Opt for a virtual phone service to address the needs of the many.

By Kevin Baker

It may seem like we should have Aristotle or Goethe to thank for the quote, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." In fact, it’s not a thought coined by one of the great philosophers. Mr. Spock first said it in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

While that may take a little of the luster off the quote, that simple movie line actually applies to many situations in life – including how small business owners manage their business calls. What works well for an individual user often doesn’t work as well for the multiple users involved in a business.

Many Numbers
As individuals, we all have multiple phone numbers these days – work, home, mobile, sometimes even our vehicles have their own phone numbers. Yet it seems like the more ways we have to be reached, the more difficult it is to reach us.

That’s what makes free 'consolidate all your phones under one number' consumer services look so attractive. Having a single number that rings all of your phones at once makes so much more sense. Callers don’t have to try to figure out where you are, or worry about your schedule. They just call the number and the technology takes care of the rest.

That’s perfect for the single user. Where it falls apart, however, is when you try to apply that same free technology to the few, or the many, for example in a small business.

Let’s say you’re a business owner, and you have two additional employees. You each get a number from a one-number service with the idea each employee can now be reached anywhere. It still means customers, prospects, business partners, etc. have a choice of three mutually exclusive numbers to call. If you add another person later, that’s one more number in the mix. And if the caller only knows one of those numbers already, there’s no way for him/her to discover what the others are. As Mr. Spock would say, it’s not logical.

Virtual is the Answer
Instead, the better choice is a virtual phone service. A virtual phone service allows you to unite all of your employees under a single phone number using a virtual receptionist, or auto attendant.

With a virtual phone service, you create individual extensions for each user – even if those users are spread all across the country. The individual extensions can then be set to ring all of the users’ different phones one at a time or all once, providing the same level of reachability as services for individuals.

Virtual Benefits
The value of a virtual phone service for small business goes well beyond one-number-to-call convenience, however. It also adds functionality that improves the business on several levels.

One benefit is a more professional image. When customers or prospects call the virtual receptionist they are met with a professional greeting, just like they would receive if they called a large corporation. The virtual receptionist also includes a dial-by-name directory, helping callers find the right person even if they’re not sure who the right person is.

Having multiple extensions under one number makes it possible for employees to transfer or forward an outside call from one employee to another, if needed. That’s something you can’t do with individual user consumer services.

A virtual phone service even helps with marketing the business. You can advertise a special offer, and have customers call a specific extension to learn more. This technique not only promotes the offer – it allows you to determine which advertising medium is most effective so you know where to concentrate future marketing efforts.

Make Room to Grow
What if you’re an entrepreneur who doesn’t have any other employees? Wouldn’t the one-number consumer-level service work then? The answer is yes, providing you always plan to be a one-person shop.

If you hope to add employees in the future, a one-number consumer service is not such a good idea. The phone number you’ll receive isn’t portable. In other words, you’ll spend a lot of time and effort promoting one number, then you will have to retrain customers and business partners when it’s time to move to a more business-oriented phone service. It is the equivalent of building a Web site with a specific address, spending a lot of money driving traffic to it, then changing that address down the road. It can be done, but not without a lot of added effort and confusion

Consumer phone services are fine for helping individuals manage their different phone numbers. But they’re not very good for business users with multiple employees.

To address the needs of the many, or even the few, opt for a virtual phone service. It may not help you live longer, but it can definitely help you prosper. BTE

Kevin Baker is my1voice product marketing manager for Protus, provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses and enterprise organizations. Protus offerings include my1voice, a feature-rich virtual phone service that travels with the user from phone to Web, MyFax Internet fax service, and Campaigner email marketing solution.