Full Version: Home based phone question
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#9]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#8] 7 Aug 2006
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#10]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#8] 7 Aug 2006
From: Ed (EBERTRAND) [#11]
7 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 7 Aug 2006
James,
We are not a home based business, but we are a mom and pop shop
with one full time employee and 1-2 part time employees.
We are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays EST and close for national holidays.
Although someone is usually in the shop at least until noon 365 days
a year. Me????
We have 5 incoming telephone lines, including 1 fax and 1 800#
which is actually piggybacked on our regular number so you don’t
know it is a 800 call until you actually find out where the customer
is calling from. (Old-timer who had more old time employees 10-
15 years ago when long distant phone calls were very expensive)
and I didn’t want anyone to cut a customer short just because he/she
was calling on my 800 # to ask questions.
We usually have someone in the shop by 7:00 a. m. and take calls
from that time on.
We do not have an answering machine we like our
customers to be able to talk with a real person and get a response
to their questions.
We do not forward any calls outside of the shop, and do not
use voice mail. If the person is not available at the time someone
calls looking for that party we ask if someone else can help. If
not, the number is taken and put on that persons desk so the call
can be returned as quickly as possible.
Ed
From: basehorawards [#12]
7 Aug 2006
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#10] 7 Aug 2006
From: PenMan [#13]
7 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#9] 7 Aug 2006
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#14]
7 Aug 2006
To: PenMan [#13] 8 Aug 2006
I must admit I am somewhat confused at what they are doing but it's ok with me. I never had a paid ad with the yellow pages.
Most of my calls are long distance so the cell phone saves me about $90per month over what my SBC wide area service plus a cell phone was costing.
Now I have an audible signal for my business fax hooked to my home line at about $4.95 per month and I was able to transfer my business fax number as well.
From: aallen [#15]
7 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#9] 7 Aug 2006
I hope this is not to off the subject but, I would also like to do more business calls with my cell phone, but we live just enough out of the way that we do not get very good reception, so we end up using the regular phone for most calls when in the office/home. Do any of you use a house antenna or anything like that to help with reception?
I am getting ready to change cell phone company, are there any cell phones that are better then others out in the country?
As for the question, I too answer at all hours. I transfered to the cell phone while on vacation this year for the first time. The one customer did understand why I didn't have the price on the top of my head when I told her I was in Branson at the ripples museum!
I too have had the farm animals making noise while on the phone. A friend loves it when she calls and the kids and aniimals are making noises. It is entertainment for her! :-)
From: Upacreek [#16]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
In my previous Tech life, I had to manage the cell phones in addition to all the computer and servers. We had employees based all over the US and traveled all over the world and of course, cell phones had to work everywhere. One brand does not do it all.
The best thing you can do is find a local wireless store that sells & services more then one cellular brand. This will be hard to do as many places are forced to only sell Sprint or Verizon products in their store or else they cannot remain a factory authorized store.
We found our employees consistently had problems with Cingular/AT&T service all over the US. Sprint/Nextel was fairly rock-solid except for the D.C. area and a few areas along the East Coast and midwest. Verizon had better coverage on the East Coast and good coverage everywhere else. T-mobile had great coverage in populated areas and outperformed the other providers at a Las Vegas Convention, but if you strayed from major roads, you lost coverage.
You can get antenna's for your house to improve cell coverage. It's been 2 years since I researched them, but back then, you needed to have your cell phone plugged into that antenna cable.
Hope that helps.
Michel
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#17]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
I've been using T-Mobile for several years and have been very happy with it. But, my sister lives just off the beaten path on a farm in Ohio and she is just a couple of miles out of range of the mobile service she has and she complains of too many dropped calls.
I would check with delivery drivers and the mailman etc. to find out if their service is good around your farm and what kind they have.
