Phone Broadcasting / Electronic Invoice Blog

Best Practice: Communicating with Thousands of Sales Agents

2008-08-04T17:13:08Z

Let's say you are the VP of a large insurance or financial company, and you're in charge of keeping your thousands -- maybe tens of thousands -- of sales agents in the loop. What's the fastest and least expensive way to get news out to your sales force? Phone broadcasting, of course!

Not only is it much cheaper than postage, but even better, is that you don't need any lead time to prepare an urgent message. If something comes up at 9:30am, you can have your entire sales force of thousands of agents notified in less than an hour. Is there some company policy they should know about? A change in leadership? Something that you want them to hear first from you, before reading about in the press? Or maybe, just an event notification or reminder. Whatever your application, you'll find using our voice and phone broadcasting services just what the doctor ordered when it comes to keeping the troops informed and up to date on the latest happenings. Let's face it, the insurance and finance world are built on one thing -- information. And the companies who can process that information efficiently and effectively have a huge leg up on the competition.

Ad Agencies and Marketing Companies Use Voice Broadcasting for their Clients

2008-07-31T18:47:55Z

If you run an ad agency, or a marketing or PR firm, chances are your clients have asked you about the various options they have in getting news out quickly for events, product announcements, even crisis management. That's why more and more marketing and ad agencies are using voice and phone broadcasting to instantly transmit news to important contacts, providing needed and urgent updates. With marketing companies evolving into a one-stop shop, voice and phone broadcasting will play an increasingly critical role, and become an integral part, of any campaign communications strategy. As always, it's best to be prepared and get your accounts set up before you need them. That way, you aren't rushing and making mistakes in the heat of the moment. You'll be ready for anything your clients need with only a moment's notice. Can you imagine how impressed your clients will be when you explain, "No problem, we can get a message out to everyone on the list in the next 10 minutes."

Sending Pre-Recorded Phone Messages for Fund Raising

2008-07-30T20:49:21Z

Educational institutions and philanthropic organizations depend on donations to fund their organizations' business -- grants, scholarships, aid to name a few. In these tough economic times, these entities are fighting for every fundraising dollar they can get. Phone broadcasting is a superb way to reach their constituencies in mass quantities. Whether voice messages are sent as a stand alone campaign or in conjunction with a postcard, voice messaging, or blast voice campaigns, are an excellent and inexpensive way to raise awareness of an organization's need to raise funds quickly.

Phone Broadcasting Service Call Appointment Reminders

2008-07-30T20:32:52Z

There is nothing more frustrating for a service business than to show up for an appointment for a repair or inspection only to find that that the head of household forgot the appointment and is not home -- a waste of time, manpower and additional expenses. Automatic voice messaging, or phone broadcasting, is a perfect solution. Businesses can automatically contact their scheduled customers the evening prior to the service call to remind them of the appointment, and also provide a number that can be called if the appointment needs to be rescheduled. It's a win-win situation. The business wins, because they can effortlessly confirm the appointment and schedule their manpower appropriately. Their customers win because they will appreciate the reminder and the opportunity to change plans if necessary. Just one more reason why sending pre-recorded phone messages is becoming the preferred option for businesses looking to confirm appointments and keep customers in the loop.

Phone Broadcasting: Self Service of Full Service

2008-07-17T14:59:08Z

When you begin your phone broadcasting program, you have a choice to make. You can launch the jobs yourself or you can have us do it for you. There are advantages to both. Here's a quick run down on how each service works:

Self Service:

We give you a user name and password, and you log into your online account. You upload your phone list (don't worry, we give you all the instructions) and recordings, and schedule and launch your jobs yourself. This is the perfect system for schools, colleges, financial services, and others who want 24/7 access and complete control of their voice blasts. You don't have to be a technical person to understand it or use it. We can walk you through everything over the phone and you'll get written step by step instructions as well.

Full Service:

If you would like us to do everything for you, that can be easily arranged. You just email us your phone list and we'll upload it for you. Then, you have us call you at your convenience, read your prepared script over the phone, and we'll send your recording at the time you request. That's the easiest and most convenient way to launch a phone broadcast as you will ever experience.

