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| Increasing the Telecom Department's Visibility Starts with Making a Good First Impression |
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Let's face it. With the busy schedules we all keep today, more and more of our calls are answered by voice mail. Often times this communications tool
is misused, which reflects poorly on us. In order
to create and maintain the right image for our departments, our organizations, and ourselves,
we must make the most of every opportunity
to communicate with our peers and our customers.
I hope you enjoy this month's article.
Robert J. Loeb, President & CEO
Vericom Corporation |
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| What Does Your Voice Mail Greeting Say About You?
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By Mike Mitchell
Manager of Telecommunications
DeKalb Regional Healthcare System, Atlanta, Georgia
Your voice mail greeting may seem like a small detail, but it is often the first impression a new contact receives of you and your organization. First impressions are lasting impressions. One of the goals we should have as Telecom Department heads is to elevate the visibility of our department internally and externally. Since proper use of the phone as a business tool is at the heart of what we do, we should all be leaders in this regard. Professional voice mail greetings will make a good impression on co-workers and the public alike.
It's always a challenge to provide just the right amount of information within a brief voice mail greeting. I've heard users cram so much information into their greetings that they lasted over 60 seconds. Speed of delivery is also important. One person spoke so fast that I could barely understand him. At the other end of the spectrum, I've heard routine greetings where the user spoke so slowly that it seemed to go on for an eternity. Achieving the right balance of several different elements will create an effective voice mail greeting.
The keys to a professional and informative greeting are to:
Select the right words by choosing what you would like to say beforehand
Use the right inflection
Give only relevant information
Speak in a cheerful and uplifting manner
When we are out of the office or on vacation a caller needs to know:
That we are out of the office, but not what we are doing
The date and time that we will return
When we will return caller's message
A contact for urgent requests (repeat an extension number twice if possible)
Another tip to consider is the type of call forwarding we use to route our extensions to voice mail. In my hospital we use three types of call forwarding depending on the situation:
When we are on another call
When we don't answer a call
When we want to forward all calls
When we are out of the office or just away from our desks, we should forward all calls to our voice mail.
What are the advantages of a professional voice mail greeting and appropriate call forwarding?
It shows that we are considerate of our callers
It reduces caller frustration
It provides useful information to our callers
It decreases the duration of a call, and therefore decreases the time a voice mail port is in use
How can we encourage our employees to use voice mail more effectively?
Set up a telephone/voice mail etiquette presentation at a "lunch and learn" session
Work with the Educational Department to incorporate telephone and voice mail procedures into new employee orientation
If your hospital has an Intranet, put this information on a Telecom Department web page
Start a monthly 'Communications Tips' email for employees,
or at least, for Managers and Directors
Although we can't force employees to use the right voice mail techniques, we can help them to see the benefits of these techniques to the callers and to themselves by setting the right example.
- Mike
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Mike Mitchell, has over 20 years management and leadership experience in the Telecommunications Industry. He is currently the Manager of the Telecommunications Department of DeKalb Regional Healthcare System in Atlanta, Georgia. He can be contacted at: mmitchell@telexcellence.com |
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| Telecommunications News You Can Use
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Enterprise VoIP: To adopt or not to adopt?
By Matthias Machowinski
There is no denying that IP voice is growing in public awareness. Although most enterprises still cling to their trusty circuit-switched voice networks, their grip is slackening, with IP PBXs now accounting for a majority of PBX sales and service providers shifting emphasis of their voice product portfolio onto the IP-based services. |
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Cisco: Paging Dr. Info Tech
Business Week
Back when he was an executive at insurer Blue Shield of California, Dr. Jeffrey A. Rideout marveled at how tech companies thought hospitals and doctors should use more information technology but didn't use their clout as buyers of health insurance to make it happen. Now the 43-year-old former Rhodes scholar is medical director of Cisco Systems Inc. And if he has his way, Silicon Valley is about to take a big step forward. |
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Event shows VoIP supremacy, but questions sizzle of IMS
By Glenn Bischoff
Much of the discussion at the 2005 VoIP: Telephony conference in June 6 focused on the IP multimedia subsystem architecture and its current and future role in the evolution of voice-over-IP technology. While some panelists disagreed on the potential of IMS, they were unanimous in their belief that VoIP eventually will dominate the telecom landscape in both the residential and enterprise markets.
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