Top 6 Features to Stay Connected When Out of the Office

The northeastern United States is preparing for yet another major storm, and we wanted to remind customers about some quick and easy things they can do to prepare their small business telephone service for maximum uptime.

As you may recall from our post during Hurricane Sandy, there are a number of features and options you can modify to keep your phone system up and running - even if your Internet goes down.

We used these settings to keep our entire office operational during the Atlanta snow and ice storm of 2011, and our customers have used these included features to keep their offices running during storms, illness or travel. Whatever's keeping you away from the office, we have a way to keep you connected.

Top 6 Features to Stay Connected When Out of the Office for an Emergency

Plug and Play Phones: It's easy to take your phones home with you. Just unplug your phone from your desk and plug it back in to an Internet jack and power source at home.

Call Continuity: What if your Internet is down? In this case, VoIP calls won't work but you can configure your system to forward all business calls to your cell phone. Just remember, you must set up Call Continuity from your Admin Portal for it to work - be sure to do this while you still have power and access to the Internet.

Vocalocity Mobile: Current customers can download the free Vocalocity Mobile app from iTunes or the App Store for iPhone and Android. It acts as a softphone, enabling you to make outbound calls that look like they're coming from your deskphone so you can maintain an office appearance. You can also access Never Miss a Call Settings, view your entire employee directory, access voicemails and record custom Out of Office messages.

Virtual Receptionist Greetings: You can change your Virtual Receptionist greetings from the Admin Portal to notify callers of office closures, delays or any other important news. Just log in to the Admin Portal and follow the directions on how to record or upload a greeting from our Support page.

Never Miss a Call: If you're at the hardware store buying salt to keep your office stairs and walkway safe, but don't want to miss an important sales call, consider enabling the Never Miss a Call settings. You can configure your desk phone to forward calls to your cell phone, designate a simultaneous ring, and customize a Find Me / Follow me setting to ring several phones.

E911: Link your physical phone to an address so that emergency responders can better find you in the event of an emergency. Learn how to set up E911 with our Support article.

Other Reminders:

• Our Support Portal is your 24/7 resource for help articles about system settings or configurations
• If you have a question, our Support team is ready to help you at 1-866-901-0242
• Follow us on Twitter for service updates, and remember that status.vonagebusiness.com is updated with major system news
• It's always a good idea to have a phone list of employees' personal cell phone numbers and emails so you can communicate office closures or late openings
• Make your Admin Portal changes while you still have Internet access, in case you lose power
• While you CAN access the Admin Portal and User Portal from your smartphone or tablet, conserve battery power in case you need to use your cell phone for emergencies