chronic stress is the most common health issue among business owners and it can quickly take a toll on both your business and well-being. A slew of recent studies has linked working too much with sleep disorders, heavy drinking, diabetes, memory loss, and heart disease.

Your productivity and effectiveness are tied to the speed of your thinking, and without a good work-life balance, your thinking slows down considerably. It’s much harder to think creatively and work efficiently when you’re fighting fatigue. You’re more likely to feel depressed and stressed and can have difficulty communicating and getting things done. Your sales presence in front of potential clients and customers deteriorates. If your life is out of balance, you won’t be able to excel in any area.

How Smartphones are Blurring the Lines Between Work and Play

From emails from coworkers to calls from clients and customers, it can be hard to truly disconnect and shut down after the working day is over in today’s super-connected world. The rise of smartphones has led to a new phenomenon in which the lines between work and home are increasingly being blurred. The ability to fit your workday into your pocket with your smartphone and the unrelenting rise of “always-on” culture is making it increasingly harder to unplug after the workday has ended. One study found that 26% of work is done outside of normal working hours. This means that while the workday may be over, business matters can easily intrude on personal time and cause business owners to fall into the trap of undefined boundaries.

Many business owners opt to use their personal phones for business use to keep things simple. While this may seem like the most affordable and convenient option, it can also invite inefficiency and conflict into your life, ultimately disrupting your work-life balance. Many of us check and respond to emails on our cell phones simply out of habit or ease of accessibility. In fact, 91% of people use their personal time to check their smartphones and the average person checks email every six minutes. In this way, smartphones expose us to an unprecedented amount of information and requests that you feel compelled to read or respond to. When you use your personal smartphone for business, the temptation to overwork is always there. It can even keep you up at night, distract you from making objective analysis, and prevent you from enjoying free time with friends and family.

Being too accessible to your clients and customers can wreak havoc on your personal life. It’s perfectly fine to be able to answer calls and emails promptly during business hours, but your customers and clients shouldn’t be able to reach you whenever they want. By responding to clients and customers after normal business hours, you may give your clients the impression that you’re always available and cause them to send you messages at all times of the day and expect immediate responses. Most calls and emails aren’t necessarily urgent or important and by answering them after hours, you may be robbing yourself of much-deserved downtime and putting yourself into communication overload. Amazon India head Amit Agarwal even claims that “No business decision should be made between 6 pm and 8 am.” Having no clear distinction between work and personal life can leave you feeling exhausted and burnt out.

Business Cell Phones: The Solution to Maintaining a Good Work-Life Balance

If you’re finding that business hours are often trickling into your personal hours, having a separate business cell phone may be the solution to ensuring greater work-life balance. When you have a separate smartphone for business, you can more easily set boundaries and make a clearer divide between work and play. You can fully dedicate one device to responding to requests from clients and customers. Having two separate phones can help you choose when you want to be reachable as you can more easily ignore calls and emails depending on the time of day or the situation. Unplugging after the workday is as simple as switching your business phone off, allowing you to resist the temptation to overwork, fully immerse yourself in your downtime, and recharge for the day ahead. You can also utilize settings like Automatic Do Not Disturb at designated times of the day to pause notifications and help minimize distractions from your business cell phone. Having a dedicated business mobile plan and cell phone doesn’t have to be expensive either – there are providers with plans that start as low as $20/month. By implementing this kind of structured disengagement that comes from a separate business phone, you can gain a sense of control over your personal time and be more engaged and productive once you start working again.

Thanks to technology, we’re more connected to work than ever before. Business owners work hard, but you are entitled to a good work-life balance. While larger companies have work-life balance programs embedded into their organizations, it’s up to business owners to create their own systems for work-life balance. Creating a clear separation between your work and personal life can not only be a great way to stay sane but also be a good business strategy. The constant connectivity that smartphones offer may encroach on your work-life balance, but having a separate business cell phone is one great way to protect and preserve it.

If you want to have an amazing work-life balance, you have to be intentional about it. The more you’re able to set proper work-life boundaries, the more you’ll be able to be happy and healthy and get things done. A good work-life balance looks different for everyone and you get to decide what’s realistic and works for you. Regardless, every business owner needs it to run a successful and lucrative business. You won’t be a better business owner, a better negotiator or a better anything by being at the beck and call of your smartphone. Don’t let it stand in between you and your work-life balance.

