Types of Phone Users

General office phone user

These users make a few calls a day, often to a group of vendors or users from a customer list.

They know how to use web-based business management software to keep track of contact information, support requests, and order tracking.

The new 3CX software and Grandstream phone can make this work easier in a number of ways.

Using the web console, the user can change forwarding settings. For instance, they are waiting for an important call that simply CANNOT go to voicemail. They can enable simultaneous ringing with their cell phone, or just forward calls to their cell phone until they are ready to put things back to normal operations.

Of course having the call ring to their cell phones all the time, or just during business hours is also an option.

Work from home user

3CX and the GXP2135 phone allow the users extension to ring in multiple locations at the same time, so whether they are at their desk in the office, or at the desk in the home office, their environment has all the same features and benefits.

If it is more convenient to simply use their computer as their phone, the 3CX web app supports that without requiring the installation of any additional software.  We have a Google Chrome add on that allows users to use click to dial through their browser as well.

The home user has the option to use the system however they find most efficient.  Bluetooth heads are supported directly by the phone, or they can use it to connect to their computer and skip the phone entirely.  Since extensions can ring at multiple locations at the same time, they can use as many of these options at the same time as they wish.

Work-on-the-road user

3CX provides an excellent quality soft phone application for iPhone and Android that allows the road warrior to receive high detailed caller ID and transfer calls as if they were in the office.  Also, calls logged through the system can be imported into a CRM since the soft phone acts as an extension of the PBX just like any other.

After-hours, tech support or on call user

Setting aside an extension for tech support, a cell phone can be assigned to weekend or evening duty easily through the web interface.  Calls can be routed to a ring group during the day and then forwarded to the cell phone of the person on call after hours.

Live Operator ability

The Grandstream GXP2170

This phone can easily be used as a rock-solid console without taking up all the space on the desk. Its 12 BLF keys show status of all your busiest extensions.  But using the virtual key system you can click through to see that status of 36 extensions without any additional hardware clogging up the work environment.  The phones support single click transfers for easy error free transitions.

For companies that need the extra keys, multiple side cars are available.

Honestly, this can be a little over the top for most businesses, but for a very busy company with a live receptionist, it can save time and improve work flow for the whole office.

The Call Center

Call Centers are well-supported with phones that not only provide login and log out keys right on the phone, but also the hot desking feature. This way, employees can have their own personal greeting and extension that moves with them at any station in the company.

With powerful queuing features like 12 different hunt strategies, an automated call back feature, SLA time breach notification, configurable on hold music, introduction prompt, statistics reports generated on a daily or weekly schedule, automatic call recording notification, and just a bunch of other great features list whisper and barge in, this technology is ready for any small call center or if you want a reason for your unorganized group to become a more organized call center.

The system queue status screen provides real time feedback of queue status

The wall board provides real time statistics

Retail counter

Retail counters tend to be a set of phones shared by a number of employees trying to serve many clients at the same time, both face to face and by telephone.  The park feature comes in very handy here, being able to press a key and hold a caller, while allowing anyone at the counter to simply press the blinking light to continue serving that customer, is a must have.

We also find that having a cordless phone to bring around a showroom or back into an inventory space, including in the general ring group, allows a staff member to take calls with them when they need to leave the sales floor to check on details of an order.

Groups and departments

Most companies that are a certain size use an internal instant messenger system and have routine web video conference calls.  Our product provides a system for this, integrated with the phone system for ease of use.  The call can be scheduled from the 3CX web interface by any user and users will see these schedules show up on their Google calendar for a web meeting.

Once you start using this feature to communicate with internal staff and customers, the ability to see the status of other staff and single click to start a call or web meeting becomes second nature.

A group like this may also be a combination of many of the above user types and having all the features available creates a very powerful communication tool for any business.

Single Entrepreneur

Use our soft phone application to help differentiate between business calls and personal calls.  You can set a schedule to send calls after hours to voicemail, or have a "press 1 if this is an emergency" option to allow callers to contact you, but notify them at the same time that you are not available for general information until business hours resume.  This tool can also require callers to identify themselves before the call is sent to you, which can help stop robocalls.

Want to learn more? Contact us today!