I was recently talking to one of my friends who is in the midst of starting her own home-based cookie business. While she wants to have a separate phone number for her business, she isn’t at the point of needing a full virtual PBX system, nor is she at the point of getting a ton of calls. What she would like to have is a business phone number & voicemail that she can pay for only when she uses it.

Did you know you can do this with Grasshopper?

Despite the fact that we are a full featured phone system, at our core, we enable customers to have a phone number and voicemail for their business that they can access from anywhere. Plus we have a pay as you grow plan that you only pay for when you use it!

Why are you pitching me Grasshopper?

Well, sometimes we get caught up talking about all the great features we have and we forget that for many of our new customers, you don’t need all of them just yet!

If you are looking to start a home-based business or already have one, here are some tips on getting your business phone number & voicemail system set up:

1. Choose a phone number. Do you want a toll free number? Local number? Check out a few tips on choosing the right number for your business.
2. Secure it. With the Pay as You Grow plan you are securing the number you want and you pay only for the minutes you use.
3. Set up your greeting. The nice part about having a greeting is that you sound professional, you don’t have to answer the phone every time it rings and your callers never hear a busy signal!
4. Record your voicemail. I don’t think any explanation is needed here. Simply record what you want to say or have our voice studio professionals do it.
5. Take your call where you want. Whether you want your calls forwarded to your home phone, your cell, or both, it’s up to you.

That’s it! You now have a professional voicemail system that took all of 8 minutes to set up. Now you can get back to running your business, or in my friend’s case, baking more delicious cookies!

Luckily for you, there’s a convenient little thing called voicemail. Voicemail is great for your business, because it allows customers to contact you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Voicemail is also great for potential customers, because it gives them a sneak peak at your personality–and yes, they’re judging you when they call.

So what should you say in your voicemail? How long should your recording be? What type of voicemail makes a potential customer want to do business with you, and what makes them hang up before you even finish your recorded greeting?

Try these tips for recording a great voicemail greeting:

1. Smile

You might be shaking your head right now, saying, “But they can’t see me through the phone…why should I smile?”. Customers are smart. A study by the University of Portsmouth shows that people can tell when you’re happy to hear from them, despite the fact that they can’t see your facial expressions or body language. The Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) has specific rules pertaining to office etiquette, including recording voicemails with a smile. If you don’t think smiling makes a difference, record two different voicemails: one where you’re smiling and one where you’re not. Which one sounds better?

2. Identify Yourself

This might seem like a no-brainer, but many businesses fail to state their name in their voicemail.  This confuses customers and makes them hesitant to leave a message. Many of them worry they’ve reached the wrong company and hang up, and they don’t always call back.

3. Speak Clearly

“Hi, this is momeroumgsljl and I’m ahaljfoufofoirold”. Don’t mumble in your voicemail. If you are a chronic mumbler, have somebody else record your voicemail for you.

4. Be Creative

Your callers have done this before. They know that you are unavailable, they know this is a voicemail, and they know to leave a name and number so that you can “get back with them as soon as you can”.  There’s no need to tell them what they already know, so be creative. Incorporate a fun fact or statistic into your message, such as “A Duke University study found that many voicemails were not heard within 7 days, but don’t worry, we listen to all messages within 24 hours”.

5. Give Them What They Want

You’re pretty awesome, but people don’t always call to talk to you. Sometimes they just want important information, such as hours of operation or your website address. Mention these things in your voicemail greetings, as well as anything else you think your customers might want to know.

6. Practice Makes Perfect

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. There’s a reason you’ve heard those phrases hundreds of times: because they’re true. If your first voicemail greeting doesn’t turn out the way you planned, record another one. And another one. Your voicemail may be the first impression a potential client has of your business, so don’t let them down.

It’s impossible to answer every single call that comes in so it’s important to make sure that when your customers are  getting your voicemail, they’re getting a good first impression of your company. Take the pressure off of yourself with the Grasshopper voice studio feature. Just have one of our professional voice talents record your greetings and prompts for you. Using our voice studio, you can even produce top quality on hold commercials for your company, even better, have your greetings recorded in different languages.

Some other posts you should check out:

• The 10 Worst Types of Voicemails

• Create a Good First Impression with Custom Greetings

By now you’ve all probably heard the extremely long and embarrassing voicemail from a very intoxicated girl named Dominic to her new pal Ryan, where she teaches him how to spell eBay and tells him just how cute he is. The voicemail has been making its rounds on the internet and radio shows across the country, leading to this response video by Ryan himself.

The voicemail is actually a bit hard to listen to but let’s be honest; we’ve all been there. You go to check your messages and there it is, the longest voicemail ever. You can’t wait for it to be over!

