Getting your company name out there is often a lot more difficult than it initially sounds. Paying for Facebook ads is one way, and encouraging people to share your business is another. But, what if there was a way to increase your brand’s awareness with minimal input?

Enter Google Reviews. 

When potential customers look up salons or dentists, Google auto-populates a list of businesses in their local area. Wouldn’t it be great if your business was the first that came up? 

It has been shown that Google looks at the number of reviews a company has overall as well as the rating and frequency of new reviews amongst a few other things when deciding where to rank each result. Chatmeter also recently found that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, meaning they truly are invaluable to a business. 

So, how does a business get more Google Reviews?

How To: Get More Google Reviews For Your Small Business 

01. Social Media Posts 

Encourage your followers to leave a review by periodically nudging them on your social media channels. This post doesn’t have to be anything fancy, it could simply be a message to say that you’d really appreciate any feedback anyone has to share. 

02. Posters In Your Premises

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Customers don’t instinctively know that you are looking to grow your Google Reviews – tell them! Make posters to stick in your premises and place them in waiting rooms, treatment rooms and on doors. 

03. WiFi Data Capture 

Having WiFi Data Capture is perhaps the easiest way to accumulate Google Reviews. Customers sign into guest WiFi using their email address and you can send them automated email reminders to leave you a review. Besides the initial simple setup, this process literally runs itself. If you’d like to hear more about our WiFi Data Capture feature, simply fill in the form at the bottom of this page.

04. Make Sure Your Business Is Verified On Google

Without verification, your business isn’t eligible to appear on Maps, Search, and other Google services. This means it’s not going to show within local search and hence you are losing out on potential customers and reviews. This verification process can be done by mail, and even phone and email for some select businesses. 

05. WOW Your Customers 

Finally, go above and beyond. Customers will want to leave a review and shout about your company if they have had an incredible experience. By the same token, customers are also more likely to leave a review if they’ve had a disappointing experience. Ensuring that you always deliver at least your customers’ expectations and more is great business practice. Here at Yo Telecom, one of our Core Values is ‘Go above and beyond with service to WOW everyone’. It’s at the heart of all that we do and this definitely shines through in our glowing Google Reviews. 

So, there we have it, how to get more Google Reviews for your small business… If you’d like any additional help with anything mentioned above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’d be more than happy to help!

Business interaction has changed over the years, going from face-to-face to now being virtual over 65% of the time. One business telephony tool that can help businesses succeed with their communication is Call Reporting. 

What is Call Reporting?

Call reporting is a great feature that allows you to see your call data for the day, week or month. It creates reports with statistics on call duration, agent behaviour, wait times and busy times. This allows forecasting for high volumes of calls and means you can ensure that you’re adequately staffed.

So, why does your business need call reporting?

The Benefits of Call Reporting 

Report both inbound and outbound calls

Not only can you see the number of people calling into your business in real-time, this feature also allows you to see the number of calls your staff are individually making. Without this, staff would manually have to record when calls come in and out, which certainly isn’t the most efficient use of their time.

Examine the length of time spent on calls

If you quickly want to examine staff efficiency within your sales team, call centre or group of receptionists, call reporting is a great way to do it. You can see who is taking bookings, resolving customers’ issues and answering queries the quickest.  No customer enjoys being on the phone any longer than necessary. Reducing time spent on the phone is a great way to improve your customer’s experience and prevent callers becoming impatient. 

Linked to this, you can then see which departments and individuals are repeatedly spending a lengthy amount of time talking to customers. From this, you can provide them with further training on efficient customer handling. 

Establish how many calls you receive when out of office

If your calls don’t divert to a mobile out of hours, and people don’t leave a message, call logging allows you to see how many calls you receive when your business isn’t open. Not only does this help you understand your customers’ needs and behaviours, this can also help you make informed decisions regarding staff shifts and whether extending your opening hours might be worthwhile.

Identify your peak call times 

With doctor’s surgeries, for example, Monday mornings are particularly busy. This is because practices are closed over the weekend. To help with this, extra receptionists are often needed to help get through customer queries timely and effectively. 

