September 2018 | Indy Developers Network

Indy Business: Why So Affordable?

New business customers sometimes ask us how we can offer our phone service for Indianapolis so much cheaper than the big internet companies. We don’t always know how to answer that question because we’re not one of those big companies. Still, we’d like to try breaking down how we can offer so many services for so little money even as our competitors have to charge more.

Providing phone service isn’t that costly.

Phone service using traditional phone lines can be expensive to provide, but modern VoIP phone service is relatively inexpensive. We’ve actually been able to lower our prices as we’ve grown because internet and cloud services become cheaper and more reliable year after year. So why don’t the big phone and cable companies do the same?

The phone companies at least are trying to pivot to VoIP, and that may allow them to save money; but cable companies have been offering VoIP all along. We think they charge so much because they have to. Either they have to charge to make up for administrative costs, or they have to charge a lot to accommodate their shareholders. Either way, the customer ends up paying more.

Customer turnover is expensive.

Because the phone and cable companies raise their prices and fees regularly, they have a lot of customer turnover. Closing accounts, convincing new customers, and opening new accounts costs a lot of time and therefore money. Perhaps that’s a more lucrative way to do business in the long run, but it sounds exhausting to us and it certainly angers customers.

Instead, we’ve opted to charge a consistent monthly price for a good service. As a result, we’ve seen our customers stick with us for years and years. That allows us to spend less time on customer turnover, and more time improving our phone service for existing customers.

What to do about it?

If you think you might be paying too much, feel free to contact us or call us anytime. Worst case scenario, you get another quote and find out if you’re paying too much. Thanks for reading our thoughts and have a great day!

Indy Business: Business Phone Numbers

Ever wondered how Indianapolis businesses get those great, easy-to-remember numbers? They always have fun ones like the following:

(317) IDIOT-AXE
(317) JAR-LIST
(317) OLD-KNIFE

Numbers that spell things are great. It’s almost always easier to remember a couple words as opposed to a string of numbers. But maybe you’re just looking for a number. It doesn’t have to spell anything, but it should be simple to hear, recall, and repeat later. Numbers like these:

(317) 399-1717
(317) 436-4344
(317) 720-2550

For business that go with the big phone and cable companies, the bad news is that their options will be more limited. The big national companies don’t often take the time to find a number that suits you and your business. But for people who want a new, custom business phone number, there are a ton of great numbers out there. In fact all of the numbers listed above are available as of this posting.

Numbers in the 317 area code aren’t the only ones available either. There are phone numbers for all over Indiana and the country, as well as for cities in and around Indianapolis like Speedway, Zionsville, Carmel, Greenwood, Plainfield, or Avon.

And the best news is that a good, memorable number doesn’t cost extra. There aren’t even additional fees for toll-free numbers when you go with something like our business phone service Indianapolis. The number you want is the number you get. Plus if you’re ever unhappy with your service, you can take your number with you to another provider.

There are companies out there who will charge an arm and a leg for a custom phone number, but we recommend avoiding any corporation that just wants to make a quick buck. Look for a phone service provider who has a track record of reliability and excellent customer service. Those are the people you want to entrust your business number to.

Thanks for checking out our post! If you’re interested in learning more about what numbers we can offer, please feel free to contact us or call us anytime.

Indy Business: Great Customer Service

What’s the secret to great customer service? At Indy Developers Network, we’ve spent over 10 years finding out what our customers like and don’t like when they have a problem they need addressed. And since the big phone service companies in Indianapolis have so much trouble providing decent customer service, we figured we would dedicate a post to what we do well on our side.

First is accountability. When our customers call, they don’t have to sit through menus or search for the person they talked to last time. For example, each Indianapolis phone service customer has a dedicated billing and support person that they can contact via email, text, or by phone. On the rare occasion that they have to leave a voicemail, their call is returned promptly and usually with their problem already solved. None of our customers are ever shuffled or transferred between departments. There’s only one department. Customer Service.

Second is reliability. Because you’re talking to the same person who helped you before, problems are solved quickly and fully. Your situation is already known to us, which means you only need to explain the current problem, not the entire history leading up to it. Of course, we do our best to ensure problems are rare for all our customers; but it’s nice to know that when a problem inevitably arises, someone you trust is there to take care of it.

Finally, customer service is about equality. We have family and friends who are customers, and we treat everyone the same as we would treat them. It doesn’t matter if you’re our biggest business phone service customer or someone with a small business fax line, we’re going to make sure our service works for you now and for years to come.

We hope this post has shown how we think about customer service and why ours is better than the big cable and phone companies. If you get tired of dealing with the other guys, we hope you’ll give us a call to see how we compare. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Indy Business: Offices Gone Paperless

One of the biggest changes that businesses and offices want to make in 2018 is to go paperless. Or at the very least, they would like to reduce the amount of paper documents they currently create and receive. There are many gadgets and services out there that aid in this process, such as document scanners, shared folders, and even cloud document management services.

What might surprise you, however, is how many businesses believe that they still need a dedicated fax machine. The days of needing a dedicated machine, a costly landline, and all the paper waste that goes with them are all but over. There are many solutions now that cut out the antiquated fax machine entirely, like our secure virtual faxing service (vFax).

Instead of having a standalone machine, vFax services allow you to receive and send faxes from anywhere. You can send an email and have a client or business partner receive it as a fax. And when someone faxes you, you receive it right in your email, already scanned and ready. But the best part is that other people don’t have to make any changes if they are stuck with a clunky fax machine. You get all the benefits of an email to fax service, and they can carry on with business as usual.

Of course, virtual faxing is most effective when paired with other services like Dropbox, OneDrive, or even our business phone service. No one thing will get you to being completely paperless. If you’ll excuse a bad joke, it’s going to be a death of a thousand cuts.

The next time you’re looking into reducing your paper usage or eliminating the costs that go along with it, feel free to give us a call or contact us to learn more.

Thanks and have a great day!

icon-dollarIndy Business: Why So Affordable?

icon-list-ol Indy Business: Business Phone Numbers

icon-user Indy Business: Great Customer Service

icon-file-text Indy Business: Offices Gone Paperless

Indy Business: Why So Affordable?

Indy Business: Business Phone Numbers

Indy Business: Great Customer Service

Indy Business: Offices Gone Paperless