How Learning Your ABCs Makes Small Business Technology as Easy as 1-2-3

Wendy Lowe

The back-to-school bonanza. Every year, the end of summer marks the beginning of that mad rush (and spending spree) to stock up on pencils, paper, clothes, backpacks and other supplies that will make your students’ school year a success. You want to send them off to the bus that first day with everything they need to get to the head of the class.

Did you ever stop to think that your own business could use that kind of prep? Whether you’re just getting started or want to maintain your success, it’s important to do your homework and equip yourself with tech tools that give you an A+ in the eyes of potential clients and customers, without a big price tag. Keep in mind the following ABC’s:

A is the Ability to go Mobile

There’s a good chance you work from an office—whether that is a designated room at home or a traditional space in a commercial building. But how many times does your favorite coffee shop, kitchen table, car or even grocery store checkout line become the place you communicate with your clients? Your technology needs to be on-the-go just like you.

If you already own a smart phone, why not take advantage of all its features? There are thousands of applications you can download to help you stay organized with to-do lists, store and share files, track your expenses and manage customer information. Consider signing up for other Web-based services that use your smart phone as a hub, allowing you to send and receive faxes, take calls routed from your office phone, or login to see the latest results of your email marketing efforts.

B is Broadening What Your Technology Can Do

Look around your office. How many things do you own that have only one function? Can that function be performed by something else? A fax machine is a good example of a piece of equipment that does only one thing—send and receive faxes. But it sits there, costing you money for a dedicated phone line, paper, toner, even the power to keep it running 24/7. One way to eliminate those additional costs is to consider moving to an Internet fax service that allows you to send and receive faxes on equipment you already own, like your laptop or smart phone. [header = page 2]
When it comes down to the software you are using to run your small business, you can also think about going to a pay-as-you-go or Web-based service model. With this model you pay a small monthly fee rather than buying the software up-front at a large cost. An additional bonus is free maintenance. Necessary maintenance happens behind the scenes, saving you time and money while assuring you’re benefiting from the software’s latest features. Should a technical issue arise, one call to the supplier’s tech support group generally solves the problem at no cost to you.

C is Creating a Professional Image

Moms are mobile and not always available to take a call from the comforts of a quiet office, but business calls come in at all hours, so a virtual phone service’s smart call forwarding capability is essential. It allows you to choose how incoming calls are directed based on the phone number. This way you can easily see if the incoming call is personal or business-related. Having that information before you answer can help you decide if you are in a position to take the call or if the virtual receptionist can answer it, directing the caller to your voicemail or an employee’s extension.

And achieving that elusive work/life balance? A virtual phone service allows you to set your office phone to forward all of your calls to your mobile phone, so you don’t miss a call when you’re out and about. The virtual receptionist feature greets callers with a professional-sounding voice message that usually includes a brief promotional statement about the business. Many virtual phone services offer the ability to have your message recorded by professional voice talent at no charge, further elevating your first impression. These are some great tools to organize your time so you can both spend it with family and service your customers.

By learning these ABCs, you’ll find getting the most out of small business technology can be as easy as 1-2-3.

Wendy Lowe is Regional Development Director at Protus (www.protus.com), a provider of communications tools for small-to-medium-businesses. Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com