Leaving Your Recorded Message on Answering Machines

2008-07-17T14:57:35Z

One of the most amazing pieces of technology involving phone broadcasting is the system's intuitive ability to detect a live answer from an answering machine. In other words, it can tell (with 90% accuracy) when a live person answers the phone versus when a recorded greeting answers. The system can be set to delivery a message to a live person only, an answering machine only, or to both. When the system hears a recorded greeting it will wait for the beep to begin delivering your message. And of course, your contact will hear it when they play their messages. So either way, you're covered and are achieving the greatest level of deliverability. It's one more reason why telephone broadcasting, or what many people call voice blast services, is becoming a preferred method of sending out important news and alerts. Unlike sending a letter or postcard, it can be delivered in seconds, not days -- and it costs a fraction of a stamp. In fact, every time postage goes up, our business goes up! Thank you, Post Office!

How Fast is Fast?

2008-07-17T14:55:48Z

We have a lot in common with the printing and dry cleaning business. When we ask new telephone broadcasting customers when they want their jobs to go out, they say "yesterday." Well, we can't turn back the hands of time, but we can get new customers up and running in less than 30 minutes. As soon as you decide to start, we send you a simple one page agreement form you fill out and fax back. The form asks you for your contact information, your credit card data, and the phone number you want placed in your Caller ID. (That's the number your contact will see on their Caller ID when you call them with your pre-recorded phone message.) As soon as we receive that, your account is immediately opened and your phone blast can go out. We can send out more than 100,000 calls per hour. So, if you are sending a message to 5,000 contacts, it can be completed in just a few minutes. Bottom line: You can call us up the very first time and reach thousands of people in less than an hour. If you're account is already set up, for emergency preparedness, you can get your messages out to everyone in seconds or minutes. That's fast!

Sending Recorded Phone Messages to Your Network Marketing (MLM) Organization via Phone Broadcasting

2008-07-08T15:55:01Z

Call it network marketing, multi-level marketing (MLM) or direct sales. Whatever you call it, it's big, and millions of people are drawn to it because it offers one thing -- opportunity! But folks can be scattered around the country and around the world, and everyone in the organization needs the latest news and tools to reach their goals. What's the easiest way to pump up the troops? Sending a phone broadcast, of course. That way, you can use an admired leader's voice (so everyone can hear the urgency and excitement!) to record an important message and then simply use our phone broadcasting service to automatically send it to everyone's phone, direct to their landline or cell phone. Whether it's 1000 or 20,000 distributors you want to send a phone call to, it can all be done in a matter of minutes. And if they aren't there to answer the phone, we can automatically leave the same message on an answering machine. Moreover, it can all be done at a fraction of what it costs to send a letter or postcard. New product announcements, bonuses, promotions -- you name it -- phone broadcasting is your best bet when it comes to getting important news out to everyone quickly and inexpensively.

Electronic Invoicing - Process E-Statements Faster and Save Postage

2008-05-15T20:48:41Z

In today's economic environment, now more than ever, businesses are searching for ways to quickly cut costs, streamline operations and recover receivables faster. One simple way to accomplish that is electronic invoicing, via fax or email. The cost is a fraction of what you pay to mail your invoices, your customers receive them immediately, and your collection cycle is shortened. Not only will you eliminate high postage costs, but your paper and printing costs are reduced as well. Best of all, there is no need to develop programming or purchase hardware and/or software, because we have the delivery system already in place. You just email your data to us, we parse it, and we send your invoice or statement in the format you want, including PDF invoices.

What is an Electronic Invoice?

2008-05-15T20:12:25Z

Electronic invoices come in two forms: faxed invoices or emailed invoices. Many companies choose one or the other, but you can actually do both simultaneously with our system. That way you can deliver an invoice in the format your customers like best. There is no need to maintain separate databases for your fax or email invoice customers either. Our system can handle both types of recipients in the same database. Why are more companies embracing the idea of emailing or faxing invoices? Dramatic cost savings! No more printing and no more postage! And with the added benefit of not having to buy any new hardware or software, implementing e-invoicing or electronic invoicing is the fastest and easiest way to see immediate savings.

Is VOIP Unreliable for Sending Automated Phone Calls?

2008-05-08T00:35:26Z

In my opinion, yes. Someday, sending voice messages over the Internet may be as convenient and reliable as today's fiber optic system. But unfortunately, VOIP isn't there yet. There are many companies in the voice broadcasting business that use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) to send their customers' messages. And since it's cheaper to use VOIP, their customers think they are getting a better deal. Yes, it's cheaper all right, but there's a price to pay in the end. The problem is reporting. VOIP's reputation as a reliable platform to properly record and time delivered messages is questionable. So if you are paying per minute, or per call, you may want to think twice about the report you get back if you're using VOIP.

