Independence Day, the Fourth of July 2021, is quickly approaching, and you will want your business to be ready if you plan to change your hours of operation for the holiday.
We’ve picked four aspect of our Business Phone Plans you should adjust to keep your customers informed about your business’s plans this year. Ready your VirtualPBX Dashboard to access your Auto Attendant, Voicemail settings, Call Queues, and Ring Groups as we discuss the adjustments available in your phone system.
Auto Attendant
Customers can learn a lot about your business through your Auto Attendant. Specifically while we’re addressing the coming holiday, you may need to adjust your attendant’s greeting to reflect your updated business hours.
For the Fourth of July 2021, since it falls on a Sunday, you may have already picked out the previous Friday (July 2nd) or the following Monday (July 5th) on which to give your employees a day off. This choice will be reflected in your greeting, which is easy to adjust from your system dashboard. We can even help you create a new greeting if you want something fresh.
Keep in mind that you can adjust the greeting for your primary business phone number and for the auto attendants as part of our Multiple Auto Attendants feature. In both cases, it will look professional to make this change a few days ahead of time and then adjust your greeting again after you return to the office.
Voicemail
Individuals on your team should also adjust their Voicemail boxes if they plan to be away from their desks at unusual hours.
Again, be aware that customers might not know you have chosen the 2nd or 5th as your weekday getaway. It only takes a second to change your voicemail greeting through your phone using the *97 feature code.
You can adjust any voicemail settings by pressing “5” in your main voicemail menu.
ACD Queues Pro
If you use our ACD Queues Pro, you can establish custom hold treatments for your customers as they wait to connect with a customer service agent.
Hold treatments allow you to play media files with music and greetings that you upload to your phone plan. In these on-hold situations, it may be worthwhile for you to remind customers of your upcoming vacation plans.
Keep your callers informed about your plans for Fourth of July 2021. They may be calling to address an issue about their billing or a product issue, but adding in helpful information about your business hours can give them peace of mind for the future.
Even if you will have reduced staff during the holiday – and therefore the ability to take calls – many customers will choose to wait until you return to full service before addressing an issue. Not everything is urgent, and your callers will appreciate knowing your plans so they can adjust their own.
Ring Groups
Our Ring Groups feature might not have been top of mind when you considered the Fourth of July for 2021, but it is an important aspect of your business that might need to be addressed.
Only you know how your business will structure itself in the day leading up to, during, and following the holiday. If you have co-workers you know will be out of the office, consider removing them from ring groups if there are other individuals able to take calls in their stead.
Your distribution of ringing can also be adjusted to prioritize other members of the group. When customers will reach an individual expected to be in the office rather than being sent to voicemail, it can greatly improve their experience with your company and let you handle issues more easily.
Prepare Your Phone System for Fourth of July 2021
Keep in mind your customers when updating any aspects of your phone system for Fourth of July 2021. You know them best, and you know the schedule your business and employees will be following.
A quick message can let people know where you will be and when you will return. And a quick internal change to your call routing, like in your Ring Groups, can make the difference between an poor and excellent customer experience with your company during the holiday.
