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September 10, 2014

Why Videoconferencing Is For You

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In many different situations a live video conference is much more effective than a phone call or web conference. For example, you may need to visually demo a new product with a sales team that is spread out over many states or even countries. Or maybe you need to troubleshoot an issue with a client which requires sharing information visually. Literally seeing what you are discussing is far more effective and meaningful than other methods short of actually being there. Listed below are the some of the top benefits of video conferencing.

Reduced Travel Costs

The ability to be in several places at once without leaving an office is a proven driver of business productivity. Though face-to-face interactions with your customers, partners and colleagues are always important the huge leaps in quality, availability, and ease-of-use make videoconferencing the next best thing. When you calculate the number of trips taken annually and determine the associated costs (transportation to and from the airport, the cost of plane tickets, meals, time lost in travel, etc.) it is clear why videoconferencing is such an attractive alternative.

Increased Productivity among your Customers and Teams

Today it’s not unusual to have satellite offices across the country, or even the world. Most methods of communication will be limited to phone calls, email, or instant messages. The lack of face-to-face communication can cause misunderstandings within your teams. When video is implemented, participants are more likely to stay alert and focused on what is being discussed. As a result, projects are completed faster, productivity increases, and participants feel more in synch with each other and the message you want to convey.

Improves Communication & Reinforce Relationships

During a videoconference you can see the facial expressions and body language of conference participants, leading to faster and more effective collaboration. You can actually discern how your message is being received. These are both important aspects of communication that are lost with a basic telephone call.

Competitive Advantage

There is no benefit for being second in bringing new products or ideas to market, and video communication creates and maintains competitive advantage for your business. Teams that communicate through video, will share knowledge faster and will be more informed, which reduces the time required to bring a new product or service to market. Support departments using videoconferencing can establish more personal relationships with their customers, which encourages a much deeper loyalty than just speaking on a phone. You can accomplish in less than an hour, what it takes your competition to do in a week via shipping the product for review.

Executive Suites at Lakewood Ranch is your preeminent provider of videoconference service in the Sarasota/Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch area. Be there without the hassles or expense of actually being there. For more information contact us today!

July 17, 2014

The Exciting Benefits of VOIP Technology

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Today many small businesses and organizations are making the switch from their current analog phone service to VoIP business phone systems. There are numerous advantages to using such a service, including standard services such as voicemail (really enhanced via VOIP technology), call waiting, toll free numbers, call forwarding, and remote operation, and there are a host of other features that really makes this technology shine and really increases the productivity of the user.

More than two persons

On a standard phone line, only two persons can speak at a time. With VoIP, you can setup a conference with a whole team communicating in real time.

Abundant, Interesting and Useful Features

Using VoIP also means benefitting from its abundant feature sets which can make your VoIP experience very rich and sophisticated. One can, for example, make calls anywhere in the world to any destination in the world with a VoIP account. Domestic long distance calls are free and International calls are made at greatly reduced rates. Other features include Caller ID, Contact Lists, Voicemail, extra-virtual numbers etc. Here are some enhanced features of this technology:

Find me/follow me call routing

Mobile workers appreciate this feature. Find me/follow me call routing allows you to create a list of numbers where you can be found before the call gets pushed to voicemail. So, for example, you might have your office phone ring twice, but on the third ring, your cell phone starts to ring, and then on the fifth, your home phone. If the list is exhausted, the caller gets sent to voicemail.

Voicemail to email carbon and transcription

Voicemail to email carbon means that an email is sent to you with a wav file attachment containing the voicemail message. Voicemail to email transcription transcribes your voicemail messages to text and sends them to your email address. Read them in your email at your leisure. This also allows you to file, organize, delete, and search all your voicemails in a way that would otherwise be impossible.

Music and/or video on hold

If your company often has to put callers on hold, this feature is a necessity. You can customize your music or on-hold message.

Call screening

Call screening is a handy feature of this technology. It allows you to look at a number on the caller ID and choose how to treat it. For example, if your spouse is calling, you can choose to pick it up whereas if it’s an annoying sales person you wish to avoid you can disregard the call.

Auto attendant

An auto attendant is one of the hidden gems of premium VoIP services. This feature allows callers to interact with a menu to choose an appropriate extension or phone, even after-hours. It’s like having an electronic receptionist!

Do not disturb
This feature does exactly what its name implies: leaves you undisturbed. You can turn it on to temporarily stop incoming calls to your phone. This becomes especially useful during conferences, lunches, and meetings. Best of all, you can program it so that it does not just ignore callers, but directs them toward voicemail or another destination of your choice.

All of these services, and more, are available with the VOIP technology phone service offered by Executive Suites at Lakewood Ranch. We even include live answer before transfer, call logs if you want them and more! Contact us at 941-373-1400 to learn more about how this exciting technology can enhance your business and operations.

June 4, 2014

Traditional vs Shared Offices and Executive Suites

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With 10+ years of experience within the Executive Suites (Shared Office Space) industry, I have seen many vital aspects of both Traditional Office Space and Shared Office Space change. The economy has helped shaped both of these industries terms pretty drastically and for technology has a more prominent role in their service offering than ever before.

The Economy is healing but at a slowed pace. Traditional Office Space is going through some pretty sever changes and is struggling to stay relevant. Building owners are trying to keep their units rented by discounting their Per Square Feet rates, playing with term lengths and find it a challenge to keep their CAM costs under control. When it comes to bigger corporations and organizations (Fortune 500 for example or the US Government, etc.), their goal is to lower their real estate foot print and increase employee productivity. This is where Shared Office Space comes into play. Executive Suites such as Executive Suites at Lakewood Ranch find an increase in corporate tenants and large organizations. These types of clients no longer find value in renting out thousands of square feet to house a few new employees; now it’s all about one person offices or shared offices and maximizing their productivity. This same principal also applies to small business owners who once found prestige in renting out a free standing building or a spot in a strip mall but now it’s about cutting their expenses and going to a less traditional space.

With an Executive Suite business model, you get a shared receptionist to answer your calls (no more expensive payroll), you only use the space you actually need. Furthermore you are surrounded by other like-minded individuals from small business owners to account executives of larger corporations. Think of the great possibilities of in-house networking!
Technology has changed an awful lot as well. When I started my career in this industry, cell phones were current technology and the Internet was just starting to make its mark on industry and society. Cell phones were used to make “quick and brief” calls or during hours where it was free to dial out (“call me only after 7pm or on weekends”). Now cell phones are pervasive and have morphed into smart phones with all that their expanded technology entails.

Internet speed has increased exponentially and has created an improved method of communication known as VOIP technology. Cell phones and VOIP are not only a major method of communication but they are also a way to advertise our businesses, receive our voice mail and text messages and help us with directions to our next appointment. Furthermore, the innovation of smart tablets and much smaller portable computers have shifted the dynamics of how we report to the “office”. Today’s business professional needs a lot less space in our modern world to work. That is why places like Executive Suites at Lakewood Ranch with smaller offices and collaborative work spaces are the new norm. Save on overhead, find a professional place other than a Starbucks to conduct your business (and still get great coffee) and close some deals…isn’t that what all small business owners strive for?