Several months ago, I was afforded the amazing opportunity to work for Phone.com. After years of working customer service in various industries, I finally found a place that challenges me, encourages me, and gives me opportunities to grow. I finally feel like I’m on the right career path!  At Phone.com, they preach awesome customer service, but let me tell you a story of awesome internal customer service.

The company recently allowed me to telecommute one day per week. I was so excited to be able to work from home, in my PJs, while sipping tea, and lighting my aroma therapy candles to ensure maximum Zen. The night prior to my first work from home shift, I absentmindedly left my Macbook Pro in the back seat of my car.

As I approached my driveway that next morning, I noticed that my driver’s side door was ajar. My thoughts immediately went to my laptop.  I pulled the door open and frantically looked around the car.  I moved knickknacks and mail (I’m a busy woman — don’t judge); all while fighting back tears. My stomach was in knots. I knew my laptop was gone. I made a half-hearted attempt to search my trunk and my home, but I couldn’t recall ever bringing it into the house.  The search was futile and hope was lost.

I drove to work anyway, forcing myself to believe I’d left the laptop in my cubicle. Needless to say, my suspicions were confirmed. I ran out into the parking lot, screamed an expletive or two in frustration, and exploded into tears. Like many people, my laptop contained my life—and now I had put the company’s security in jeopardy because of the sensitive information on it.

Nearly hysterical, I called my boss and explained the situation. He told me to head home, relax, and file a police report. I did just that. While at home, sobbing into a cup of tea, I received a text from him informing me that I could use one of the old desktop computers if mine was never returned to me. I was completely amazed.  My cloud had a silver lining indeed!

At times, we tend to forget that the people we work with are as much our customers as those who pay us money for our goods and services. It’s important to keep each other happy and supported in our roles. This might mean checking in to determine if the customer service we are providing to one another is up to par. In the same way we would do so for our customers, we also must be present for our co-workers. Responding to correspondence in a timely manner, being available, and supplying (or guiding others to) resources and information that assist others in completing our work is paramount.

At Phone.com, communicating better and better every day is our goal. We must never forget to also turn that focus inward to ensure happy, satisfied employees AND customers!

I had the privilege of attending the 8th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service in Las Vegas over the weekend.  After a couple posts asking you to vote for Phone.com for the People’s Choice Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year, it’s only fair that I take a few moments to share the results with you.

With over 400,000 votes cast for the People’s Choice Award Customer Service Awards, Vonage was the winner in the telecommunications category.  For Customer Service Department of the Year for a telecommunications company, Automated Systems Design, Inc. was the big winner.  I want to offer a word of congratulations to both companies for their achievement.

Our awesome customer service team came away with the bronze Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year for a telecommunications company and we could not be prouder.  In a recent post on Communicate Better Blog I shared what I would have said had I been given the opportunity to speak.

I was so honored to accept the award on behalf of Phone.com.  While our customer service team is awesome, an award of this nature is not earned solely by the customer service staff.  It is in fact a collaborative effort of everyone within the organization from our executives, to our engineers, to our customer service representatives and of course a fantastic group of customers.  It takes an entire company that listens to and cares for its customers and that is precisely what we strive to do better each day at Phone.com.  Together we won this award!

Phone.com has many features that help businesses project a professional image, and voicemail is one of them! Christopher Carr, CEO of Farotech, believes it is one of the most important features for his company to have.  Farotech is an SEO firm in Philadelphia. Since 2001 they have helped many local Philadelphia businesses grow, implementing online marketing strategies and SEO service plans for each of their clients.

With regard to the voicemail system, Carr remarks, “One of the challenges that we have had as a virtual company is having a professional virtual voicemail system that works as seamlessly as a professional internal voicemail system.”   He goes on to say, “We work very hard to generate leads for our company, and we need to know that when leads call us, they have a professional experience.”

With Phone.com numbers, it’s very easy to set up call forwarding to existing cell phone numbers.  As a business on the go, it helps maintain a separation between personal and business messages. You wouldn’t want clients to call in and get the wrong impression when they hear a generic or personal voicemail greeting.

Not only does Christopher appreciate our voicemail system, but he also finds our customer service staff “extremely helpful.  [The Phone.com staff] guided us every step of the way and even checked in with us on a regular basis to confirm that their service met our expectations.”

If you are seeking to give your company the most professional image possible, our Voicemail feature is perfect for you.  Call us any time.  We are more than happy to help!