December 2011

Letter from our CEO

Greetings once again and our very best wishes from the Phone.com team to you and your families for a fabulous Holiday season and a prosperous 2012!

2011 has been a great year for Phone.com and I wanted to share with you some of our accomplishments, enhancements, and our plans for 2012.

In response to our customers, we continue to add new features and functionality.

We recently introduced the ability to record calls when using your Phone.com service. This can be especially useful for customer service groups or others that need to maintain a record of what occurred on calls.

We also introduced a group text messaging feature, Group SMS. Imagine having the ability to include your entire team in one group and send out a text message letting them know that the meeting is delayed by 30 minutes! Both of these features are available now, and more information is available on our web site.

Our relationship with the Tarkenton Companies and Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton continues to grow. Fran was the spokesperson for a Phone.com advertisement on the jumbotron in New York City’s Time Square during November, and has agreed to personally autograph a limited number of footballs as part of an upcoming sweepstakes for Phone.com customers. We are also very supportive of Fran’s new OneMoreCustomer.com website and the coaching services that are available to small businesses. Fran has successfully created and sold more than twenty businesses during his career AFTER the National Football League, and is one of the strongest advocates for small businesses in the USA today. We are pleased with the way that the Phone.com/Tarkenton Companies relationship has continued to evolve, and believe that these value added services are potentially invaluable resources for Phone.com customers.

One of our more obvious achievements was the roll-out of our new web site. We have not only given it a complete “face lift” but also tried to make it much more user friendly. We hope you like it and, as always, welcome your comments and suggestions.

Lastly, the Phone.com positive reputation and customer base continues to grow rapidly, and we believe further positions us for expansion in the coming year. We have taken great care to ensure that our quality of service and excellent support also grow to meet these expanded needs.

Please accept my thanks and that of our entire team for your confidence in us and your loyalty. We know we must earn that support every day.

Best wishes for the Holidays and New Year!

Ari Rabban, CEO
& your entire Phone.com team!

Testimonials

I had a fairly simple issue for the customer service to handle. Still, I think it was a very good experience. I have always had good experiences from Phone.com’s customer service. -Anonymous

I have already told all of my family, friends and small-business associates about Phone.com ~ you’re the best of the best! Thank you & I wish you continued great success!!! -V.M.

Employee Spotlight: Jason Jennings

Title – Senior Project Manager
Responsibilities at Phone.com – Make sure that bugs, new features, and projects are successfully completed in a timely and efficient manner.
Accomplishments (personal)

• Started off in customer service and with my education and experience I was fortunate enough to come back as a Project Manager.
• Bachelors of Science in Information Technology from San Diego State University.
• Been Married for over three years; together almost 8.
• Got my advanced open water scuba certification from NAUI.
• I have been blessed to travel to 7 different countries- Costa Rica is my favorite so far.

Short Q & A with Jason
Jeb: What do you like to do outside of work?
Jason: I am a huge fan of tv- I know way too much about the actors and what is going on with shows. My wife calls me a walking IMDB. I love to read and my Nook Color is probably one of the most used gadgets in my house (although I just pre-ordered the Kindle Fire). I really enjoy outdoor cooking- things like grilling and lately I have gotten into smoking meats like brisket and pulled pork. I love to travel and if I am lucky enough to travel near the ocean, I try to get in some scuba diving. There is not much good diving here in central Texas! I play indoor soccer regularly and relish my role as a goalie. I am also learning how to work on cars and have been restoring a 1964 Ford Falcon convertible. I am heavily involved in my church and volunteer a lot of time there. But more than anything, I love spending time with my dogs, friends and my beautiful wife.

Jeb: Where is the strangest place you’ve gotten a call?
Jason: Probably on a Mexican fishing boat in the Gulf of California while eating some fresh fish tacos from the fish we caught. I forgot to turn off roaming on the phone and paid quite a bit to answer that call.

Jeb: What is your favorite Phone.com feature?
Jason: The different options for voicemail: the Phone.com app, text message notifications, email notifications, and transcription services. I hardly ever actually listen to a voicemail anymore.

Jeb: What in your opinion is the most under utilized Phone.com feature?
Jason: I would say the Phone.com Android App. It is fantastic. I forward all missed calls on my cell phone to my Phone.com account to handle voicemail. It is a much better user experience to voicemail than I get on a stock Android.

Jeb: What is your favorite hold music?
Jason: Hum, not sure about favorite, but most ingrained in me is the hold music for the conferencing bridge as I seem to be early a lot to meetings and get to listen to it often.

Jeb: What is your favorite movie of all time?
Jason: Shawshank Redemption. I just love that movie. And who doesn’t love Morgan Freeman?

Jeb: What was your first cell phone?
Jason: It was a blue Nokia 8210 on Cingular Wireless. Ahh, the good ‘ol days!

YOU CAN GET MORE FROM PHONE.COM:

Global Numbers For Those Abroad Calling The US

Phone.com offers Global Numbers for over 40 countries (as well as iNum – learn about iNum) with options to get numbers from lots of cities in those countries.

What do you do when your company in the US needs to provide customer support for a client in London? Or maybe daily calls from a business partner in Paris?.Or you have a small office in the Netherlands that needs to call your US office but can’t call abroad? These are common issues we hear about on a regular basis. Our world is nearly flat now, meaning distance and time zones are irrelevant in terms of business.

If you think a Global Number could help your customers, clients, friends or family you owe them at least a look around the Global Numbers section on our website.

Smart Phones Are Even Smarter With VoIP

It’s no secret that VoIP services such as Phone.com include the ability to physically place your phone literally anywhere in the world where you can get an Internet connection. And by now most users know (or should know) that it is simplicity itself to go online and quickly set up forwarding from your Phone.com number to any landline or cell phone in the world. Of course if that forwarding goes overseas there are long distance charges to consider, even with a VoIP line.

There is, though, an answer. Subscribers to Virtual Office can download an app and quickly turn an iPhone into a VoIP extension on their Phone.com account. And if that iPhone can access WiFi – instant calls to and from anywhere in the world, at no additional cost.

For travelers the attraction is obvious, especially in locales where WiFi is available cheaply or possibly even free like coffee shops and hotels.

Give the Gift of Coaching!

The holidays are here, and with the New Year just around the corner, there’s no better time than now to make the commitment to get better, be more profitable and grow your business in 2012.

Our friend and partner Fran Tarkenton has developed OneMoreCustomer Small Business Coaching to help you do just that. You may know Fran as an NFL Hall of Famer, but he’s also an entrepreneur who’s built more than 20 successful small businesses. Fran has teamed with his good friend Scott Miller, one of America’s most successful corporate strategists, who advises companies like Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola. This is the best small business coaching staff in America.

As Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger says,

This is big-time coaching for the small business entrepreneur from two very smart guys!

We want to help you innovate, execute and win more customers. Take advantage of a special offer for Phone.com clients, and give yourself and your business the gift of coaching this year.

Learn More About this Exciting Opportunity!

Here’s a Stocking Stuffer Just for You!

In the spirit of the season, Fran Tarkenton would like to offer you a copy of his newest book, One More Customer, absolutely free! Fran hopes it will help you and your business be more successful in 2012. Enjoy the book, and happy holidays!

Venture Studio Interview

Video Interview with Ari Rabban, CEO of Phone.com

Social Media – Talk to us on different platforms

At Phone.com we are always eager to hear from you. 

Please don’t hesitate to ever contact us with questions, suggestions or concerns.  We can be reached 24/7 at 800-998-7087.  We’re also available on Facebook at Facebook.com/PhoneDotCom and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PhoneDotCom.