The post How to Maintain Work-Life Balance with a Business Cell Phone appeared first on Teltik.

86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience, over price point and product. And Uber/Lyft customers are demanding free WiFi. Here’s how you make that happen & cash in better ratings and tips.

Uber and Lyft drivers, cash in with better ratings and tips by offering free WiFi to your customers. Yes, FREE. And that doesn’t come out of your tips, either.

How Offering Free WiFi Can Improve Uber/Lyft Ratings and Tips

One of the most common questions coming from ridesharers these days is: Do you have WiFi?

Ridesharers are voice searching: “Does Uber have WiFi? What about Lyft?” In-car WiFi is in demand, but drivers worry that granting the request will add to their costs.

However, offering free WiFi on-the-go can improve ratings and tips for Uber and Lyft drivers.

Common Assumptions About Sharing WiFi With Ridesharers

Drivers try to boost customer experience and increase their ratings and tips by offering water bottles and other convenience items in their vehicles. Ridesharers typically understand that these are extras.

But with WiFi, many customers assume that access is free. Just like dropping into a coffee shop, WiFi is assumed to come with the purchase of a cup of Joe.

Others don’t flinch. Customers want extra value — they pay. One driver claims he charges a $20 WiFi access fee. A $20 ride just turned into a $40 ride, which isn’t fair to the varying income bases of ridesharers.

Why can’t ridesharers just access a driver’s hotspot? If every ridesharer did that, your cell phone plan bill would skyrocket. If you had the extra ten bucks a day for each GB used, you’d be traveling the world right now.

WiFi may be free for customers, but drivers believe it will be costly for them — on top of having to count their mileage and supplying those convenience items.

How Uber and Lyft Drivers Can Offer Free WiFi

Many drivers don’t have GPS systems built into the car. So, they prefer to use their tablet or their smartphone. Imagine this: What if the device you use for navigation had an unlimited data plan — free data that didn’t slow down after some annoying cap?

Your data is portable. Your bill is predicable. Use tethering to your heart’s content. And it just became possible for you to offer free WiFi to your customers and increase your ratings and tips, without signing away your life savings.

Since you’re using your vehicle for business purposes with Uber or Lyft, take advantage of savings with business cell phone plans customized to your needs.

On-The-Go Needs Addressed With Free WiFi In-Car

Driving your out-of-town customer to their Airbnb? Bring your neighborhood restaurant, bar, coffee and museum recommendations to life with a quick search on your free WiFi together.

Got a busy mom or dad in your car trying to multitask and having trouble connecting? Your free WiFi enables them to connect with ease and make that dentist appointment or order groceries.

Transporting a college student home for the holidays? Families can stay in touch easily and confirm their whereabouts with your free in-car WiFi.

Also, business and creative workers can download important files without eating up your data and money. Friends can share their statuses on-the-go.

Connectivity is an essential part of the everyday. If you can “hail” a car with the touch of a finger, why can’t you stay connected while stepping into that car? Customers expect these things since we are living in the Technological Age, an age thriving with inventions and innovation.

Actually, Uber toyed with the idea of implementing in-car WiFi in the past — but only for a limited time, in a limited area and in a limited partnership. However, only customers who selected VIP rides or the like could access it.

Free In-Car WiFi Boosts Customer Experience, Ratings and Tips

Get inventive and hack in-car WiFi, innovatively gifting your customers connectivity for free. Digital Marketing Trends found that 86% of customers are willing to spend more for a great customer experience. Customers will base their loyalty around customer experience firstly, followed by price point and product, by 2020.

Above all, a great customer experience positions drivers at an advantage for building a loyal client base that tips well and frequently, while improving everyday ratings.

For life’s little needs, big or small, access to unlimited data on-the-go is fast becoming a necessity to operate successfully in today’s world. That fact is true for both ridesharers and drivers. Without a doubt, the world is a more convenient and happier place for both when drivers invest in a business cell phone plan with unlimited data.

Drivers should take advantage of business cell phone plans and business tablet plans, as portions of the bills can be claimed on taxes. Check with your accounting service. Business cell phone plans also account for your business’ data needs.

Teltik’s business cell phone plans can give you access to a growing and reliable network on a truly unlimited data plan, for an affordable price. Mobilize your business, keep your customers connected and improve your ratings and tips by offering free in-car WiFi.