In the spirit of bad voicemails, we’ve put together “The 10 Worst Types of Voicemails“:

1. The Longest Ever

Instead of giving you a brief summary of why they called, the person proceeds to give you every single detail. Need to know who, what, where and why? No. Well too bad because they just told you. Oh, except they forgot the ‘when’ so I guess you’ll have to call them back.

2. The Loudest Ever

You know this one. You check your message and it sounds like you’re in rush hour traffic. Cars are honking, music’s playing, the wind’s blowing, the stealth bomber is flying directly above you. If you are going to leave a voicemail, please make sure I can hear it.

3. The Pocket

Even with the latest Smartphone technology, pocket dials are still a real thing. The sweet sound of rustling pants or the car radio is delightful to listen to for seven minutes. Good thing I wasn’t close on my minutes this month.

4. The Super-Sonic

Unlike the long voicemail leavers, these people make sure you don’t go over your minutes checking voicemail. You’re not sure exactly what they wanted but you caught a few words in there and 3 of the 7 digits you need to call them back. That works.

5. The “Who Was That?”

If you’re like me, you send most unknown callers to voicemail, expecting they’ll leave a message telling you who they are and what they’re calling about. Of course this doesn’t always happen. You don’t recognize the number and they either said their name way too fast or not at all. You have no idea who just called you! Guess I’ll wait til they call back.

6. The Hang-Up

You have to wonder, “How does this happen?” Did you really just let my entire voicemail play before you decided you weren’t going to leave a message? It’s cool. The sound of your phone hanging up was really lovely.

7. The Recording

Maybe my photos are ready for pick up or maybe I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow but I’m not really sure. Why? Because I only got half of your recorded message! Don’t get me wrong, I like the recording guy’s voice but I’d prefer if he didn’t start talking before the beep.

8. The Walkie-Talkie

You think you know what the voicemail said but you aren’t sure because it cut out for the majority of the message. I can’t hear you, you’re trailing off and did I catch a niner in there?

9. The Unprepared

Maybe they forgot they were calling you or weren’t expecting your voicemail to pick up. But it did and now they don’t know what to say. “Hey, um, just calling, um, anyway, I guess give me a call, um.” Imagine how that conversation would’ve gone if you picked up!

10. The Wrong Number

You get a voicemail that clearly isn’t for you and you have to wonder, did they just not listen to my voicemail greeting or are they really that clueless? I always wonder if they get mad at the person for not calling them back.

So there you have it, 10 of the worst types of voicemails. Which ones did we miss?

Product Plug: Of course with the Read Your Voicemail feature, you don’t really have to worry about these things do you? You can just read them

This past week MTV teamed up with Justin Bieber for a campaign against digital abuse. The prize? A trip to MTV studios and a personalized voicemail greeting from the Biebs himself.

For our Grasshopper blog readers, a voicemail greeting from a 16-year old pop star probably isn’t your ideal prize but it did get me thinking…

If you could have any celebrity record your voicemail greeting, who would it be?

Personally, I think Mr. T answering my phone would be pretty sweet. Here at Grasshopper, we had Gary Busey record some hilarious videos for us but not our voicemail greeting. We decided to leave that to our voice studio professionals.

So who would it be?

With the launch of Google Voice there has been a lot of talk about visual voicemail, voicemail transcription, voice to text, voicemail to email, etc. There are so many different terms it can be confusing!

Here at Grasshopper we offer a feature to our customers called ‘Read Your Voicemail‘. When a customer subscribes to this feature, they are emailed a transcription (and an MP3) of their voicemail immediately after receiving it (we offer human transcription at no extra charge for better accuracy). They can then read the voicemail on their computer or Smartphone.

However, one of the questions we often get is, ‘Do you offer visual voicemail?’ The answer to that is, it depends.

Here is how others describe ‘visual voicemail’:

Verizon

“Visual Voice Mail allows customers to see a list of all of their voice mail messages with important information, such as date and time of receipt, as well as message duration, in order to prioritize and efficiently manage their voice mail messages directly from their phones.”

Apple/iPhone

“When you decline or don’t answer a call, the caller hears a recorded greeting and can leave a voicemail message. On iPhone, visual voicemail lets you see a list of your messages and choose which ones to listen to or delete, without having to listen to prior messages or voice instructions.”

AT&T

“AT&T Visual Voicemail provides an easier way to check voicemail. No more dialing into complicated voicemail menus. Visual Voicemail delivers messages directly to your handset, so you can review your voicemail messages anytime, anywhere, and in any order you choose.”

Here is what Wikipedia has to say:

“Visual Voicemail is the process of adding a visual aspect to phone voicemail such as allowing users to view a list of audio voicemail entries or even read transcripts of these voicemail as text. These voicemails are converted to text by use of advanced speech recognition software…”

What we have here at Grasshopper is voicemail transcription AND visual voicemail. Through the online account manager, you can see a list of your voicemails, phone numbers, times, dates, notes and more. And with the Read Your Voicemail feature, you get your voicemail transcribed and sent to you.

