Category: Web/Tech

Do I Need to Change My Phone Number to Use Ruby’s Virtual Receptionist Service?

By | 06.28.2011 |
Tommy Tutone's famous ode to phone numbers

Perhaps the most famous phone number of all (Photo by Frank Denardo)

Phone numbers: have to have them, hard to change them. And when it comes to business phone numbers, the same rings especially true.

We at Ruby® understand that the business phone number is often synonymous with the business itself. That’s why we make it easy to have our virtual receptionists answer your phones without ever having to change your phone number.

Forward your existing phone number to Ruby. We provide every client with a toll-free number to which you can forward your published phone number. Call forwarding is surprisingly flexible, and depending on your preferences and in-house staffing, you may have our friendly virtual receptionists answer all the time or on a back-up basis.

Publish your Ruby toll-free number. Do you have a brand new business and don’t yet have a phone number? There are lots of great inexpensive options out there, but you’re always free to publish the toll-free number we assign you. At the end of service, you can simply take it with you!

Port your existing toll-free number to Ruby. If you already have a toll-free number, you may want to have Ruby take over financial responsibility. We’ll absorb the monthly and long-distance charges while you use us, and we’ll release it back to you at the end of service. This is completely optional; remember, you can always just forward it to us!

Have additional questions about which option is best for you? Feel free to post your query in the comment section below, or simply give us a call at 866-611-RUBY (866-611-7829)!

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3 Ways Clients Are Using Ruby’s Virtual Receptionist Service

By | 06.16.2011 |
Virtual Receptionists Lauren A. and Mercedes S.

Receptionists Lauren A. & Mercedes S.

Our team of virtual receptionists answers phones for a variety of businesses every day, from companies with full-time receptionists to solo entrepreneurs. Though all of our clients are welcome to publish their Ruby® toll-free number as their own, many simply forward their existing number to us. And depending on their needs, they may do so differently. There are several ways to forward to Ruby, and each has its benefits:

All the time. Our bright team of virtual receptionists are the primary phone answerers for many businesses. Since we sound like we’re right in your office (even if you don’t have one!), Ruby provides a cheerful, unifying voice for your company.

When you decide. Many businesses like the flexibility of choosing when to forward to Ruby and when to unforward their lines. Perhaps you have a part-time employee who’s able to answer phones when they’re in the office. Or maybe you like answering calls yourself when you can, but you’d like us to answer when you have to step into a meeting. Ruby’s virtual receptionists happily answer your calls when it’s convenient for you – whether that’s a couple days a week or a few hours a day!

On a delayed basis. Still other Ruby clients have phone calls ring in their office a few times before rolling over to our team of virtual receptionists. Recognize an important caller ID? Feel free to grab it! Is someone at the door? Take your time greeting, seating, and treating your guest, with the peace of mind that Ruby will answer any calls with care. This is also a fabulous option if your in-house staff needs additional help with overflow!

Which method works best for your company? Share your experience in the comments below!

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Tech Tool: Ruby’s Virtual Receptionists Love ViewletBuilder

By | 06.07.2011 |

The launch of Ruby®‘s new platform not only means enhanced call handling and Member Services features — it also means new training tutorials for our virtual receptionist team, and we’re crazy about ViewletBuilder by Qarbon, a super-cool software that makes creating tutorials a snap. We’ve been using this software for years to make telephone answering training for our remote receptionists and so much more, and we couldn’t be happier about this amazing tool!

ViewletBuilder captures the actions on your computer screen and converts them to Flash tutorials, so creating an animated demonstration is incredibly easy. The software is also great for creating quizzes and photo slideshows, and PowerPoint presentations can be turned into Flash movies with the click of a button. ViewletBuilder makes it simple for anyone to create professional presentations that are sure to impress!

Ruby Grammar Quiz
Sample Viewlet tutorial: A Ruby Grammar Quiz!

Sample slide from ViewletBuilder

Sample slide from ViewletBuilder

Learning to use ViewletBuilder is a piece of cake, thanks to Qarbon’s many online training tutorials. This software has been an indispensable tool to me in my position as Training Writer at Ruby, and I’m thrilled to say that Qarbon’s tech support team is impeccable and friendly, always responding quickly to my help requests. I can’t say enough about ViewletBuilder and its impact on our virtual receptionist training program.  But don’t take my word for it  — check out this impressive gallery of Viewlets to see how various companies are using this fantastic software!