The post How Offering Free WiFi Can Improve Uber Tips appeared first on Teltik.

Weighing the pros and cons of business cell phone plans may feel like an unnecessary waste of time and money. However, it’s one of the most important investments you can make for the future of your business and to maintain personal cell phone privacy.

Unfortunately, “business” and “personal” are completely contrasting areas of life with mutually exclusive systems of management, purpose and use. Using your personal phone number for business is like opening Pandora’s Box — it lets out a series of sinister business plagues you want to avoid at all costs. Because they will cost you.

Quickly, those plagues welcome inefficiency and potential data threats in to wreak havoc on your business. Here are six ways having a business cell phone plan protects your privacy.

No Need to Give Out Your Personal Number

As reported by a 2017 Pew Research report, 77% of American adults own a smartphone. These always-handy devices keep adults connected to loved ones in their personal lives and to important contacts in business. However, combining the two worlds poses risks—most folks don’t consider the large amounts of personal data that smartphones collect.

Giving out your personal number leaves you vulnerable, and you may receive malicious texts and files that compromise your personal data. That’s why many people use a virtual second number whether it’s to network among strangers or sign up for shopper savings cards. So, keep your phone number private by getting a business cell phone plan.

Separate Work From Personal Life

By starting your own business, you hope to achieve greater autonomy in your life’s narrative. That means you can finally achieve a healthy work and life balance, in theory, with your personal life separate from work.

Now, that falls apart if you start giving out your personal number to every networking or business contact. Disconnecting from work is easy harder when your personal phone and business phone are one in the same.

Your personal line will receive phone calls at hours that interfere in life, and life is far too busy already without further complicating it. Keep your personal life and professional life separate with your own business cell phone plan.

Have a Virtual Receptionist Take Your Calls

There are many benefits to having a virtual receptionist for your small business. You can better manage your time, and let the virtual answering service take a phone call for you. Investing in a small business cell phone plan means that your lines are always answered during business hours.

Maintain your professional brand image and save money by providing reliable automated customer service for basic requests. Then, you free up valuable time to enrich the customer experience.

Transparency in Business Without Risk

Did you know that 73% of consumers are willing to spend more for products with total transparency? Another 39% stated they’d switch over to a new brand to pursue a desire for product transparency.

So, add value and transparency to the customer experience by being readily available while protecting your personal data and business data. Call forwarding to multiple numbers and devices on your business cell phone plan affords privacy, convenience and more time to help customers. Then, you can focus on providing a quality customer experience while you protect your business and serve customers.

Often using your personal number for business purposes puts your data privacy at risk and you end up trading privacy for convenience. Protect your information, maintain data privacy and regulate business data security. You can have transparency in business without risk.

Manage Your Data

If your employees utilize their personal lines to interact with leads or consumers, you’re basically choosing to give up control and visibility into that aspect of your business. You need to be able to easily view all business activities, including sales, customer service and communications, and logistics.

A business that puts trust in employees connecting with customers through personal lines become less personal themselves. You won’t know when your staff speaks to clients, how conversations are handled or what tasks fail when.

A small business cell phone plan offers perks to help manage your data in ways you may have not considered. Call records assist with lead generation while keeping you safe. By keeping track of phone calls and monitoring call history, you can more easily discern between customers and harassing “trolls.” . Should an issue arise, your call logs can also offer you a legal record of proof.

Optimize Your Business Phone System

Per Consumer Reports, three out of every ten phone calls in the United States are recorded marketing messages. Even more, the FCC and FTC receive more than 150,000 complaints due to robocalls every month. Unfortunately, some of these calls are even accompanied by scams that cost the United States an estimated $350 million each year.

Robocalls and scammers can also severely drag down your business’s revenue. Automated calls clog your lines and eliminate and take up call time that would otherwise be used to communicate with your customers. You can use business optimization to redirect phone lines to the appropriate departments and team members as well as dissuade “trolls” and scammers. Take back the phone experience, and thus, the customer experience as you avoid spam calls.

Using a personal phone for work carries many risks for your privacy and the sustainability of your brand. A business cell phone plan can offer you that elusive work-life balance, security, convenience and affordability.

The post 6 Ways Having a Business Cell Phone Plan Protects Your Privacy appeared first on Teltik.

