Business Connections Blog

Happy Holidays from All of Us

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At this festive time of year, we want to thank all of you for your support of Navigata.  We are very thankful for all of the customers, suppliers, partners, and supporters who have contributed to our success this year.   

Wishing you all the best this holiday season.  We look forward to continuing to serve all of your communications needs in 2012.

Seven tips to running a successful conference call

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Conference calls have long been promoted to save money on travel costs. But, if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a poorly-run conference call, there is no bigger productivity-killer.

A recent conferencing experience led us to offer these seven tips on how to run a successful conference call.

Tip #1: Use a reliable conferencing service

A high-quality, reliable conferencing service is an absolute MUST for an important conference call. A persistent clicking in your ear or an echo can ruin the call and distract your participants. Beware of so-called ‘FREE’ conferencing services. Most of the time, you get what you pay for.

Tip#2: Test it out BEFORE your conference call

There is no bigger annoyance than a conference call that just doesn’t work. Make sure you know how to use all the conferencing tools (how to mute the line, how to add participants) before you start your meeting. Then you’ll avoid the embarrassment of disconnecting key participants.

Tip #3: Have an agenda prepared

Like any productive meeting, a successful conference call should have an agenda, with items outlined for discussion. Participants will be more engaged in the call if they understand the objectives and timeframes for discussion during the meeting.

Tip #4: Use the right equipment

All speakerphones are not created equal. Whenever possible, especially in a conference with a large number of participants, use a purpose-built conferencing phone with microphones that can be positioned in front of key speakers.

Tip #5: Choose a quiet location

I recently experienced a call where the moderator was in a noisy call centre with lots of background noise. Not only does this sound unprofessional, but it can be very distracting to participants.

Tip #6: Use a conference moderator

If you are holding a large event conference call, we’d recommend using an event conference service with a live operator or moderator. Even in a smaller conference call, a moderator is a good idea, to guide the discussion and to introduce speakers.

Tip #7: Make sure everyone can join in

Check with your conferencing service provider to see if there is a limit on the number of participants that can connect to your conference call. You don’t want to prevent important contributors to the meeting from connecting with you.

Follow these seven tips for your next conference call and you’re on your way to increased productivity and reduced costs.

Four Tips to finding the right business phone system

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After speaking to hundreds of business owners shopping for a new phone system, one key theme rings out loud and clear [pardon the phone pun]. Many business owners delay buying a much-needed new phone system because they view the process of switching as too hard, or too involved. 

In this blog post, we'll show you four helpful tips to make finding the right business phone system a whole lot easier.

Tip #1: Ditch the traditional phone system

It used to be that buying a new phone system was a big deal.  You needed to research hardware, compare features, and find an equipment vendor.  

Once you made a decision, you had to find a licensed dealer to configure and install your equipment, hire a technician to make sure your internal wiring was set up correctly, and choose a business line provider to connect you to the outside world.  

Then, you had to pray all these folks could co-ordinate their efforts to avoid running your business without phones for an entire day.

Going with a cloud-based or Hosted Phone system is one way to avoid a lot of the headaches we just described.

Tip #2: Go 'Hosted'

If you don’t have the time or resources to research or manage an on-site phone system, you should consider a hosted phone system.  A ‘hosted phone system’, often referred to as a Hosted PBX, is basically a cloud-based system that you pay for as a monthly service. 

With a hosted phone system, the actual infrastructure and equipment is located at your service provider’s secure data center facility, not on-site at your office. Only your phones and some networking equipment are actually located at your office location.

Tip # 3: Let your Service Provider do everything

By choosing a hosted phone system, your service provider is now responsible for managing the physical 'phone system' at their secure facilities and ensuring you are connected to customers, suppliers and new business prospects.  They'll give you access to the latest new features and ensure your phones are always up and running.

Your service provider will often also take care of assessing your internal wiring structure, to ensure that the service will work properly, and will install and configure your system exactly how you want it.

Tip #4: Pay-as-you-Go for better flexibility

A hosted phone system uses Voice over IP (VoIP) technology which can also provide some additional financial advantages and improve your office flexibility.  Here are a few examples:

• Add more lines in days not weeks to respond to seasonal business increases.
• Avoid up-front capital investment and pay for your phone system and service as a monthly fee on your phone bill.
• Work from home and access the same features and functionality you have at the office.

So instead of a new phone system causing you more headaches to implement, a hosted phone system can actually save you time and money now and in the long run.

We hope these four simple tips will help make your next phone-shopping experience  a little easier.  Remember, finding a new business phone system doesn't have to be hard anymore!

5 ways to make your small business look more professional

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It’s hard enough getting new business in the door, but if you don’t project a professional image once customers contact you, your efforts could be wasted. Here are five ways to make your small business look more professional − without breaking the bank.

Get a decent phone system

Missed calls or busy lines create a bad first impression for incoming callers. Upgrading your phone system to include the latest calling features can help you avoid customer wait-times and make your business run more smoothly.

Don’t have the capital to invest in a new phone system? Try a hosted phone system, often called Hosted PBX service, which gives you a big-business phone system, managed and maintained by your service provider, that you pay for as a monthly service.

Subscribe to an Auto-attendant service

You may not have the budget to pay a receptionist, but using an “auto-attendant” you can still present a professional image to callers for as little as $9.95 a month. Auto-attendant technology lets you record a professional message and directs calls to the right person. Anyone who phones your number will hear the automated message at the other end of the line − “Press one for sales, two for support” and so on.

Register a toll-free number

A toll-free number is an inexpensive way to reach a wider demographic and make your business look like a bigger, more professional company. With most service providers, toll-free numbers are free to set up and you only pay when someone calls you. But when you advertise with a toll-free number, you’re saying that you serve a bigger market than you would with just a local number. You can even choose an easy-to-remember “vanity number” - like 855.66.PIZZA – for better brand awareness.

Go ‘Virtual’

If you want your small business to look bigger, a virtual phone number gives you a local number in any city where you want to do business without your having to open a physical location there. You can advertise a local number in Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto and answer the calls on your existing home, office or mobile phone.

Beef up your online presence

A small business can project a better image simply by investing in a new website. Even a one-person company can gain credibility and generate more revenue simply by being available to new and current customers on the Web.

Lacking the budget for a web developer? Most web-hosting packages include the basic tools you need for building a site yourself, starting at just $14.95 a month.

Content re-worked from contribution to Business in Vancouver How-to book article 'How to make your business look more professional' originally published in January 2011.

Welcome to the Business Connections Blog!

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New Navigata Web Site

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