From: John (JOHNRMONTG) [#18]
7 Aug 2006
To: PenMan [#13] 8 Aug 2006
From: UncleSteve [#19]
7 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#15] 8 Aug 2006
We have a phone line from Cablevision and it comes in over our cable connection. It is a flat rate per month and works great as long as there is electricity AND the cable bill is paid... LOL!
From: aallen [#20]
8 Aug 2006
To: Upacreek [#16] 8 Aug 2006
Michel,
Thanks, this helps me some. I think I need to look into an antenna and a phone to match. I would really like to change the phone services around some. I will check them out again and see what I can find.
Thanks
aleta
From: aallen [#21]
8 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#17] 8 Aug 2006
Mike,
You are right, I am with your sister, just a few miles off the track. I have tried Tmobile, that works sometimes and not others. I just had cingular, that worked pretty good, but they are kicking me off for using too many minutes off of their networks! Wish they had told me that in the beginning, as I would have told them I wasn't on their network area. I am sometimes, it depends on where I stand in my house!
I have checked a few people, it seems in our area, there isn't any one that covers it all. My husband works for the state KDOT, and there is many areas he has no service.
I guess we will have to find one that does most but not all. Until they decide we need coverage up here. :S
Thanks for the info,
aleta
From: aallen [#22]
8 Aug 2006
To: UncleSteve [#19] 8 Aug 2006
I would love to try the phone on the internet, but, internet is just as bad in our area as cell phones! :'-(
I would love to go with DSL or something else, as our landline internet is not very fast, infact, really slow! They say give them time and we will be able to get DSL. But not yet.
The sad thing with all this is , we are only 30 miles from Topeka! But I guess that is far enough!
I will keep looking into the phone on internet once internet is better.
Thanks,
aleta
From: Barbara (RGILE) [#23]
8 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#1] 8 Aug 2006
I am not a home base business, but I do use the cell phone as my main business line, for that reason alone. I have answered the phone, at home, in the car, while on vacation, in supermarkets, etc. I did this because I do not want to miss even one call. I am fairly new to the area, 1.5 year and am still building the business, and it's important to get all calls.
I am glad to hear another person going out of their way to accomodate customers. They are your livelihood and you need all of them.
When she called at 9:45 in the evening, I am sure she thought she would probably get a voice message, and would have left a message for you, this way, you got to speak to her right away, and got the job.
Good for you, and I hope she remain one of your best.
Barbara
From: Mike (MIKEN) [#24]
8 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#22] 8 Aug 2006
But if you look at the coverage maps for all the companies the plains states are not well covered.
From: aallen [#25]
8 Aug 2006
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#24] 8 Aug 2006
Mike,
Thanks, I will check them out. Yes, the plains are a hard area to cover.
Thanks,
aleta
From: Kathy (CWSPEC) [#26]
8 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#25] 8 Aug 2006
From: basehorawards [#27]
8 Aug 2006
To: aallen [#25] 8 Aug 2006
Aleta,
When I go to see my mom in Onaga I usually have pretty good coverage with Cingular everywhere along the way except around Holt and Mayeta. In our house on the farm south of Onaga we have to go the bay window or outside for good signal but the house is in a valley so that is not too hard to understand. I have always had good luck with Cingular and have been with them for as long as I have had a cell phone. I just recently took a group of Boy Scouts and dads up there to camp. Two of us had Cingular with the other four dads having one of three other providers. Cingular was the only one with a reliable signal.
From: aallen [#28]
8 Aug 2006
To: basehorawards [#27] 8 Aug 2006
Yes, don't you love that dead spot around mayetta! :S
I have cingular, it does most of the time have service. But, they informed us we have only a few more weeks or less, to get new coverage, as we use too many minutes not on their network. We didn't even know there were networks until they told us and now our phone reads off network or on cingular. I would have stayed with them, I even added another phone just 3 months ago!
Well, I think I will do some looking into other companies fast, but also this antenna for houses and maybe look into the satelite for internet and try a internet phone. Several things to check on. :S
You will have to stop by sometime on your way to Onaga!
Aleta