With other businesses, however, these peak times are often harder to deduce. Using call reporting allows you to see when these times are allowing you to increase your workforce during these times. Departments that are usually quieter at these times can then help out, providing a much smoother customer experience throughout the day. 

This isn’t an exclusive list of call reporting benefits, and different businesses can utilise this feature within their industries in their own ways. If you’d like to hear how call reporting could be of benefit to your business, fill in our form below and one of our team will be in touch! 

Apple typically releases a new operating system every year and iOS 14 is due to hit our devices this fall. This update has plenty of new features, many of which have the capacity to totally revolutionise our daily life. Some of the most highly anticipated features include being able to open and start your car from your phone, the ability to watch videos whilst also browsing the web, and sound recognition for specific noises such as a smoke alarm.

19 Interesting iOS 14 Features

01. Compact Calls 

Rather than an incoming phone call filling your entire phone screen, calls will now be banners that can be swiped up to dismiss. This means you can carry on with whatever you were doing before your phone began ringing without having to decline the call. 

02. Picture in Picture 

FaceTime a friend whilst checking your mail and watch a video whilst browsing the web. Picture in Picture allows you to do two things simultaneously and hence increase your productivity.

03. Mentions in Messages 

This feature allows you to mention a specific person in a group conversation in Messages. Linked to this, you can set up to only receive notifications from a group if and when you’re mentioned, rather than every time a message is sent.

04. Electric Vehicle Routing 

If you drive an electric vehicle, maps can automatically add charging points to your route and account for charging time when calculating your ETA. If you add your electric vehicle to your iPhone, Maps can also track the current charge of your car.

05. Congestion Zones in Maps 

Also in Maps, you will now be able to see Congestion Zones, their tolls and have the option to totally avoid them if you wish. This is particularly beneficial for those driving in cities such as London and Paris where traffic is very heavy.

06. New Translate App

iOS 14 is bringing a whole new app to the Apple suite; Translate. This has been designed to make having conversations in other languages feel natural and easy, and includes 11 languages. Conversation mode allows you to speak into your microphone and the app will translate your words for you there and then. This app also allows you to download languages and use them offline, and save favourite phrases to make them easily accessible.

07. Adaptive Lighting 

When linked to supported lighting, you can set the colour to change throughout the day to maximise comfort. For example, with warmer tones in the morning and reduced levels of blue light in the evenings to help with sleep. 

08. Face Recognition Doorbells 

When set up with HomeKit Secure Video, you can enable face recognition for people who visit your home regularly and receive notifications telling you who specifically is at the door. This is set up using the tagged people in your Photos app. 

09. Car Keys in Wallet

Not only can you open and start your car from your iPhone, you are now also able to share your key with others giving them the ability to do this too. Your car key will also work for up to five hours after your phone battery runs out, meaning you won’t get stuck anywhere if your phone dies.

10. AirPod Battery Notifications 

Receive notifications on your phone telling you when your AirPods need charging including their battery percentage.

11. Recording Indicator 

Privacy is as important as ever and the new recording indicator will appear on your screen when an app is using your microphone or camera. Linked to this, you can see if any apps have used them recently in the Control Center. 

12. Share Approximate Location

Rather than sharing your exact location with apps, you will now be able to provide an approximate location instead to help protect your privacy. 

13. Widgets on the Home Screen 

Rather than just viewing them in Today View, iOS 14 will allow you to add and view widgets on your home screen, so you can see them amongst your other apps. These widgets can be different sizes and even automatically change throughout the day depending on your personal needs.

14. Pinned Conversations 

Keep your most important conversations at the top of your Messages app, making them easily accessible at all times. With iOS 14 you are able to pin up to nine conversations and with a group conversation, you’ll see the recent participants animate around the pin when they send a message.

15. Sleep Mode 

Sleep Mode puts the iPhone in Do Not Disturb, dims the phone’s screen and displays the date, time and your alarm for the next day. You can temporarily dismiss Sleep Mode and your iPhone will automatically turn the Sleep mode screen back on once you are finished with whatever you were doing. 

16. Emoji Search 

Rather than scrolling through the pages looking for a specific emoji, iOS 14 includes a search bar within the emoji keyboard allowing you to quickly find the one you were after.

