6 Google Chrome Apps to Help Your Productivity

Google Chrome is one of those things that amazes people once they find out how much functionality it really has.

My favorite part about it is the apps. There are so many available in the web store and most are free. No matter what you need to do, most likely you can find an app that can help you with it. Today, I want to review six of the ones that will help most with your productivity during the day.

1. Hootsuite - This app allows you to control all of your social media in one simple dashboard. It also allows you to track traffic, schedule messages and monitor conversations using the app.

2. Awesome Screenshot - With this app you can grab a still from any page you are searching in your browser. It is easy to use and is more transferable than notes or copy & paste. (I used this app for the screenshots in this blog)

3. Large Document - This app allows you to share large documents over 10mb that would usually bounce back to you due to size. It is much simpler than any of the external sharing sites such as Dropbox or YouSendIt. It actually converts your file to a url so there is not login info required.

4. Stay Focused - If you are an Internet browsing addict this app is for you. It allows you to set times for certain websites so that you do not spend too much time browsing. You can put a cap on the sites you select so you can limit the amount of time you waste during the day.

5. Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer - This allows you to view any PDF or PowerPoint file by just clicking on the link. No need to download large files or launch any other applications to view them.

6. Google Calendar Checker - This apps shows a countdown until your next engagement on our calendar. It is easy to use and you can link any of your calendars together so that you are never late or miss a meeting.

GetMoreRings loves to hear your feedback feel free to leave any apps that you may know of in the comments.

Understanding Why You Need a Phone System for Your Office

GetMoreRings knows that communication is an essential key to the functioning of your business. If you want to add in the right alternatives to keep everyone in touch, then you can begin by adding in the right phone system. This makes a difference in your effectiveness of communication while providing you with different alternatives for the communication that is available. Today, technology has combined with communication to make sure you are able to easily keep in touch with others in the office as well as with customers that are calling about your products or services. 

The phone system that is available for companies allows you to have a variety of lines that are interconnected into a central area. There will be one system placed for the corporation. This combines with several extensions that are placed through the branches and offices while allowing each employee to connect to the central system. This gives every individual in the office a private line from a central system. The stations that are created allow private exchanges to take place between those working in the company and provide different numbers to those that are working within a company. 

Not only are numbers and private stations assigned to a central phone system. There are also programs that are added in for easier communication and to track the options that are used. For instance, you will be able to program in an option to control the calls that are coming in through the use of lighted line buttons or specialized rings. This will let you know where a call is coming from while connecting lines in alternative ways. The programming can interchange with simple connections to complex techniques that are used for different approaches to getting connected across branches, offices or between employees. 

The integrated options with a phone system also incorporate other features to assist all employees to stay in touch and to connect to others. There are additional voice mail and answering machine systems available for needed responses. It is also possible to set up caller ID, speed dialing and automatic call accounting. This will help to track and connect employees and customers easier while offering convenience with communication. If a more complex system is used, then there is also the possibility of adding in features such as remote supervision of the system. This can help to track communication while ensuring that the correct links are made with each station created.

Tying into communication at different levels with any business ensures a better working environment while meeting the needs of employees. If you want to integrate a simple and effective way of keeping in touch, then you can look at a phone system. Giving each employee a station and monitoring this through a central area with different ways to keep in touch instantly tightens the communication between individuals, offices and branches. The incorporation of specific features with this system ensures that you are able to find different ways to keep connected while allowing each individual to remain connected with simple and effective tools.

Let our parent company Datavo help you find the right option for your business.

10 More Motivational Quotes to Start Your Day

Here at GetMoreRings we know that running a business is hard work and you can sometimes start feeling scared and powerless. So we came up with another list of motivational quotes to help you through your day.

• I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them! – C.J. Walker

Richard Branson

• The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it. – Debbi Fields

• Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. – Richard Branson

• I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big. – Donald Trump

• Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates

• I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity. – Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey

• Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations. – Steve Jobs

• Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. – David Rockefeller

• The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth-persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. – John F. Kennedy

• In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential. It’s no different in the financial realm. – Suze Orman

For more motivational quotes check out our blog 20 Great Motivational Quotes to Start Your Day. Feel free to leave any of your favorite quotes in the comments.

How Click-to-Call Can Help Your Business

GetMoreRings Click-to-Call has proved to be beneficial for numerous business types such as, directories, automotive services, delivery services and transportation. Click-to-Call technology enhances your sites consumer conversion rates so much that  Forrester Research has reported a 143% average Return on Investment (ROI) with a payback period of 1.1 years once the service has been implemented.

