While cellular phone technology continues to evolve, landlines still serve a vital role. For instance, some medical alert systems require a landline for functionality. Plus, many landline home phone providers offer a satisfaction guarantee. That’s a great feature for consumers to compare when shopping. Also, some landline services offer bundled packages with other items like cable/satellite television and internet.
Call Waiting
Call waiting is one of the landline options and a feature available on many phones that allows you to accept a second incoming phone call while on an existing one. When this option is activated, you’ll hear two tones that indicate another caller is on the line. If you decide to answer the second call, your first conversation will be put on hold, and you can switch between calls by pressing and releasing the “switch hook” button or flash key. This call-handling feature helps businesses and busy professionals manage a large number of incoming calls without the need for multiple phone lines. At the same time, it ensures that every caller receives a prompt response instead of being left on hold or sent to voicemail.
Caller ID
Caller ID is a service that displays a caller’s name and phone number on your display device or telephone. Previously known as Caller Name ID, it allows you to screen calls before answering them or allowing them to go to voicemail. The caller information displayed by a landline phone is retrieved via data bursts between the first few rings of an incoming call. This information is provided by a CNAM database (Calling Name Access Module) maintained by various third-party services and carriers. The problem is that there needs to be a governing body to ensure that the most up-to-date name information is always available to all carriers. Fortunately, there is a way to avoid the problem altogether and get better quality conversations by switching to Branded Caller ID (BCID).
Call Forwarding
Call forwarding lets you redirect calls to your mobile phone, home line, other team members’ phones, or even to a virtual number if you have one of those. This means you can provide stellar customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, no matter where you are. You can set call forwarding to be unconditional, meaning that you never miss a call, or conditional, which only works if you’re busy on another call or unreachable. You can also set up your call forwarding to ring for a certain number of rings before being forwarded so that you get time to answer the phone. Lift the receiver and listen for a dial tone to activate call forwarding. Then, dial the number to which you wish calls to be forwarded. The original phone will ring for a few seconds before the call is forwarded, after which the chosen recipient will answer.
Voicemail
Voicemail allows callers to leave a recorded message if the person they are trying to reach is busy or unavailable. It can be played back later on a landline, mobile device, or computer. When a caller calls the mailbox, it answers the call with a pre-recorded greeting that informs the caller of how to leave a message. The system then plays a series of prompts and listens for touch-tone responses from the caller. The CPU selects prompts based on the keypad settings entered by the caller, allowing them to replay, skip, delete, forward, or save messages. The system informs the caller of their message limit and warns them that messages will be deleted once reached. Visual voicemail lets users view their phone messages in an email-like interface with information such as the date, time, caller ID, and duration of each message. This makes managing voicemails much more accessible, leading to increased productivity.