17. Sound Recognition 

Designed to help those with hearing impairments, this feature allows people to receive a notification when a certain sound is heard by your phone. Not only is this potentially life-saving for those who cannot hear a smoke alarm or a baby crying, it can also be utilised by those who often wear headphones and cannot hear the world around them. 

18. Back Tap 

Within the accessibility settings, iOS 14 allows you to programme a double tap or triple tap to the back of the phone to a shortcut of your choice. These shortcuts can include but are not limited to Volume Up or Down, Screenshot, Notification Center, Siri and Home.

19. Third Party Apps As Default 

Rather than the Apple apps being the default for Email and Browser, this update allows you to choose a third party app of your choice to use instead. 

So, there we have it, a run-through of a few of the iOS 14 features coming into effect in the coming months. If your company needs new business mobiles and would like to utilise any of these new features, simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch!

What is the Coronavirus?

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe respiratory diseases. COVID-19 is a new illness, caused by a Coronavirus, that can affect the lungs and airways.

The first case was reported in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019 and there have since been cases confirmed in 105 countries around the world.

The symptoms of coronavirus are:

• a cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath

Some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness including older adults, and people who have serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease.

Because it’s a new illness, it’s unknown exactly how it spreads from person to person, but similar viruses are spread via coughing. There is also currently no specific treatment for coronavirus.

What is the Government’s Current Response?

People are being asked to self-isolate in response to COVID-19 to help prevent the virus from spreading.

People may need to isolate themselves if they have travelled to an affected area, or have been in close contact with an infected person. Here, spending 15 minutes within 2m of someone with the virus, or having face-to-face contact, is judged to be a significant risk.

How might COVID-19 Affect your Business?

With people being advised to self-isolate for 14 days, businesses can be impacted in two key ways:

• Loss of staff: If a staff member has come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19, they are recommended to self-isolate for 14 days at home. Should this happen to one or more of your employees, this can lead to a significantly reduced workforce. This poses even more of an issue if your staff are unable to work remotely and need to be in the office to carry out their responsibilities.
• Loss of visitors: As more people begin self-isolating, the number of physical visitors to business’ premises will reduce. Hence, being permanently accessible on the phone, and online more generally, is going to become more important than ever.

5 Ways to Prepare your Business for the Coronavirus:

Softphones

Softphones allow you to make and receive business calls from your computer. The software mimics a physical phone handset, allowing you to use all the call handling features that you’re used to, right from your desktop.

Should your staff rely on their desk phones to carry out their role, investing in softphones is a great way to get ahead and ensure your business’ productivity doesn’t suffer as a result of COVID-19.

Mobile Extensions

What would happen if your premises were empty but customers were still trying to contact you? Would the phones just ring and ring, and your workforce return to a mountain of voicemails from unhappy customers?

Having a mobile extension allows all calls to your business to be forwarded to your mobile, seamlessly. Callers are unaware of this redirection, meaning there is no disruption to them, and you can answer their call from anywhere in the world, whether it be a sun lounger on holiday or your sofa during coronavirus self-isolation.

Remote access

If your workforce needs to be at home, getting your systems set up for remote access allows business to continue as usual, without disrupting the service you provide or the day-to-day running of your company. Access all of your programmes and software from any PC.

Mobile Apps

Are essentially the mobile equivalent of a softphone. Take advantage of all of the features of your business telephone right from your mobile. This includes the use of internal numbers, call recording and call logging.

Laptops

Do your workforce primarily work on desktop computers based in the office? If required to work from home, do they have the resources to allow them to do such? Providing your employees with work laptops prevents your business becoming unstuck should the premises temporarily close due to self-isolation.

Whilst employees might have their own devices at home, they may not be able to run the programmes that your company uses or may have security issues leaving your company vulnerable to hacking.

Here at Yo Telecom we offer all of the services mentioned in this post. Fill in the form below and we’ll help prepare your business.

Don’t miss any opportunities due to COVID-19! Give us a call on 02381 733966 to get this sorted for you. 

