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Some Development Tips and Tricks at Ifbyphone

While Ifbyphone's hosted suite of voice applications serves many of our clients through out-of-the-box solutions, sometimes it's necessary to go a little bit further. The Ifbyphone API is fully capable of integrating with nearly any other system or database on the Web. For instance, using several different SurVo's and a couple of NetGets, you can easily have Ifbyphone "talk" to a database hosted on your external site. Here's how it would work:

Ifbyphone mentioned on PhoneBoy

The PhoneBoy Blog had a piece about Ifbyphone today. They highlighted the "smart" functionality of the Ifbyphone platform, which allows customers to route people based on specific needs they state when answering questions. Voice Broadcast was also mentioned as a savvy way to keep in touch with warm leads.

Read the blog article here.

Track Your Calls, From Keyword to Sale

Paying for quality Search Engine Optimization isn't cheap. Keywords cost money, pay-per-clicks are expensive, and making your way to the top of organic search results can take quite a bit of time. There's no disputing that these costs are worth it, because they give your business an online presence that is key in driving up sales and recognition. But once you've spent the bucks on SEO work, how do you know what's effective in actually bringing in more sales and revenue? You might know what keywords bring people to your site but do you know what keywords bring paying customers there?

Ifbyphone has recently introduced Keyword and Referral Domain Tracking to work in conjunction with our Smart Click-to-Call feature. Now, Ifbyphone's analytics will tell you what referral URL a web visitor came from before they entered in their number to call you via a click-to-call. If that URL was a page where they typed in keywords - a search engine like Yahoo! or Google - our analytics will track that keyword for you and tell you what it was and the telephone number, date, and time associated with it. The information is valuable because it lets you know where your best potential customers - the ones who want to speak with you - came from and how they found you.

The implementation process is simple; Ifbyphone will automatically generate the tracking code you need for you. More useful analytics are only a phone call away. Click here to speak to an Ifbyphone sales agent now.

10 Tips for IVR Success

Creating an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) can be as simple as recording a few prompts, telling a customer to press one or two, and routing the caller to an operator at the end of the call. But to create an effective, seamless, and confusion-free IVR that allows you to use a computer where a live person once was needed requires more thought and planning.

Buzz in the Big Apple

"Not only has the company made many of its stores feel like gathering places, but the bright lights and equally bright acoustics create a buzz that makes customers feel more like they are at an event than a retail store."

Bill Gates and the Desktop Telephone Revolution

In a video interview posted on TechRepublic, Bill Gates discusses some of the ways that the standard telephone sitting on your desk with too many buttons and a tiny screen will change in the coming years. Only one in three people know how to successfully transfer a phone call to someone else in their office, according to Gates, who says that the desk phone has hardly evolved at all in recent times.

Does Speech Technology Work?

Let's travel back in time for a moment, way, way back to the year 2005. The Internet was beginning to recover from the bubble burst a few years before and IVR technology with automated speech recognition, while commonly used by the customer service departments of large corporations, was still something people were skeptical about. Many consumers preferred human interaction when dealing with billing departments or service specialists.

Images and Text - What Grabs The Eye?

In a previous blog, we discussed the way placement, image, text, and branding are all vital to a successful Click-to-Call. Those are the basics that lead to more conversations with your customers. But let's talk specifics. What types of images really grab a Web surfer's attention? What text leads them to click a button or link and call?