Do you define visual voicemail and voicemail transcription as the same thing?

You are in the zone, ideas are flowing, work is getting done and the phone rings. You don’t want to miss an important call but you also don’t want to interrupt your work flow. With the Grasshopper virtual phone system you can see who is calling and send the caller to voice mail without worrying you are going to miss important information.

Why? Because with Grasshopper you will immediately be emailed the MP3 and the voice mail transcription (if you subscribe to the “Read Your Voicemail” feature). Voice mail is a great asset for your business and we have included some of the best ways to get the most out of it below.

Voice mail when you need it:

• Out of the office?

  The great thing about having Grasshopper is that you can choose when you want calls to be forwarded or when you want them to be sent to voice mail. When you are out of the office, you can have calls forwarded to your cell or home phone. Don’t want to get calls after 8 pm? Set up an after-hours greeting and send calls directly to voice mail.

  The other great thing is that even if you are out of the office, your voice mail will be emailed to you (in MP3 form), giving you the ability to listen to it on your Smartphone. You will know right away if it is an urgent call.

• Don’t want to talk?

  We have all been there. The phone rings and you really don’t want to talk to anyone. With Call Screening & Announce, you can simply listen to the number and decide if you want to talk or send them to voice mail.

• Don’t want to listen?

  To summarize, there is a Facebook group called “I Only Check My Voicemail To Get Rid Of The Little Icon On The Screen”. Yes, we can all be lazy and sometimes we just don’t feel like listening to our voice mail. The great thing about Grasshopper is that you don’t have to!

  With the “Read Your Voicemail” feature, your voice mail will be transcribed and emailed to you. You can get the contents of your voice mail without having to listen to it.

• Want to go above and beyond?

  In a recent post here on the Grasshopper blog, we show-cased how the unlimited extensions feature can help you go above and beyond for clients. By creating personalized greetings & voicemail messages for individual clients using separate extensions, you can create strong relationships and make your business stand out.

Grasshopper voice mail makes life easier for small businesses, is there when you need it and can help keep you and your business organized. Find out more about all the great features of the Grasshopper virtual phone system.

Aside from a website, your phone greeting could be the first impression customers or potential customers have of your business. While it doesn’t have to be as clever as George’s, it’s important that it sounds professional and helps the caller with what they are looking for.

Here are a few tips for creating a main greeting:

• Make sure there is no distracting background noise i.e. ambulances racing by, phones ringing, tv commercials.

• When using background music, make sure you choose music that fits your business. Pop music for a spa probably isn’t the best strategy.

• Enunciate your words clearly to ensure the caller can understand your greeting. Avoid strong accents.

• Keep it succinct. No one wants to listen to three minutes of talking before even hearing their options.

• Make sure callers feel welcome. Thank them for calling and let them know how you are going to help them.

• Your extensions should be easy to follow and cover the most common topics. Sales, Support, Speak with Customer Representative, etc.

• For customers who don’t want to worry about creating their greeting, the Grasshopper voice studio features professional voice talents who can create it for you.

Remember, a poor phone greeting could turn away customers, potential customers, clients, and leads. Take all the necessary steps to create a professional image for your small business.

First off, you are a great example of a “Young Entrepreneur”. You’ve already been involved in founding how many companies? And are how old?

I’ve founded 2 companies. I started my first, Sparklight Studios, when I was 18 years old. Sparklight is a small creative company specializing in website development, video production and theatrical design. We’ve served nearly 20 clients since we started only 2 years ago, which has been quite an undertaking considering we’re college students. We just launched our new website – http://www.sparklight-studios.com. I also founded RevitalArts (formerly Youth in the Arts) in 2008 with a few friends.

Tell us a little bit about RevitalArts and what makes it so unique.

RevitalArts is an entirely student-run non-profit organization and we received our 501(c)(3) designation by the Federal government in mid-2009. Our mission is to provide young adults with positive, engaging and educational experiences in the arts and to revitalize the participation in and appreciation of the arts. This breaks down into two parts: the first is to put on student-run productions – film festivals, theatrical performances, musical concerts, etc. The second part is to get our local community (in Fairfield/New Haven Counties, CT) interested and engaged in the arts.

We are unique because our organization – from our Board of Directors, to our staff, to our membership, is made up entirely of young people. This is a point we try to push in our PR and fundraising efforts.

Now, I know that you personally have always been involved in music and the arts. What made you want to help others get involved as well?

The arts are my life passion. Some friends and I noticed a lack of summer theatre opportunities in my hometown of Stratford, CT. So we started Square One Teen Theatre, which is now going into it’s 4th summer and is our biggest program. RevitalArts spawned out of the Teen Theatre and another program called the Stratford Film Festival, which was started in 2005. We started the organization as an umbrella company that would oversee programs like the Theatre and Film Festival, and help outside students start their own programs.

