Whether you use a traditional landline phone, cellphone, or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) softphone or IP phone, chances are your phone service provider offers enhanced calling features that can make working from home or on the road more productive.
In addition to basic features like caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, and call forwarding, some great business-friendly calling features you may be able to take advantage of now with your current provider (or what you should look for when selecting a new phone service) include:
Features to separate business from personal calls
- Distinctive Ring: Calls from certain phone numbers can have a distinct ringtone, so you know whether a call is for business or personal.
- Virtual Phone Numbers or Extensions: These will allow you to route calls to different household members.
- Call Screening / Caller Announcement: An auto attendant prompts callers for their name; when you answer, you'll be notified who's calling and can accept or reject the call or send it to voicemail.
- Voice Mail Screening: Listen in on voicemail messages while the caller is leaving you a message; you can connect to the caller if you want.
Features to make sure you don't miss a call
- Backup Numbers: Have calls automatically forwarded to a phone number you specify (e.g., your cell phone) if your service goes out. This is usually offered by digital phone services.
- Simultaneous/Multi Ring: Allows you to set other phones (e.g., cell phone, office phone, etc.) to ring when a call comes in, so you can pick up the call from any phone.
- Locate Me or Find Me: Similar to Multi Ring, this feature allows you to set other numbers calls can be answered from. Rather than ringing all phones at once, though, the incoming call will ring each phone after a certain number of rings in the order you set in your list.
Features to manage your voicemail messages
- Calls to Email: Some services can send voicemail messages as sound attachments to your email address; others just notify you via email what incoming calls you may have missed.
- SMS / Message Alerts: Get notified via a cell phone text message of new voicemail messages.
- Visual Voicemail: View and manage voice messages online, via smartphone applications, or using special software.
Other handy calling features for mobile professionals
- Fax: Receive -- and even digitally send -- faxes on your voice line. Faxes are usually emailed to you as an attachment or downloadable from the Web. Very convenient and saves paper!
- PC to Phone: Make calls from your computer, either via special software or from your provider's website. You'll need a decent headset, but this feature may save you money and is very helpful when travelling.
- Contact Books: Online contact book that may (or may not) integrate with Outlook.
- Call Logs: History of incoming and outgoing calls, with phone numbers, viewable online. Useful if you need a record of your business-related calls.