There's plenty of doubts and you won't have any trouble getting second and third opinions by Googling "VOIP reliability" or "VOIP dependability". In a new book that will be released this summer (Summer '08) by Himanshu Dwivedi, entitled Hacking VOIP, he says, "administrators must contend with eavesdropping, audio injection, Caller ID spoofing, VOIP phishing and other unique exploits. All of these security holes can result in the leakage of information and in unreliable phone calls." In the voip lowdown blog, one commentator admitted, "all we hear about in the mainstream media is how vulnerable and unreliable VoIP is. And let's face it... until people start taking the steps to safeguard their networks, this technology isn't going to go places."

There's a lot of work to do to get VOIP up to the standards that fiber optic customers can take for granted. Until that day comes, your best bet is to use "old fashioned" fiber optic telephone lines to get your messages out and properly reported.

Sending Pre-recorded Phone Messages and the Law

2008-05-02T11:35:38Z

The days of using automated phone dialers and sending pre-recorded phone messages to an indiscriminate list of numbers in the phone book are long over. The federal government, and most state governments, have instituted laws that strictly regulate such activities. In fact, if you aren't careful, you can be subject to a very hefty fine. While the laws are constantly changing, there are some general rules of thumb you need to know about.

First, unless you have an existing business relationship (EBR) with someone, it is against the law to voice broadcast a message to someone who has their number on the national Do Not Call list. Many states have their own Do Not Call lists as well. Second, the only exceptions are for non-profit organizations or political candidates. So, if you are private telemarketer, you are advised to study the rules carefully, or hire an attorney who can help you. There are phone lists you can purchase that are "scrubbed" against the Do Not Call list that would enable you to call people who don't mind being solicited. However, if you are misled and the list was not scrubbed against the Do Not Call list, as advertised or promised by the list broker, you can still be fined. One company was fined over a million dollars. These are treacherous waters and you have to VERY careful. Here is a good run down on what the law says: http://www.dnclistmanager.com/do_not_call_laws.html

Nearly all of our OrangePoint business involves serving customers who send messages to those whom they have a prior business relationship with, so our customers are safe from any penalties. Nonetheless, it's important that you follow the letter of the law, and that's exactly what we ask our customers to do. Meanwhile, there are several companies that specialize in "call compliance" -- services that insure that you don't get yourself in trouble. Here is the link to a popular call compliance company that claims none of their customers have ever been fined. It would be worth it to check them out: http://www.callcompliance.com

You should also review the Federal Communication Commission guidelines here: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html

Most Popular Phone Broadcasting Feature

2008-04-24T17:57:42Z

Without question, the most popular and valued voice broadcasting feature is the ability to leave messages on answering machines. It's estimated that 70% of Americans are NOT at home during the day to answer their home phone. Moreover, many people believe that delivering a voice broadcast message to a phone is preferred over a live answer. Why? Because it's more convenient for the recipient to listen to the message at their convenience and that the message completely avoids the "startle factor" because it's in the same format as recipient's other messages on the answering machine. Some customers prefer delivering their pre-recorded voice broadcasting messages to live answers only, others to answering machines only, while most of our customers choose to deliver to both.

How To Avoid the "Startle Factor"

2008-04-24T17:54:40Z

When someone answers the phone and says hello, they expect an immediate response. So it's no surprise that folks may become a little startled when they hear a recording answering them. It takes them a split second to recognize that they are listening to a recording and not a live person. Moreover, as they make that mental adjustment, they will probably miss what you are saying in the first few seconds. That's why it's important to "ease" into the message to let folks adjust to what they are hearing. Rather than start your message by saying, "This is John Smith from ABC Organization" which they won't comprehend or remember anyway because it's too fast -- you can start by saying "I'm glad I was able to reach you. This is a recorded message from John Smith from ABC Organization, just calling to remind you that we have an important meeting next week." Your recipients will be less startled and find it a more comfortable approach and you'll also find it more effective as well, especially if you are leaving a message on an answering machine and don't want your name accidentally cut off while the recipient's recorder is starting.

Keys to Successful Phone Broadcasting

2008-04-24T17:51:58Z

We often talk in the office here about the ways our customers can help themselves improve the quality and success of their phone message deliveries. There are just two very important things you can do to insure success. They would definitely be considered "best practices" for phone broadcasting. First, make sure you have an up to date and correctly formatted phone list. An Excel spreadsheet works fine and you'll need a complete 10-digit phone number (including area code) in ONE column. Second, work on your message by writing a script and practicing it aloud several times. Chances are, after you read it, you will make changes. The average script goes through about five to ten drafts before it sounds right. With a properly formatted phone list, and a good script, you are 95% there!