Offer Credibility to Your Professional Image

Small business and startup operations are more chaotic than flawless when you open your door to customers. But you don’t want your customers to know that, especially if you work in a non-traditional setting. A dedicated business phone gives you a professional image, whether you’re working from your kitchen table or a desk in a high-rise office.

How do you go about establishing credibility in business on a budget? Obtain a dedicated business phone line to instantly boost your image. For example, add business credibility to your company reputation by customizing your main greeting. This action creates a professional and warm welcome for your clients. Share essential information, such as company hours and location, to strengthen your business appearance.

Imagine also adding “With a combined experience of 15 years, we bring the best care home to you,” as a part of your greeting. Such details add positives to a reputation that your consumers do not see at first glance.

Build Consumer Confidence and Trust

To build trust in business from business to consumer is one of the greatest hurdles in getting started as a small business or start-up. First-class connectivity directly demonstrates customer dedication and quickly builds consumer confidence in your professional image.

Even in the modern world, customers look for physical addresses and dedicated customer service phone lines to vet companies. Trust and credibility from customers propels brand success.

Provide a Person-to-Person Customer Experience

Humans trust humans, not bots. Build a better customer interaction with the help of innovative technology, and provide a person-to person customer experience. A virtual receptionist efficiently keeps the phone lines running and routes multiple callers at once to the real people they need the most.

Improve customer experience with a business phone system that makes sense. Customers receive responses from automated emails, texts and other services all the time. Keep the greeting and purposes of the virtual receptionist simple.

Automated services do have their place in helping customers to hit a reset button or make a quick payment, in theory. Too often, businesses overwhelm the customer with too many automated options when they just want an answer to a simple question. Customers get frustrated as they wait for hours just to speak to a real person.

Leave human problem-resolving to humans. With more free time, you extend the hours that real humans take calls from customers and boost both customer relations and customer interaction.

Give Resources to Your Customers

Allow your customers to connect to business information quickly. Your customer may have unique questions about product features or need an emergency referral. Your business phone line provides a direct link to human resources for your customers. It adds a personal touch in a sometimes too technological world.

Your business phone number should be listed right there for customers to reach you. 78% of mobile searches for area businesses result in a sale. Why not be available to walk the new customer through the ins and outs of a service to make sure it completely meets their needs? That transparency and accessibility quickly converts a lead into a loyal customer.

Get to know your customers so you can provide the resources they’re seeking in the way they need.  Optimize the customer experience with your business phone line, appropriately allocating quick directions to resources. Fast track high-priority concerns directly to customer service.

Represent the Business Organizational Structure

Your call directory listings can organize your business by offering a guide to resources, but it also represents your business as professional to your customers.

Too much hierarchy undermines team collaboration and efficacy. However, representing a proper business organizational structure impacts your company reputation in the eyes of customers. First impressions in business carry more weight than you think. In fact, you have seven seconds to make a great first impression on a new customer.

Customers develop a bad perception of a company when they are constantly redirected between departments. Let your call directory help your customers and represent the business organizational structure, while boosting your appearance and reputation.

Takeaways For Maintaining a Professional Image Via Dedicated Business Phone Line

Reputation management is a growing field in business for a reason. However, business owners focus more on managing and responding to reviews. They often overlook the value their business phone line adds to the customer experience, and thus, their business reputation.

A dedicated business phone line is one of the easiest steps you can take in forming and maintaining an professional image. Whether you work from your kitchen table or a desk in a high rise building,  giving off a professional appearance is intrinsic to the success of your brand. Again, maintaining a professional image via dedicated business phone line allows you to:

• Offer credibility to your professional image.
• Build customer confidence and trust in your brand.
• Provide a person-to-person customer experience.
• Give resources to your customers.
• Represent the business organizational structure.

It takes years to build a professional reputation when you are just starting out in business. Give a strong first impression and manage your professional appearance with a separate business phone number.

A few taps on a smartphone can’t solve every customer issue the way quality customer service can. Your customers deserve a superb, rather than subpar, experience. Let your competitors keep frustrated folks waiting as you pick up the slack and move on to success. Keep your customers coming back by connecting them with real humans on the phone in real time.

The post How a Dedicated Business Phone Cultivates a Professional Image appeared first on Teltik.