Many small businesses shut down for a week when the office goes on vacation. However, during this time, companies could be losing hundreds — perhaps thousands — of dollars in sales revenue. Thankfully, the latest innovations in voicemail allow businesses to continue to make money after hours or while on vacation through automated order taking.

Most businesses likely do not realize that their voicemail is not being used to its full potential, including during vacation periods. By signing up for voicemail service, businesses can customize their voicemail to perform a variety of functions, including taking orders. If the company sells one main product or service, the ordering function is quite simple. If the company sells a broad variety of products, then the customer may need to indicate the product number when placing their order.

Businesses can use various prompts to guide the caller through the ordering process. By creating pre-recorded messages, the business can ask the caller to indicate the product number, quantity desired, the person’s name, address, telephone number and payment information. It all is customizeable according to the company’s needs. Then, the recorded responses are sent to the company as one single file.

The voicemail arrives to the responsible individual’s email inbox, as voicemail to email is the prominent mode of delivery. When the staff member returns to the office, they can then process all of the orders received, or if they have another staff member who can process orders while they are away, the company’s voicemail control panel can be programmed to carbon copy the designated staff member on voicemail orders so that they can be fulfilled immediately.

In this manner, businesses don’t have to lose money because of the need to take a break. While some customers may be understanding and are willing to wait for a company to reopen after vacation, others might not be so patient. Regardless, having such a system in place whether on vacation or not may be helpful to a business all year round, so that orders can still be received when the doors are closed.

For more information on using automated ordering in voicemail, visit https://www.voicemailoffice.com