It allows your staff to immediately have contact with a perspective client while also giving you reports that allow you to see how many calls were made to you, how many were answered and of those answered how many resulted in a completed sale.

Where you place your button on your site is also a big deal. You want to strategically place the button where it can be easily accessible  Some companies have opted to have multiple buttons so that their customers have an option to call from any page they are searching at the time.

Utilizing Click-to-Call on your mobile website is also very important. With it you will be able to bridge the gap between your business and consumers with the click of a button. When the Click-to-Call button is used it connects the customer directly to your preset number without the need to flip back and forth from your webpage to their dial pad.

5 Tasks for Business Owners to Do Before Going on Vacation

When you think about going on vacation, for most it means relaxing and sightseeing. For most small business owners it can mean stressing that things are being done instead of having fun or taking their laptop and working while lounging on the beach or by the pool. There are some small business owners that don't go on vacation at all.

GetMoreRings knows that stress can cause a vacation to be ruined so we came up with a short list of items you should take care of before you leave so that you can have a relaxing and refreshing time.

• Make a list of your tasks. At least a two weeks prior to your vacation go through all of your responsibilities. Determine which tasks must be delegated and which can await your return. Do things such as paying bills or invoicing customers early so that you are not worried while you are away. Make sure to update your list the day before you leave and mark off all completed tasks. 

• Make a schedule for checking in. To stop yourself from working all day and your staff from calling you with issues every second, set up specific times you are available and which circumstances you need to be contacted for. It may also help to only give one of your staff members your contact number and make them the designated point person while you are out.

• Be specific and clear with your employees. Keep your employees in the loop. Have a meeting with them at least a week prior to your departure and let them know what you expect from them while you are gone. Go over any projects or assignments and assign who will be in charge of your responsibilities while you are gone. The day before you leave have another short meeting reviewing everything and confirm that your staff has everything it needs. 

• Use your phone system's features. Most phone systems have features that allow you to optimize your customer service. Make sure you set your voicemail greeting to out of the office and set up any forwarding features so that your calls can route to you properly. 

• Let your customers know you are leaving and who they can contact. Start letting your customers know that you will be going out of town a few weeks prior to your departure date. Set up an automated email response for any received emails that lets people know you're out of the office, what day you will return and who they can contact in the interim.

Now that you have all of that taken care of try to enjoy your vacation. Have faith that your employees will take care of everything and keep you in the loop if anything arises that needs your immediate attention.  Taking a vacation should leave you refreshed and revitalized, making you more productive in the long run. 

GetMoreRings Favorite Quotes on the Telephone

Take a look at GetMoreRings favorite quotes on the telephone.

• "Grand telegraphic discovery today ... Transmitted vocal sounds for the first time ... With some further modification I hope we may be enabled to distinguish ... the 'timbre' of the sound. Should this be so, conversation viva voce by telegraph will be a fait accompli." ~ Alexander Graham Bell

• 'Watson, ... if I can get a mechanism which will make a current of electricity vary in its intensity, as the air varies in density when a sound is passing through it, I can telegraph any sound, even the sound of speech.' ~ Alexander Graham Bell

• I have read somewhere that the resistance offered by a wire ... is affected by the tension of the wire. If this is so, a continuous current of electricity passed through a vibrating wire should meet with a varying resistance, and hence a pulsatory action should be induced in the current ... [corresponding] in amplitude, as well as in rate of movement, to the vibrations of the string ... [Thus] the timbre of a sound [a quality essential to intelligible speech] could be transmitted ... [and] the strength of the current can be increased ad libitum without destroying the relative intensities of the vibrations. ~ Alexander Graham Bell

• I then shouted into M [the mouthpiece] the following sentence: 'Mr. Watson-—Come here—I want to see you.' To my delight he came and declared that he had heard and understood what I said. I asked him to repeat the words. He answered 'You said—'Mr. Watson—-come here—I want to see you.' We then changed places and I listened at S [the reed receiver] while Mr. Watson read a few passages from a book into the mouth piece M. It was certainly the case that articulate sounds proceeded from S. The effect was loud but indistinct and muffled. If I had read beforehand the passage given by Mr. Watson I should have recognized every word. As it was I could not make out the sense—but an occasional word here and there was quite distinct. I made out 'to' and 'out' and 'further'; and finally the sentence 'Mr. Bell do you understand what I say? Do—you—un—der—stand—what—I—say' came quite clearly and intelligibly. No sound was audible when the armature S was removed. ~ Alexander Graham Bell

