Recently, we spoke all things phone and business with Chris Bonner, Principal of Chris Bonner Insurance of Bellingham, Washington and a Phone.com customer since 2012.
Chris shared some of his favorite Phone.com features and tools with us:
Online Dashboard
Chris likes to have the ability to configure and manage his phone-related tools in real-time, as needed. Being able to structure his phone system however he wants to, whenever he wants to, helps him run his business easily and in the most streamlined manner possible.
“That’s what attracted me to Phone.com in the first place – all the features. Being able to make changes online through the control panel is great. I can make changes myself and not have to contact customer service. It’s perfect.”
Call Forwarding
Gone are the days of having to be sitting at one desk in one office in order to conduct business efficiently and responsively.
Chris tells us that with a few clicks on his online dashboard, he is able to forward calls to his cell phone. Clients can easily contact him through one number, even after-hours and on the weekend. On the flip side, no matter where he is, he can make the call through the website or app and it will appear on CallerID as if it is coming from his main work number.
“I was out of the country for five months and most of my clients didn’t even know I was out of the office. I just made an easy switch to forward all calls to an alternate number.”
Call Transfer
In the insurance business, it’s important to be able to easily-and without interruption to the caller/client-transfer calls to other carriers and claim representatives.
“I can start a conference call with a claims department, and then get off the phone. ”
Chris also transfers calls to his cell phone any time he is on the go or otherwise out of the office.
“I just transfer calls to my cell phone and go!”
Voicemail to Email
With just a click of an email, you can “listen” to your voicemails, whenever, wherever.
“If they leave me a message, it comes as an email. I review it, and I immediately know if I need to call back.”
Local Numbers
Chris is able to segment callers, leads and clients by tracking which phone number they come through. All calls are forwarded to the actual phone, such as his cell phone after hours or his office phone while in the office, with no lapse or interruption to the caller.
“I have quite a few numbers, including a main line, a second line for my home office and a few others that go to a specific number with a schedule for tracking and sending to cell phone after the office is closed.”
Is VoIP the Answer for your Small Business?
Chris tells us he loves the easy-to-adjust, expandable nature of our Phone.com features and options.
“This service is good for any size agency. Even if you have just one phone/phone number, it is competitively priced and has so many features. You can start out small and grow as you need it. It’s so flexible and you can do so much with it.”
Phone.com for your Insurance Agency or Service Business
Chris feels that agencies save time and extra steps with automated systems such as those Phone.com allows him to put in place. Whether you run an Insurance Agency or another service-based business, automating systems to cover commonly asked questions and provide general information can be a huge time-saver.
“Automated systems added efficiency to the process. Callers could more easily get to our information and get their claims to the insurance companies. A lot of people like the automated system, they don’t need to look up numbers since they can come to me to get into the automated billing system. These systems are a real time-saver, and allow agencies to get real work done.”