It’s 2020 and we’re more connected than ever. When was the last time you visited a bar or restaurant that didn’t offer a free internet connection to its visitors? But, what if you could offer free guest WiFi and actually receive something in return… Enter WiFi Data Capture for Hotels. 

What is WiFi Data Capture?

WiFi data capture allows your customers to access a free guest internet connection using a really simple login process. 

But what is this simple login process? Visitors only need to login with a social media account or email address. 

It’s as simple as that.

Rather than giving out your WiFi password and allowing your guests to use your connection, you’re providing a totally separate WiFi just for your guests. This has many benefits, one being that your internet speeds don’t reduce during peak times. A guest WiFi connection with Yo Telecom is also totally secure. This ensures you’re keeping all of your customers’ personal information totally confidential. 

What are the Benefits for Hotel Visitors?

• Fantastic WiFi 

With a fast, free and secure connection, your guests will be able to browse the internet, complaint-free. Do we need to say anymore?

• Very Easy Login Process

Rather than having to repeatedly ask for the WiFi password in different areas of the hotel, guests can just log in, in all spaces, using their social media credentials.  With many people already having these autosaved, it really takes no time at all. 

What are the Benefits of WiFi Data Capture for Hotels?

• Increased Facebook Likes

Following a guest logging into your WiFi with their Facebook account, you can ask them to like your page in return. Not only does this boost your following, which on its own is beneficial as it helps to make your hotel look more popular, it also has other benefits too. 

When someone interacts with a page, it shows up in their friends’ feeds. This not only increases the awareness of your brand but can even lead to additional room bookings should their friends check out your page and like what they see. 

A third benefit of an increased social following is that all organic content will have a bigger reach. With a bigger following, your posts will have a bigger audience, win, win. 

• More Google Reviews

With so many hotels all over the country, having the most Five Star Google Reviews in your area is a great way to stand out compared to your competitors. 

Following logging into your WiFi, our software allows you to contact your visitors asking them how they found their visit to your hotel. If a customer clicks that they had a great experience, this takes them straight to a Google Review page allowing them to leave a brilliant review of their visit. 

But what happens if people indicate that they didn’t have the best experience at your hotel? This sends an email directly to your team allowing them to resolve the issue timely and privately. 

• Creation of a Bumper Mailing List 

Having collected email addresses from all of your WiFi users, why not send out regular promotional emails to market your current offers or events? This is a great way of re-engaging old visitors and getting them back into your hotel for another stay. 

If you’d like WiFi Data Capture for your hotel, drop your details in the form below and we’ll be in touch! 

Perhaps the phone system in your opticians is a little outdated and you’re curious what other features are now available? Or, you’re unhappy with the customer service given by your current provider? Or are experiencing any number of these issues:

• Your customers are getting frustrated when the line is frequently engaged as they try to book an eye test or follow up appointment with one of your optometrists.
• Your current phone system doesn’t link with your opticians software so you’re manually having to retrieve customers’ details whilst they’re on the line, wasting time that could have been spent delivering excellent customer service.
• You’ve had some issues mishearing people’s details and would like to be able to listen back to your calls but you can’t.

Yo Telecom are here to help! 

We specialise in bridging the gap between businesses and their customers and in this post we’ll outline the best phone system for Opticians having outlined the pros and cons of all of the other systems currently available on the market. 

Types of Phone Systems: 

There are three main types of telephone systems available:

• Digital phone systems
• Internet based (or VoIP; Voice over Internet Protocol) phone systems 
• Hybrid phone systems 

Digital Phone Systems for Opticians 

A digital phone system has a physical phone system located somewhere in the building. It consists of a small box which connects to your phone lines and all of the handsets in your building. The benefit of a digital phone system is it’s very reliable. It uses the physical phone lines so doesn’t solely rely on an internet connection. This, however, has its disadvantages because it isn’t future proof. 

VoIP Phone Systems for Opticians

Are internet based phone systems and can also be known as cloud-based phone systems. These do not have a physical system in your building, rather, a VoIP system is located in a data centre somewhere in the world. One of the biggest benefits of a VoIP system is that it can save you money on call charges. A disadvantage of a VoIP based system, however, is that they aren’t as reliable as the other systems available. If your internet connection cuts out or slows down at peak times the usability of your phone decreases.

