When you've been in business communications for as long as we have, the list of vertical markets you've worked with gets pretty lengthy. We've been fortunate to have not only helped set up service and business phone systems for small business, but specifically many and varied vertical markets such as law firms, real estate, schools, hospitals, medical offices, service companies, callcenters, financial services, government, hospitality, non profits, online retailers, trade associations, churches, country clubs, restaurants, pharmacies, and so on.
While our experience is helpful given our understanding of how a business in a specific industry tends to handle telephone communications, it is also important to recognize the challenges and needs that are common to most every business and organization.
The internet and mobility have changed the way we use the phone system and the phone that sits on our desk, as well as messaging. Additionally, when a certain type of business is just starting up, they may not know exactly what they want or need. For instance, the needs of an established boutique patent law firm may differ greatly from a new personal injury firm.
Relocation is yet another area that will require a specific approach for a retailer or medical office, for example, and another for a real estate office, and still another for a software company. We are all heavily dependent on our business communications and we don't like to miss calls or inconvenience customers. No matter what business we are engaged in, we are all in sales ultimately, and the telephone can potentially be the handiest, fastest tool for offending our clients or customers.
We consider your customers, clients, and callers our customers, clients and callers by extension. The phone system and your certified partner and service provider for the equipment, should enhance your business and help you become more profitable in your vertical market; unique in your niche. Even with experience, it isn't always obvious how to do that, so collaboration and dialogue are often key. Sometimes, functionality needs to be identified and applied in a different way to help your business save time and eliminate hassles.
One of my favorite examples of thinking creatively in this way that I've mentioned before, comes from another Vertical dealer. The customer in question had an employee who was being harassed by a soon-to-be-ex-spouse and the request was posed - could anything be done through phone system programming? Their vendor was happy to reply that, yes, something could be done.
Using a special software application, the technician programmed the system to reject all calls from the offender based on all known caller ID (home, cell, work), and not even ring the phone system. When a call came in from any of these numbers, it was automatically routed to the local sheriff's office. By the same token, we can also prioritize calls from certain VIP's or eliminate time sucking nuisance calls - generally important to any business in any industry or vertical market.
It's important that a vendor not just ask questions, but that they know what questions to ask relative to the customer's vertical market - will a campus or farm benefit from long range cordless or will a manufacturing facility require amplified paging for example. It's always nice to be presented with a comprehensive solution from the beginning, even if we decide to add certain items in the future.
Today, it's even easier to configure custom solutions from the same system, with all applications 'in-skin' or in the box, so to speak. Call recording is a good example. Years ago, our company sold a call recording system to a taxi cab company who had decided they could avoid future lawsuits if they recorded every single call. It seems that someone had claimed they'd called a cab to go the hospital and the cab never came.
That single piece of equipment, the call recorder, cost the company tens of thousands, and had to be integrated as it wasn't part of the PBX. This was often the case - a third party, adjunct server for call recording, or call center functionality for instance, was required.
Today, with few exceptions, we can accomplish sophisticated functionality all on the same server. In fact, when it comes to call recording, the flexibility is fantastic - we can record all calls, outside calls only, calls at a particular station or within a department, or allow or disallow individual users to use adhoc call recording on demand. Customers across vertical markets find call recording useful for different reasons. Until you think of it, you may not think of it.
It's similar to the situation where a customer will describe functionality on their wish list, and I say 'oh yes, that's basic call center or contact center', and they say - 'oh no, we're not a call center'. In fact, they're not a call center in the way we typically picture that animal, but that's exactly what they're describing when they want to 'queue' calls and provide recorded information to the caller in the queue about wait times, place in line, etc. And many companies in many different vertical markets can also benefit from call queuing and other call center features like 'coach, monitor, and join'.
Not long ago I met with a non profit organization that provides counseling services to the community and they expertly described their desire and rationale for call center functionality, but I never had the impression they would have thought of themselves as a call center per se. Interestingly, more recently, I had a similar discussion with yet another non profit providing pro bono education and litigation services statewide. We find applications for call centers in virtually every vertical market and this single addition can really enhance a business's service to callers.
In this section, we'll look at various vertical markets and their unique needs. If you would like to talk about the unique needs of your business and industry, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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