Do you have any training tools that you can’t live without? Tell us about ‘em by commenting below!

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View Your Messages Right in Ruby’s Member Services Area!

By | 05.11.2011 |

Did you know that you can look up messages our virtual receptionists have taken for you, right in Ruby® Receptionists’ Member Services Area? And with our newly mobile-friendly redesign, it’s gotten even easier to sort and search for messages on the go!

Though every message is immediately sent to you via email and/or text, it’s nice to have a backlog in one convenient spot. If you ever delete a message too soon, or if you need to find one from a few months ago, simply log into Member Services – we’ve got you covered!

As we previously mentioned, when you’re looking at your incoming calls, you’ll now be able to see at a glance whether the receptionist took a message during the call. If so, you’ll see a clickable “i” icon which directs you to the associated message.

You can also look at a handy list of your messages by clicking on “Messages” on your Member Services homepage. Sort them by Company or Timeframe by using filters on the homepage, or use the search bar at the top. For example:

We started typing in “Smith, Dave” in the search bar, and this message came up. Feel free to use whatever format you’d like; the search feature operates much like Google’s Instant Search, scanning the entire message and updating the search results with every additional letter.

Innovation and Fostering Happiness are two of our Core Values here at Ruby, so we’re thrilled to be able to offer these handy features and make our clients’ lives that much easier. Stay tuned for more info on another neat addition to the Ruby Member Services Area: the ability to set email notifications! You can now sign up for informational emails on every call (or type of call), regardless of whether the receptionist took a message. We’ll be going over the specifics — and benefits! — soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

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Even More Ways to View Your Call History in Ruby’s Member Services Area

By | 05.09.2011 |

We’ve told you a little bit about the slick new look of your call history in Ruby® Receptionists’ Member Services Area. In its handy “List” form, you can quickly review each phone call that our virtual receptionist team answered for your company, complete with running totals of the minutes involved. However, if you’d like to play around with the data even more, then the “Grid” view is for you!

By clicking the hyperlink at the top of your “Call List” your data switches into a spreadsheet view:

The “Call Grid” report is basically a beefed up version of Member Services’ old look. Each column now has a search bar at the top, for easy sorting, and it can all be copied and pasted into an Excel spreadsheet for further manipulation.

The Member Services Area is a great place to find all sorts of call data, and these two flexible views are a surefire way to find what you need!

Which view do you prefer? We’d love to hear how you’re using it!

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Easily Track Your Virtual Receptionist Minutes and More with Ruby’s Convenient Member Services Area!

By | 05.05.2011 |

We’ve recently made some really neat changes to Ruby® Receptionists’ Member Services Area, and it’s now even easier to search your call history! Simply log in on the lower right-hand corner of callruby.com. We’ve streamlined the layout so that you can quickly find records of each call as well as track your usage at a glance!

In fact, there’s now a running total of how many virtual receptionist minutes you’ve used this month right on the homepage!

Virtual Receptionists Minutes Used, Month to Date

Easily sort your results by applying filters like “Company” (if we answer phones for more than one of your companies) and “Time Frame.” These filters will stay applied whether you’re looking at Messages, Calls, or your Assist reports. Once you’ve selected your filter, you can click on “Calls” and view details about each call that came in for the specified time period or company. There’s even a minute total and search bar at the top! 

Virtual Receptionist Call History

For easy reference, we’ve also linked messages to calls. If you see a little “i” icon, there is a message associated with the call. Simply click on the call and click “Linked Message” to read all about it!

Another handy feature: the ability to download contact info! Clicking on “Download Contact” will save the caller’s name and number into your Outlook or cell phone’s contacts. This is especially convenient when you’d like to save contact info collected by one of our virtual receptionists in a message.

Do you miss the “grid” of the old version? We’ll take a look at how you can see the same info in an updated grid view in our next post!

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Update Your Whereabouts on Ruby’s Newly Mobile-Friendly Member Services Area!