Hybrid Phone Systems for Opticians

The hybrid phone system is a mixture of a digital phone system and a VoIP phone system. The hybrid system is located in your premises and offers full flexibility, allowing a choice of fixed or cordless handsets. The greatest benefit of a hybrid phone system is that it offers you more reliability than any other type of system. If one type of line fails for you (i.e. analogue or internet), it can automatically route calls in and out through the other.

Features for Opticians: 

A hybrid phone system also offers a range of other innovative features that are beneficial for Opticians:  

Optician Management Software Integration:

All of our phone software can link with platforms such as Optix or Optisoft. The benefit of this is that customer records and appointments are linked to their phone numbers. This saves both you and your customer time as there’s no need to ask for their personal details to check who they are – you can get straight to asking them why they’ve got in touch today and help them with their enquiry.

This can also create a far more personal experience for the customer should you choose to greet them with their name following it popping up on your screen. 

Call Logging:

What happens when your phone rings but a member of staff can’t take the call? Assuming the caller doesn’t leave a voicemail, do you have any way of checking who phoned so that you can get back to them? If you don’t, this is where our Call Logging feature is incredibly beneficial. It allows you to see all missed calls and get back to the callers at the touch of a button so you don’t miss out on any opportunities!

Call Recording:

Sounds like a very basic feature but is a great asset to any business. When training new staff on customer service delivered over the phone, listening back to excellent examples of communication is invaluable. 

Call recording is also extremely handy should you mishear someone the first time around or didn’t get the chance to note down all of their details at the time of the call. This feature allows you to listen back to the call at any given time and gather this information without having to call the customer back to ask again. 

Call Transfer:

Allows seamless transition mid-call should another member of your team be better equipped to answer a question or has an ongoing relationship with a customer. This saves a customer having to arrange a call-back or sit on hold whilst the other member of staff comes over to pick up the call manually.

Cordless Handsets:

At Yo Telecom we provide full coverage meaning your cordless handsets – should you choose to have them – work consistently throughout your entire Opticians. This is particularly beneficial should you need to look for a specific product in a back stockroom or on the shop floor whilst on the phone to a customer.

On-Hold Marketing:

Whilst putting people on hold isn’t ideal, sometimes it’s unavoidable. This time is prime marketing time. Your audience is a captive one, they’re waiting to be spoken to. Sitting in silence or listening to the phone’s beeps doesn’t scream excellent customer service. Don’t waste this time and opportunity, use it to inform your customers of your opening hours, latest news or of any special discounts available at the time. Do you have a particular product or service that you’re trying to push, mention it on your On-Hold Marketing, tell people about it! 

Of all the phone systems available, a hybrid phone system is by far the best option for an Opticians. With its high reliability and whole host of useful features including call logging, call recording, and software integration it’s the best phone system to invest in for your business in 2020. 

See how these features can benefit you, head to the form below to book a free call and find out how we can increase your success! 

Last night, Best Companies hosted their annual awards celebration for their Top 100 Lists and….

…Yo Telecom made their Top 100 Small Organisations to Work For 2020!!

Who are Best Companies?

Best Companies help organisations become better places to work by measuring, improving and recognising engagement. Their accreditation programme recognises organisations and managers who genuinely value and respect their employees and hence spotlights the best organisations to work for, helping them retain and attract top talent.

How is it calculated?

Information surrounding employee engagement is collected via a survey consisting of 70 questions covering how staff members feel about various aspects of their working lives. 

The results are then scored and those with a high enough score earn a Best Companies accreditation and a place on their Best Companies to Work For List, and this is just what we did! 

We have been awarded a three star accreditation – the highest available – which represents ‘ organisations that truly excel’. 

But, where did we place in the Top 100?

Yo Telecom rank as the 87th best small company to work for in 2020 amongst some fantastic other small businesses located in the UK. Considering there are just under 6 million small and medium sized enterprises in the UK, this is no mean feat! 

We’re so proud to have made the Top 100, let’s dooooo this!