• As to Bell's talking telegraph, it only creates interest in scientific circles, and, as a toy it is beautiful; but ... its commercial value will be limited. ~ Elisha Gray

• TELESCOPE, n. A device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Luckily it is unprovided with a bell summoning us to the sacrifice. ~ Ambrose Bierce

• TELEPHONE, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. ~ Ambrose Bierce

• Every improvement that is put upon the real estate is the result of an idea in somebody's head. The skyscraper is another idea; the railroad is another; the telephone and all those things are merely symbols which represent ideas. An andiron, a wash-tub, is the result of an idea that did not exist before. ~ Mark Twain

• If you had come to me a hundred years ago, do you think I should have dreamed of the telephone? Why, even now I cannot understand it! I use it every day, I transact half my correspondence by means of it, but I don’t understand it. Thnk of that little stretched disk of iron at the end of a wire repeating in your ear not only sounds, but words—not only words, but all the most delicate and elusive inflections and nuances of tone which separate one human voice from another! Is not that something of a miracle? ~  Sir William Crookes

10 Tips for Organizing Your Workspace

Is your desk or office cluttered? Do you have a hard time finding things when you need them? Here at GetMoreRings, we know how important it is to keep your work space organized so that you can maximize your efficiency and become a more productive employee. 

Organizing your office does not have to be a daunting task, it can be done efficiently and in little time. Once your space is organized it can be maintained with minimal upkeep. To get started, just follow these simple tips. 

1. De-clutter. Go through everything in your office and get rid of anything that you do not use. This goes for equipment, furniture, supplies, files, decorations, etc. 

2. Put everything in its place. Go around your office and collect things that are out of place and put them where they go.

3. Keep things you need close. Make sure that things you use frequently are easily accessible and within arms reach. Things that you use less can be put away or in storage.

4. Clear & organize your desk. Remove everything from your desk, only keep items that you must use everyday. Use desktop organizers such as paper trays and paper clip holders to keep things in place.

5. Organize your drawers. Keep like items together. Sticky pads with notepads, stamps with envelopes, etc. Make a separate drawer for your own personal items. 

6. Seperate your inboxes. If you work directly with many people, create a tray, folder or inbox for each.

7. Don't accumulate piles. Once you are fully organized you will hopefully stop having piles of paper sitting around. Go through your existing ones and either file them away or toss them.

8. Read, Sort, Shread. Read all mail the same day it is received; decide whether you will need to act on it, file it, delegate or shread it.

9. Clean your desk. Before you leave each day, do quick clean up of you desk. Put everything back in its place so that you have a clean start each and every day. 

10. File at least once a week. When you let your filing pile up it can become daunting. By setting a specific  time aside each week, it will ensure you stay on top of it. 

Feel free to leave any tips in the comments you think we may have left out. 

Top 10 Tips for Great Customer Service

Your Customer Service department is the front line of your company. They are the image that your customers see and hear. GetMoreRings put together a list of 10 tips that every customer service department can use to be better and keep their customers loyal.

1. Smile and Posture. Always make sure to sit up and smile when taking any calls.

2. Stay Confident. The person that is the most certainty leads the conversation. Make sure you give off the feeling that everything will be okay and you are in control.

3. Be Authentic. If you have a script that you read, make sure to not sound like you are reading. Make sure you are listening and responding properly.

4. Listen and Repeat. Make sure to confirm what the customer has told you so that you are sure you clearly understand their needs. This will also make the customer more confident in your ability to handle their problem.

5. Be Gracious. Always thank your customers for calling, especially if they have a complaint. You may be able to fix the problem and gain their loyalty.

6. Stay Honest. If you do not know something, don't lie. Tell them you are not sure but you will be following up on it and will have an answer for them shortly. Make sure to follow through and provide them with the answer.

7. Train Properly. Make sure all of your employees that have customer interactions have basic communication skills.

8. Put in Extra Effort. Customers will appreciate and be loyal to you if they feel you have gone above and beyond what the expected.

9. Own the Call. When it is possible try not to transfer the customer to anyone else, people don't like having to repeat what they have just went over with you.

10. Apologize, Fix It and Move On. Make sure to always apologize when something goes wrong then fix it. Customers tend to remain loyal and be forgiving when you are able to fix their problems quickly.

Feel free to leave any tips in the comments that we may have left out.