By | 05.03.2011 |

Ruby® Receptionists’ Member Services Area just got a whole lot cooler — and way more convenient for all you Blackberry and Droid users! We’ve made the site completely mobile-friendly, and now it’s easy as pie to update our virtual receptionist team as to your whereabouts, straight from the Member Services homepage! Simply go to http://www.callruby.com/ and click on “Member Login” (in the upper right-hand corner). You may have noticed the new option for “Whereabouts” on your snazzy new Member Services homepage:

Ruby's Member Services Area

Whereabouts are a great way to relay temporary instructions to Ruby’s expert team of virtual receptionists. Would you like your calls held? Are you on your cell for the rest of the day? A quick update on the Member Services page (or in the Ruby iPhone app), and you’re good to go!

Convenient drop down menus offer options for how you’d like us to route calls as well as timeframe suggestions. If you have a specific date and time in mind, the ”Other” option lets you customize the timeframe:

Feel free to update our virtual receptionists as often as you like! You’ll always receive a confirmation email back from us, just as when you relayed your status in an email or over the phone (which still get the job done, too!). Whereabouts are just one way our friendly virtual receptionists are able to sound like they’re right in your office — and with the redesigned, mobile-friendly Member Services Area it’s even easier to keep us in the loop! Happy Whereabouts-ing!

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Messages from Ruby’s Virtual Receptionists Are Now Even Better!

By | 05.02.2011 |

Today marks the first full day that our live virtual receptionist service is operating on our customized new platform! You’ve heard that our clients now hear a beep when one of our virtual receptionists cheerfully transfers a call live, and one other difference clients may notice right off the bat: additional info in messages!

You’ll still receive all the same detailed information from our virtual receptionists, but now our system automatically appends the caller ID name and number to every message! When a caller leaves a voicemail or declines to leave a message, or in the rare event that they decline to state their name or provide their phone number, their caller ID contact info is conveniently included with your Ruby notification. Here’s an example of what your sleek new messages will look like from now on:

Example Virtual Receptionist Message, with Caller ID

Another neat feature included in messages is the handy time stamp – now in your local time zone! Let’s take a gander at the time stamp in the sample message:

Example Virtual Receptionist Message, with Time Stamp

Our virtual receptionist sent the message at 2:23pm Pacific, but since Dave’s T.V. Repair is on the East Coast, the message automatically converted it to 5:23pm — local time in the Big Apple!

We hope this supplemental information in messages will make our clients’ days even easier!

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The Ruby iPhone App Gets a Makeover May 1st!

By | 04.28.2011 |

Ruby Receptionists

Our clients love the convenient Ruby® iPhone app where they can quickly update their whereabouts or check their call history, but soon it will be even more helpful. As you know, Ruby is launching a customized new platform on May 1st that will include added features to enhance our exceptional virtual receptionist service. In addition to supplemental information in messages and an expanded and newly mobile-friendly Member Services Area (perfect for our Droid and Blackberry users!), we’re also updating our handy iPhone app.

The new and improved app will include push notifications and the ability to add contact info to your iPhone Contacts straight from Ruby messages. To take advantage of these new features, please update your app on or after May 1st. Also, be sure to store 503-445-6900 as Ruby Receptionists in your phone as a contact so that you continue to receive our caller ID after May 1st. While you’re at it, feel free to use the picture above as our photo!

Stay tuned in the coming week for screenshots and more details on how to use the spiffy new iPhone app to its fullest!

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Hats Off to Heather Q and Taylor, Our New Phone System Experts!

By | 04.13.2011 |

Rubys Heather Q and Taylor

Rubys Heather Q (seen modeling her new Arth hat) and Taylor

In preparation for our virtual receptionists’ big switch to the new Ruby platform, we sent our trusty Programmer Heather Q Brackett and Taylor Ramsauer in our IT department down to Irvine, CA for a week-long training at Interactive Intelligence‘s office. While they were there, they soaked up all there is to know about the new phone system and became our resident experts for the transition in the next couple of months.  

While we’ll be sharing more details about the new system launch in the coming weeks, we thought we’d share a cultural highlight from their week away. Taking a break from supersonic, telephonic studying, and being the gregarious Rubys that they are, they happened upon a local charity sample sale put on by Arth and were lucky enough to be included in the event wrap-up on their blog. 100% of the profits from Arth’s designer hat sale went to Japan through the American Red Cross, and they raised almost $1,500 total for the cause!  

If you’d like to donate to disaster relief in Japan and support this incredibly important cause, please visit the American Red Cross.

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