Technology can be a wonderful thing, but be careful which technology you embrace for your business.  It isn't allways better than "the old way" of doing things.

In less than a decade, the notion of a dedicated telephone receptionist has disappeared from many businesses.  With inexpensive virtual switchboards  and the ability to route calls by "press 1 for sales, 2 for service" etc, it is possible to automate a lot of the inbound call traffic and have callers do a lot of the work for you.

However, clever as this may be, have you ever stopped to think what the net cost to your business may be?

I've got a little sign I keep handy that says, "There is no reality - only perception!",  meaning, it doesn't matter what the reality is, you form an opinion about someone or a business and that is the "truth" for you.  If you have a bad experience at an otherwise good company, then that is all you reflect on.

During the current economic recession, technologies that offer cost savings and increase efficiency at a time when companies need it most, are surviving the slump.

One technology in particular, an industry expert told TMCnet in an interview this week, is Voice over IP.

An answering service, unlike an automatic answering machine with recorded message, will provide your customers phone responses with a real voice when you are unavailable to answer the calls. The question that arises is - what are the specific advantages of answering service as against telephone answering machines? Is this option necessary and more effective than an answering machine or voice mail message?

With free market economy in place, running a business is indeed becoming a complex task. If your business has outgrown beyond certain limits, you will realize the imperative need to hire a phone answering service. One of the challenges for many business owners is to professionally handle all their incoming phone calls particularly when they are absent or when their business is not open.

Although working at home saves you commuting time and office rent, combining your home and office does present some special challenges.

Working at home can seem like the ideal situation - no commuting hassles, more time to spend with the family, the freedom to set your own work hours. However, combining your home and office environments presents many special challenges. If you want to make working at home work for you, you need to understand those challenges and meet them head on.