When looking for the phone and data service, there are several options that can be considered. Depending on the type of business that you are running, your needs can be very complex or fairly simple. While it is important for companies to have a toll free number so that customers can call for customer service, orders, complaints it is also important for that company to have a locally based number. While some companies do outsource many of their day-to-day tasks, the local number can give the customer more peace of mind and confidence that they are dealing with a “local” company.  

There are several reasons that the company might need to follow up with a customer: to respond to a complaint, to explain delays with an order or in the case of collections, to inquire about delinquent payments. Local phone numbers are important in these cases for one very important reason: caller id. Most people today have caller id and may not answer phone numbers that are 1) toll free 2) long distance 3) suspicious to them for any other reason. Caller id is especially problematic for those departments that are likely to be screened and subsequently ignored like collections.  

Using a virtual telephone number (VTN) or a remote telephone number (RTN) has many advantages over traditional toll free numbers and can be a very valuable, viable telecommunications option that should be investigated by companies of every size. First, these options give the company a local phone number in as many locations as they would like. If the company would like to establish a “local” presence in one hundred localities, it is possible to do so, with some restrictions. The carrier or managed services provider can explain these restrictions in more detail.  

Additional benefits of VTN and/or RTN can increase the number of answered phone calls for the company, especially beneficial to the collections department. The VTN and RTN may also be used to reduce the long distance charges for the company based on the routing and switches used by the carrier of choice. A managed services provider can explain exactly how VTN or RTN can be beneficial to you and your company including the ability to increase actual productivity and decrease costs.

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