Zoom Phone freed us from sharing Mobile numbers

Late last year we boldly decided to remove our mobile phone numbers from our email signatures quietly. For a business that is so focused on customer service, removing it could be seen as counter-intuitive (pun intended).

However, my argument is it will make for a better customer service experience and streamline support queries.

We’ve been able to achieve this because we’ve moved our business phone system to Zoom Phone. Zoom Phone is the business phone system by the company that brought you Zoom Meetings.

Their Zoom Phone App means that when someone dials my “office” phone number, the App will ring on my mobile. So I’m still contactable on my mobile, but it has the added benefit of keeping the phone call within our phone system.

How does Zoom Phone work?

Zoom Phone has functionality used by other PBX, PABX, VoIP or Cloud-based phone system businesses use. You can use your desk phone to make and receive phone calls when you’re in the office. Or if you’re like Intuitive IT, we like to use the phone software on our computers. This has a few added benefits:

1. As long as we have an internet connection, we can answer the phone no matter where we are
2. We can integrate other systems like Outlook so we can share contacts and see who is calling
3. We can switch a phone call into a Zoom Meeting with a press of a button

Why is Zoom Phone better?

There are a couple of key features we like about Zoom Phone over other VoIP/Phone providers.

1. Zoom is a big company that has invested significant money into getting internet-based communications right. This investment means their product is well-rounded and robust.
2. Zoom has opened up integration with Zoom Phone with an API. An API lets programmers like we have at Intuitive IT to create integrations with Zoom Phone that help our business processes. A couple of examples of this are:

Hubspot <–> Zoom Phone integration

This integration syncs data between our CRM Hubspot with phone calls made with Zoom Phone. So when a sales call is made within Zoom Phone, the call details are matched to the client card in Hubspot.

The call’s date and time, and duration are added to the client card in Hubspot. You can also push the audio file to the client card if you enable call recording. This means your team with access to Hubspot can see inbound and outbound calls made to your clients. This gives you a clear picture of what is happening across your client base.

Client Portal <–> Zoom Phone integration

The other integration we built is syncing the phone number of our ticking system with Zoom Phone. This means that adding or updating a phone number in our Client Portal will automatically sync to Zoom Phone’s global address book.  This has 2 key benefits:

1. Customer Service – It allows our helpdesk team to see who is calling. This means the right person can pick up the call reducing any transfers and keeping the client wait time down. It also provides a better experience when we can answer the phone with “Hi Ronny”
2. Remove double handling of data – Without this sync in place, we would be required to enter contact details into multiple systems. This is a poor use of time, and manual data entry can be inaccurate.

The Zoom Phone Mobile App

The other great feature of Zoom Phone, and the reason we no longer have our mobile phones on our signature, is the Mobile App. Once installed and you log in, the App will ring when your “office” number is dialled. In my case, it rings on both my laptop and mobile phone. So why is this superior to just handing out your mobile number? Well, I’m glad you asked.

1. Call groups and routing rules

All good phone systems have features such as call groups and routing rules. Zoom Phone is no different. An example is how our sales line works. When you call our sales number (top right of the page), this is what happens:

1. Zoom Phone answers the call and lets the caller know that we are locating someone to answer the call
2. At the same time, my Zoom Phone rings, as does Eden’s. If neither of us is available, after 30 seconds, the system moves to step 3
3. The call is routed to a voicemail inbox, where the caller can leave a message.
4. An email with a transcript of the voicemail and a notification to the App is sent, so we can return the call.

This is a basic routing rule that serves us well. There are other options as well, where it can dial a 3rd person if required, or continue ringing. It just depends on the business rule.

If a call is sent to a mobile, we no longer over it once it leaves the Zoom Phone system.

2. Outbound calls are made through Zoom Phone too

So what about calls that are made Outbound to customers? So we try and avoid making business calls directly from our mobiles. This works well for us, because of the Hubspot integration mentioned above. If a call is made from a mobile phone instead of through Zoom, then the wider business has no visibility of this.

3. Reduce the complexity of personal mobile phones

Some businesses provide mobile phones to staff while others allow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model where they allow a personal phone to be used. Some businesses will provide a call allowance. Using Zoom Phone simplifies this. There is no need to expense phone calls made from personal mobiles because all business calls are made through Zoom Phone. There is also the added benefit of staff having their personal mobile as clients’ primary point of contact. What do you do if that staff member leaves?

More control with Zoom Phone

So with all the above in place, we decided it was time to remove 04xx xxx xxx from our email signatures. We have better control of call flow now, providing a better customer experience for our team and clients. If you are interested in providing a better experience for your team and clients, please make a time to chat with us.