Answering Service Blog | American Inbound

Lots of VoIP news today.

On April 1 Sprint, Nortel, Ericsson, Motorola, Qualcomm and others will be hosting a mobile VOIP discussion at the CTIA Wireless 2008 conference in Las Vegas.  Here they will discuss techniques to implement this technology.  As VoIP networks evolve, expect them to be used more and more.

Telappliant is reporting that VoIP should expect even more growth in 2008. Mobile VoIP allows cell phones to connect to wi-fi hot spots and uses the internet to transport the calls seamlessly. In 2007 mobile VoIP customers rose a suprising 21.2%. The expected growth for 2008 is 24.3%!

VoIP growth in Quebec is even more startling. In 2007 Quebec nearly had a 200% increase in VoIP use! It is estimated that by 2010 VoIP will overtake standard land-line telephoney.

I was not aware of the growing sms virus problem, but a google search revealed there have been many sms viruses over the years.

The good news is that Rising, a Chinese anti-virus software company, has released an anti-virus service for cell phones. So, if you’ve got sensitive data on your cell phone, maybe you should give it a try!

Nettel Holdings, Inc.’s (OTCBB: NTTL) has launched a new service for texters.  They allow you to send text messages to cell phones, home phones, email, and fax machines.  Even more shocking, you can set it up so that it automatically translates your messages in over 30 languages!

This all a little hard to believe, so here is the company’s demo.

Vodafone and Telecom, the two main cell phone companies, have joined the Green party.  While this move certainly has ramifications in the political world, it may also affect you.

The green party is a major advocate of banning cell phone use while driving.  The main article explains that drivers using cell phones are 4 times more likely to be involved in an auto accident. 

It would be nice if the tobacco industry showed such concern for their customers health!

In a related story, a small village in British Columbia, Canada has decided that they don’t need cell phones at all.  In a 117 to 110 vote they declined an initiative to introduce mobile service there.  They cite studies linking cell phone radiation to brain tumors as a main concern.  They also like their peace and quiet.  So if you’re looking for a remote and relaxing place to vacation, there it is.  I may move there myself!

Dr. Neil Martin, Founder/CEO of Global Care Quest and Chief of Neurosurgery at UCLA Medical Center announces a new way to view medical images over your cell phone.

The ICIS Mobile viewer made made Martin and others will help reduce diagnosis times.  As the first 3 hours after an emergency are the most critical, this technology is sure to help many physicians who are on the move.

Please read the full article for more information.

Every cell phone has the ability to recieve emails.  However, many people are not aware of this.

It’s very simple to do. Let’s say the cell phone you want to email has the number of 1-555-555-5555, and their provider is Nextel. To send an email to this cell phone you would send an email to this address: 5555555555@messaging.nextel.com
They will receive your email as a regular text message!

Blog.realitors.org posted a nice table showing the hosts
that you would use for each provider.

So remember, it’s phonenumber@serviceprovider.host.

Happy emailing!

Deciding on an answering service can be a rough trial.  With Globalization and the rise of cheap, easy to get equipment, the number of answering services in the world is climbing. There are many tactics you can use to help determine which answering services are legitimate and which is right for you.

The first is the age of the company. How long have they been in the business?  Many new answering services are hurt by poor customer service. If it is an older company, then their customer service techniques are tried and true.  If they have been training employees for years and are still going strong, then they will surely be able to meet the needs of you and your clients.

Another important item to check on is if the answering service has any specialties. Today there are many nich specific answering services that deal only with one type of business. For instance: medical answering services, real estate answering services.  These are generally smaller companies that cannot handle large amounts of calls or varying types of calls. Most non-nich services also specialize, but train their operators to takes all kinds of calls. It is always good to ask and see. Especially if your business has needs that spread out over many areas.

Price is always a factor when you’re in the market. As with anything, you pay for what you get, but you must always keep your budget in mind. Price varies considerably with different companies so it is a good idea to shop around. Many services will allow you to pay by the month, rather than roping you into a year long contract. These are great because then it is possible for you to test them out.

Lastly, ask them for references. Any reputable answering service will have several clients who will be willing to provide testimonials. Make sure to pay special attention to references from people in the same line of work as you. For instance a plumber would not care at all how well someone’s operators can enter orders into a clothing website.

As always, use common sense and ask a lot questions. If you are expecting over 200 calls a night, it may not be a good idea to hire Nancy, who just set up a home answering service next door in her living room. If something seems fishy, ask questions in different ways, or go somewhere else. Answering services can be powerful tools if the business is a professional one.  I wish you the best of luck in finding the service that is right for you and your clients.

Yes they do!  They also want to do it as cheap as possible.  T-Mobile rolled out a new service for subscribers in Dallas and Seattle.  These user can now choose to have T-Mobile handle all of the telephone calls - not just their cell phones. 

The $10 service allows for unlimited local and long distance.  However, you must already have cell phone service through them.  You will also need to purchase a router which costs around $50 dollars.  Vonage, the trail-blazer in VOIP technology, currently charges $25 per month for their service.  As you can see, given a small amount of time T-Mobile’s service becomes the better deal. 

Hopefully they will have success in their venture.  I know Vonage has had a rocky time recently.  If they do well in Seattle and Dallas, they plan on making the service available nation-wide.   T-Mobile has not commented on how long their test run will last, or when they might offer everyone the service.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010101121

Wondering what to do with your old cell phone?   Don’t throw it away!  Many of the chemicals used inside cell phones are hazardous.  They contain lead, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc.  So what do you do with a drawer full of discarded cell phones? Sell them!

That’s right!  There are also good things in cellphones:  glass, plastic, and gold.  Yes, gold!  It doesn’t amount to much, but gold is used in the circuit boards because of its excellent conductivity.

Many communities are proactive on this topic and hold recycling days where they will take your old cells. This will generally happen a couple times a year. 

However, if you are in the mood for cash, try looking at this website. They also host a catalogue where you can look up much your cell phone is worth.

In excellent news for consumers and privacy advocates,  President George W. Bush signed two bills into law that eleminate the need to re-register numbers on the Federal no call list.  Updates will now be made by the telephone companies, who must submit lists of disconnected numbers periodically.  This process is to ensure that the list does not become bloated with outdated numbers.  For more information, please visit here.