Picture this: you start a business and give out your cell phone or home phone number when you have conversations with leads, communicate with clients, and in the contact section on your website.
At first this isn’t a problem. The number of people outside of friends and family is just a few. As your business grows, the number of people with your personal phone number grows also. Soon you are getting texts and calls at all hours of the day with messages from clients and questions from prospective clients.
Is it possible to stop the chaos?
I did, and you can to. What’s my secret? Google Voice.
What is Google Voice?
Google Voice is an application with intuitive phone features that meet your personal or business needs. The setup is free and easy. Use an existing Gmail account – or create a new one – to register for your Google Voice number.
Once you’ve completed the setup, you can receive calls on your desktop and through your mobile phone or landline. Note that when calling through your computer, you’ll want a proper headset for better audio.
In addition to the calling features of Google Voice are texting and messaging features. You can respond to texts through your mobile phone, or through the Google Voice web interface. This allows you to manage your messages online while on the go and allows for easy filling and archiving of conversations.
For small business owners like myself, the ability to advertise a phone number without sharing your cell number or home phone number is a game changer. Many potential clients or customers may prefer using a phone number to connect with you. Get your Google Voice number to make it easier for people to buy from you.
Features I Love
Caller ID: When I make a call through my Google Voice number, the recipient of my call with see my business name, Web Pages That Sell, show up in the caller ID spot.
Texting: I can reply to text messages to my Google Voice number right from my computer. Texts also come to my email which makes for easy filing and recording of project notes and client requests.
Transcription: All voice messages left through my Google Voice number are transcribed and emailed to me. This saves me time as I can scan the transcription much more quickly than it would take me to listen to the audio voice message.
Syncing: I sync my Google Voice number with to my landline and cell phone. At any point, I can choose which synced number my Google Voice calls will go to.
Do Not Disturb: This feature can be set to a predetermined length of time and with this setting, all calls to your Google number will go straight into your voicemail.
Call Forwarding: Set up rules on how you want your calls routed. For example, if you want calls received before 5 pm sent to your office phone or calls after that sent to your personal phone, Google Voice can easily do that. You can also set customized ringing for calls to your home or straight to your voicemail.
Screening: you can choose certain options to do after picking up the call and while the caller still hears the phone ringing. The caller’s name will be shown and you can either answer the call, send it to voicemail, send it to voicemail and listen live or answer and record the call.
Get Your Google Voice Number Today
Has this article prompted you to check out Google Voice? Get your number for free today, and start streamlining your phone and text communication for your business. I promise you won’t regret it!
If you are looking for ways to get more sales from your website, feel free to call me at 612-516-5388 (Yes, that is my Google Voice number) or if you don’t like using the phone, click here to contact me.
