Your source for affordable 800 Voice Mail and home of the 800 Resource Directory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find some of the more commonly asked questions by customers when considering our services.  If you do not find the answer to your question in the list below then please call one of our sales specialists for further assistance.
 

1. How does voicemail work?
2. Is there any equipment to buy?
3. Are there any contracts to sign?
4. Why a voicemail service instead of our own voicemail system?
5. Why shouldn't I use the telephone company's voice mail?
6. Do I get my own telephone number?
7. Do I have to change my telephone number?
8. Can I transfer a caller directly into voicemail?
9. How do I know when I have new messages?
10. What are your rates for toll-free voicemail?
11. How do you bill for services?
12. How can we use your voicemail service to improve our sales?
13. Can I transfer an existing number or request a vanity number?

1. How does voicemail work?
Our company operates advanced voice processing servers that can take large call volumes for any and all of our customers.  Just like the telephone company, we will assign you a telephone number.  Instead of that number ringing a single telephone line at your location, it will ring into our bank of advanced voice processing servers.  Our voice processing servers will then answer the caller with your personal voicemail system.  Due to sophisticated trunking capabilities, we are engineered to accept multiple simultaneous calls to your telephone number so that your callers will never receive a busy signal.  

Your callers are directed to your voicemail system through one of the following:
a) your callers can call your voicemail system directly by dialing the assigned telephone number.
b) your telephone lines are configured to forward calls to voicemail when the lines are all busy, or when the telephones are not answered.
c) you transfer callers into voicemail.

After reaching your voicemail system, callers will be handled differently depending on the configuration you have requested.  Twenty-four (24) hours a day, callers can listen to pre-recorded information, receive fax documents, be transferred to you, leave you a message, have you paged, or interact with your voicemail system in some other way.[top]


2. Is there any equipment to buy?
Absolutely not.  That is one of the most attractive features of our service.  We maintain and own all of the equipment at our facilities.  You never have to worry about hiring an I.T. person, maintaining service contracts, performing upgrades, backing up the system, or any other routine maintenance.  We handle all of this.  Likewise, you are under no obligations.  If at any time you decide to cancel the service, you simply fax us a written 30 day  notice to that effect and you are under no further obligation.[top]


3. Are there any contracts to sign?
Absolutely not.  There is an initial agreement that authorizes us to bill your credit card for monthly statements, but you can cancel service for any reason with 30 days written notice.[top]


4. Why a voicemail service instead of our own voicemail system?
The most important reason is one that is often overlooked.  One reason why most people want voicemail to begin with is so that their callers never get a busy signal.  However, if all your lines are busy, then there is no way for callers to get to your onsite voicemail equipment.  The only way to provide voicemail when all of your telephone lines are busy is through an offsite voicemail service.

Another reason is that it just isn't cost effective.  To receive the same benefits of our services, you would have to spend more on a monthly basis for just one telephone line than our typical service fee.  Let's look at a few of the other expenses:
a) If you purchase a voicemail system, you have to pay a large upfront purchase price (in the thousands).  
b) You have to either hire someone capable of maintaining it, or pay for a service and support contract.  That person will have to perform routine backups and other maintenance.
c) You have to purchase extra telephone lines to accommodate the voicemail traffic and you'll need an outside access line so that employees can check messages from outside the office.
d) When you outgrow the system or want  to receive updated technology you will have to perform a "forklift" upgrade (complete system replacement).  Oh yeah, the average lifespan for this equipment is roughly 8 years (many will be lucky to last that long).  [top]


5. Why shouldn't I use the telephone company's voicemail?
The telephone company does provide a basic voicemail service, however their service is not designed for serious use.  
a) They will offer you a single voice mailbox that is limited in the number of messages it can store and will automatically delete messages more than three days old.  Our services can store an unlimited number of messages and will never delete messages that you haven't reviewed.  
b) Their voice mailbox is tied to a specific single telephone line and can not be purchased separately.  Our services can be dialed directly, can handle calls forwarded from multiple telephone lines at different locations, and do not require the purchase of a telephone line.  
c) Their voicemail services offer only a single mailbox, while our services provide you with your very own voicemail system complete with an automated attendant, 3 digit extensions, company directory, dial-by-name, fax on-demand, live connect, etc.
d) We will contact you at your office, home, cell phone, or pager, to notify you when you have new messages. 
e) We will customize your services to fit your needs.
f)  We offer many advanced features and capabilities that are not available for the telephone companies. [top]


6. Do I get my own telephone number?
Yes.  Each of our services includes a personal telephone number that rings directly into your system.  In many cases, you can request multiple telephone numbers that are direct-dial numbers, ringing directly into an individual's virtual office mailbox. [top]


7. Do I have to change my telephone number?
Absolutely not.  The telephone company will route busy or unanswered calls into your voicemail system.  Alternatively if you already have a number that you want to be answered by your voicemail system, we can have that number forwarded directly to your voicemail, so again, you will never need to change your telephone number.[top]


8. Can I transfer a call directly to someone's voice mail?
If you have activated the "third party conference/call transfer" feature with your local telephone company then you can easily transfer calls into voicemail.  While talking with the caller, simply press the "flash" (or equivalent) button on your telephone and the caller will be put on hold.  At that point you should hear dial-tone and you can dial the voicemail number or enter the speed-dial code for the desired voicemail number.  When you hang-up, the caller will be connected with the dialed voice mail.  (Hint: this feature can also be used to transfer callers to cell phones, home offices, remote offices, etc.)
 [For additional information, see telephone line features for voicemail] [top]


9. How do I know when I have new messages?
The voicemail system will notify you of new messages in one of the following ways:
a) The voicemail system will call you at your office, home phone, or cell phone to deliver the new messages.
b) The voicemail system will call your pager and deliver the number of new messages.
c) You can have toll-saver enabled so that when you call your voicemail system it will ring twice when there are no new messages.
d) The voicemail system can email you when new messages arrive. [top]


10. What are your rates for toll-free voicemail? 
Our rate can be as low as 5 cents per minute, with a six second increment billing, no per-call minimum, no monthly minimum, and no monthly fee. [top]


11. How do you bill for services?
Our preferred method of billing is via automated monthly credit card billing.  This helps keep our costs low so that we can keep our rates low.  For customers that request invoicing, we will mail monthly invoices that can be paid by check or credit card.  If the invoice has not been paid by the next billing cycle, the account will be placed on temporary disconnect until the invoice has been paid.  [top]


12. How can we use your voicemail service to improve our sales?
Make sure and request the automated call detail reports.  They will be delivered to your fax machine on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  The call detail report will provide a detailed listing of every call into your voicemail system and included the telephone number that the person called from.  That means that you will have a list of telephone numbers for people that called but didn't get to speak with you, and possibly didn't leave a message.  For example, if you are a real estate agent and you are viewing the call detail report for a property listing hotline, the people that called and disconnected can be used as a red-hot lead list.  You know that these people are looking to purchase a house.  You know that they are interested in properties that are in your area.  Even if they didn't like what they heard on this property info hotline, surely you can sell them some other property that they would like.  In the past, these are leads that you couldn't capture.  With our services you can improve customer service and increase sales. [top]


13. Can I transfer an existing number or request a vanity number?
You can request a vanity number or have your existing number transferred a one-time fee of $25.00.  Simply make the request under the "special notes" section of your signup form and one of our sales representatives will contact you to make arrangements.  Please note that it takes around five (5) business days to complete the transfer of a vanity number or existing toll free number to our service.  However, during this time your existing number will operate as before and you shouldn't experience any downtime. [top]