Since we were officially formed as of last year, we’ve helped students kick off two brand new programs in Milford and Fairfield, CT. It’s amazing to help and watch these new program grow, because that’s essentially why the organization was started in the first place.

What challenges do you face as a non-profit organization that you don’t in other businesses?

Definitely fundraising. Funding is obviously important for both businesses and non-profits, but it’s very different in our situation. Fundraising involves convincing people that our cause is worthy enough to support monetarily. We had a successful year in 2009 but we still haven’t gotten the full hang of it yet.

Two tips you can give other entrepreneurs looking to start a non-profit:

• Build a strong board and staff who will believe in your cause. Start-up non-profits typically have very limited budgets and you, along with your staff, will have to volunteer significant amounts of time to the organization.

• Focus a lot on your brand and message. Don’t rush through your name, logo, and mission just to get them over with. Spend a lot of time thinking about what the core of your mission is. Then market the heck out of it. For a new non-profit, nothing is more important than a strong message.

You are involved in RevitalArts, Square One, Sparklight Studios AND you go to school. Where do you find the time for all this? You must have some great time management tips to give our readers?

I’m a huge fan of to do lists. I organize my lists into categories (Personal, RevitalArts, School, etc) and pick which ones I’m going to do each day of the week. I’m also a big proponent of sticky notes. I’m also not afraid to delegate when I need to.

Now, we don’t ask everyone this, but since you are a GH customer and have been for quite some time, what is your favorite feature of the virtual phone system (we had to throw in some self-promotion)?

Getting voicemails as email attachments. Grasshopper has a ton of awesome features, but the reason I originally signed up was the convenience of being able to check our voicemail through my email

Thanks to Jared for taking the time to talk with us. If you want more information on Jared, RevitalArts or Sparklight Studios, check out his about page or connect with him on LinkedIn.

This video gives a quick overview on managing voice mails, including mapping the call to a specific location on a map, adding contact info, sending an email and storing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUy6BJlYP4k]

Log in to your Grasshopper account to get started. Don’t have one? Sign up today!

Since it’s easier to scan text than to call in and listen, the appeal of voice mail transcription is pretty obvious. One thing people may overlook though, is how much enjoyment you can get reading messages that the transcription program wasn’t able to process well.

In fact, just for fun, here’s what that first paragraph looks like when transcribed from voicemail:

“There’s no doubt that voicemail transcription has improved this trained relationship we all have with voicemail my guess is the Cool factor for voicemail more off about 2 days after was invented since it’s easier to scan texted to call in and listen the appeal a voicemail transcription seems is pretty obvious 1 thing people may over looked just how much enjoyed that you can get the messages at the transcription program wasn’t able to process well.”

I’m impressed with the accuracy given my mumbling but this is still pretty entertaining when read in a Yakov Smirnoff accent.

Every week I get dozens of transcribed voice mails and I can always count on a few good laughs. Sometimes the transcribed text is totally useless (especially with certain, ahem, free voice mail transcription services I’ve used).

With accents, low talkers, fast talkers, and background noise, it’s unavoidable even for the best services. That’s why it’s great that Grasshopper provides the option to have the voice mail transcribed again (at no additional cost), this time with human help so that you can make sense of it. Most of the time, transcriptions work great, but it’s good to have the option to smooth out any wrinkles when it really counts.

And here’s one of those junk voice mails from an autodialer, converted by another service I was testing out:

“Hi this is Cathy(?) at Assudan(?). You need to call Assudan(?) ___ to consolidate your credit cards down to as low as a 1.5% interest rates. This is not a new loan. This have been already approved by a certified non profit agency so if you can please have your statements ready ___ remember it’s 18007966200. Again my name is Cathy and you can reach me at 18007966200 until 10:00 tonight. Thanks and have a great day.”

Glad I didn’t waste time calling in to listen to that message.

Which brings me to another point (yes there are a few points in here somewhere). Many of the paid transcription services charge per message. To me, this is the wrong way to do it. If you’re like me, you’ll only end up resenting the fact that someone just wasted your hard earned money when they leave a pointless voice mail.

At Grasshopper, we want you to get value from voice mail transcription, without worrying about incremental costs. That’s why we went with simple flat rate pricing. If you’re anything like me, you won’t even think about the relatively small cost of this feature. You’ll only sit back, enjoy a laugh at the occasional mess up and wonder how anyone could get by without voicemail transcription.

Do you have any really bad voice mail transcriptions you can share?

Post them in the comments section (with names and other juicy/sensitive details blanked out) so that the rest of us can enjoy them too. And if anyone’s looking into credit card consolidation, call “Cathy(?)” at “Assudan(?) ___” before 10:00 tonight.