Equipment, Supplies and Services for Your Business 3

Should I get an 800 number?

Some small businesses find that having an 800 number for orders boosts sales, though others find they get few extra calls on their 800 line. Since it is possible to get 800 service for less than $7 a month with calls charged at 10 cents a minute or less, it may be worthwhile. BusinessKnowhow.com takes thousands of dollars worth of orders through an 800 number line and typically pays less than $40 a month for the calls on the line.

Should I get an answering machine?

You need some way for customers to leave you messages when there is no one in your office to take calls. The options available are:

• an answering machine
  
• an answering service
  
• voice mail

A conventional answering machine is the least expensive option. You can get a reliable digital answering machine in discount stores for under $50. While you can get machines with all sorts of bells and whistles, the useful features are a voice-activated message recording system (this makes the machine keep recording as long as the caller keeps talking) and beeperless remote call-in (which lets you call the machine from any touch-tone phone to retrieve messages or even change the message). Other features you may find useful are the ability to turn off the answering machine from an extension phone (handy when the answering machine is downstairs and someone picks up the upstairs extension), the ability to answer two lines, automatic time and date stamping, and the ability to choose your own call-retrieval code (the three-digit number you punch in to retrieve messages from a phone when you are away from the office).

Answering services that use live operators to take calls are preferred by some businesses—particularly those who must be notified of emergency situations. Some people who have used answering services complain, however, about messages being incomplete or that the operators don't get the right phone numbers or forget to give them the messages. Thus, if you plan to use an answering service with live operators it would be a good idea to ask other businesspeople in your community which service is the best to use.

Voice mail systems are offered by most telephone companies and Internet calling (VOIP) systems. These are useful as a backup to your own answering machine or in place of the answering machine because they work even when the phone is in use. So, the customer never gets a busy signal and always has a way to leave you a message even if you are talking on the telephone.

Voice mail systems from traditional telephone companies alert you to messages left by callers by playing a unique sound when you pick up the receiver to place a call. So, the only way you know there is voice mail is to pick up the telephone handset periodically and listen for that unique sound.
Internet based phone systems use the Internet not only to transmit voices during calls, but also to notify you of incoming calls. Some Internet phone services send you an email alerting you to the incoming call and the number from which the call was placed. Other services go further, sending you an email that includes a copy of the voice mail you can playback from your email program. Follow-me phone services, fax services, and call screening can all be part of some of the features offered by Internet-based voice mail services.

If you are interested in Internet based phone services and voice mail, check your local phone company and the local Internet cable provider for their rates and features. Look, too, at resources such as Webley (www.webley.com) that provide integrated messaging services over the Internet.

Is call waiting a good service to get?

Call waiting—which signals you that there is another call coming in and lets you put the first caller on hold while you see who the second caller is—may be convenient for you, but it can be annoying or even insulting to your customers. If you don't want to miss messages while you are on the telephone, consider using the telephone company's voice mail service, if available, instead of call waiting. The phone company's voice mail would pick up if your line is busy and allow callers to leave a message without disturbing the call in progress.
In addition, if you use a computer to receive or send data over telephone lines, the call-waiting signal interferes with and disconnects the computer call. If you do decide to get call waiting, find out if there are ways to temporarily disable it if you use your computer on your phone line. This feature is not available in all communities.

What about Caller ID?

Caller identification service is useful for screening calls. Depending on the telephone you purchase, you may also be able to use Caller ID to tell who called and hung up without leaving a message on your answering machine. Whether those features are worth the money or not depends on your viewpoint and way of doing business.

How do I choose a photocopier?

The best way to choose a copier is to make a list of all the ways you expect to use it. Consider not only your present needs but how you expect to use the copier in the next year or two. Here are some needs to consider:

• How many copies will you make at once?
  
• How many copies do you expect to make every month?
  
• How frequently will you need to copy multipage documents?
  
• How often will you need to collate multipage documents?
  
• What size are the originals, and will you often need to enlarge or reduce them?
  
• Will you want to photocopy both sides of a page on the front and back of a single sheet of paper?
  
• Are you going to be photocopying photographs?
  
• Will you need to photocopy on both legal- and letter-sized paper frequently?
  
• How much space do you have available for the photocopier?
  
• Will you need to photocopy on card stock? Overhead transparencies?
  Compare this list of needs to the photocopier equipment available at local discount stores, superstores or shopping clubs, and office equipment dealers, comparing features and prices of various units. Be sure to ask about the price of consumable supplies such as toner. The inexpensive personal photocopiers may cost significantly more per page to run than the more expensive office copiers. To get the best buy you will need to compare all your costs.
     

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