Step 1: In your Phone.com control panel navigate to “Call Info” and then to “Manage Spam Callers List”

Step 2: Click the “Add A Number To Block” button.

Step 3: You will need to check the “Starts With” check box. You can then enter “+1325” which will block all calls from numbers beginning with 325. The note field is for your reference. Once you have completed that, click the “Add” button.

I told you it was easy. If you have any questions whatsoever regarding this new feature, our awesome customer service representatives are here to help 24 hours a day and 7 day a week!

I had the opportunity to speak with one of our awesome customers, John Savidge of Montron LLC. His company specializes in advertising campaigns via electronic media (radio and television) in the education and the medical, legal and automotive industries. They use Phone.com phone numbers in their advertisements and gauge the success of a campaign by the number of calls they receive.

Prior to the release of call notifications, John and his team would send a weekly report to their clients listing the calls that were received in response to a particular ad campaign. Clients would then call anyone back that they may have missed. The problem with this model is that any missed calls are missed leads and when addressed on a weekly basis, are likely very cold.

With call notifications, John’s clients now receive an instant notification of a call and have the ability to call that lead back while it’s still hot. John’s clients are happy, John is happy and Phone.com is happy. I call that a win-win-win!

Please check out our new call notification feature in your telephone number and extension settings. I saved the best part for last. It’s totally FREE! ALL of our customers can take advantage of it today.

There are a few things that you can expect when you tweet at us:

1. Timely, well thought out responses.

2. Well-trained, fun, US-based customer service representatives.

3. An AWESOME customer service experience.

If we don’t meet or exceed your expectations I want to hear about. Actually, I love to hear any time we DO exceed your expectations as well. Email me at Jeremy@phone.com and I will respond to you. Finally, while we’re on the topic of Twitter, if you’re into following great accounts, also take a moment and check out our corporate account @PhoneDotCom and our customer service blog account @CommBetterBlog. We are committed delivering AWESOME customer service and this is another step toward achieving that goal.

In the book, Mycoskie talks about how he takes every opportunity to share the TOMS story with anyone and everyone who will listen. He goes on to challenge the reader to first find what they are passionate about and says “If you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger—something that matters.” (pp 36-37)

As I reflect on this in my own work in customer service at Phone.com, I realize that I truly am passionate about customer service. You can talk to anyone around the world about customer service and they can rattle off three to five instances where they have received terrible customer service. I guarantee it. Terrible customer service is running rampant in our world but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Several months ago, we started CommunicateBetterBlog.com with two purposes in mind. First of all, to talk about ways we’re improving the customer service at Phone.com. The second purpose is to provide a meaningful and positive contribution to a world of customer service that so desperately needs it. Since starting the blog, we have had no shortage of ideas to write about and we can’t help but talk about what we’re learning to anyone that will listen. We are passionate about customer service and truly determined to raise the bar in customer service around the world.

In his book “Moments of Magic”, Shep Hyken (Twitter: @Hyken) teaches us that each encounter a customer has with our product, website and customer service is a moment of truth.  In that moment they will either experience a “Moment of Misery” or a “Moment of Magic.”  As customer service professionals, it is so easy to overlook the fact that the way we treat our customers can have a lasting impact on them both good and bad.

Since starting CommunicateBetterBlog a few months ago, I have become aware of the work of people like Shep Hyken and companies like Zappos and The Ritz Carlton who differentiate themselves from their competition with legendary customer service.  I thought it only appropriate to list some of the things we are doing at Phone.com to make your experience better.  From a customer service standpoint, one thing that excites me most is that our entire company is concerned about the customer experience.

• Customer Appreciation: We realize our customers are the life blood of our business so we are doing simple things like sending notes of appreciation.
• Listening To Our Customers: This is nothing new but we are actively listening to our customers.  We love feedback both good and bad.  If you share negative feedback, you WILL get a response and we WILL do something to improve.
• Helpful Tools Like Fonolo: Did you know we have the Fonolo widget on our support page so you don’t have to listen to our hold music?  Fonolo will do that for you and call you when you are connected with an agent.
• Better Website: Our new website was designed with simplicity in mind.  We want to make it easier for you to find the plan that’s right for you without the headache of spending hours searching.
• Commitment To Reliability: Our chief focus in engineering is to build a system you can trust and we are excited at the commitment to continuous improvement.

 We understand that the power to make or break your day is a tremendous responsibility and we do not take that lightly.  We want every encounter with our product, website and customer service to truly be magical!

At CommunicateBetterBlog.com we have been celebrating “Feedback Week” where all of our blog posts are about customer feedback both good and bad.  Earlier this week I received this terrific note about one of our customer service representatives from a new customer, Natalie Dustman (@proformRE):

“I just wanted to let you know that Dorian has been extremely helpful in getting me set up on my  new Phone.com account.  I was intending on trying the service for a month before I ported our three office numbers over to our account.  Dorian’s accurate, friendly, timely and helpful support gave me enough confidence in your system and customer service that I went ahead and ported all of our numbers.  We are committing as a company to use your service, largely due to Dorian’s effort.  As the president and owner of a small business, I truly value my employees and appreciate it when people give me feedback about my staff.  I wanted to do the same.”

I gained a new insight from this bit of customer feedback this week.  Every interaction with customer service is a make or break encounter.  Dorian, by simply doing his job well managed to take huge strides in building trust with Ms. Dustman and turning her into a loyal customer of Phone.com.  There are so many elements to the customer experience that, if done wrong, could cause the exact opposite result.

At Phone.com, we understand a few things about our customers.  First of all, we understand that their time is valuable.  Secondly, we understand that every encounter with our product, website and even support is an opportunity to gain or lose your trust and your business.  What a powerful responsibility this is and I hope that you know that while we don’t claim perfection, we are striving toward it. 

I invite you to read about “Feedback Week” on our blog and if you learn nothing else, you should know that we delight in receiving your feedback both good and bad.  Every piece of feedback is an opportunity to improve our service.

On one particular day I was going through the comments and came across one from a customer that said “Joel Maloff is wonderful to work with. He’s responsive and easy to communicate with.”  Normally I wouldn’t think much of this except for the fact that Joel is Phone.com’s Vice President for Channel Development and he doesn’t typically spend a lot of time interacting with customers.

I use this story to illustrate a key point.  A company does not become a customer centered company by chance.  From top to bottom of any organization it is critical that all employees care deeply for customers and understand that the customers are the life blood of the organization.  While some employees never interact directly with customers, they can provide excellent service to the people interacting with the customers.  They can also understand the way their work touches customers and do it to the best of their ability.

I am here to tell you that Phone.com is such an organization.  This example of great feedback about Joel is one of many from the leadership at Phone.com.  I can name countless times when I have asked upper management to interact with a customer and in all cases I’m met with extreme willingness.  They understand that if Phone.com is going to be successful, it starts with amazing customer service.