Presence and phone status for a better calling experience

Today including user presence as an integrated feature in tech solutions for real-time communication is vital for achieving a complete and interactive experience.

Knowing your colleagues’ phone and presence status means knowing their availability to handle calls and answer customer queries in real time. Using such a feature streamlines internal and external communications and supports better collaboration.

You can stop guessing whether to contact your co-workers at the moment as you see their actual presence status right before your eyes. That whole information is conveniently available on a single dashboard. Having a real-time update of users’ availability means connecting calling customers fast and seamlessly to the right person.

Read on to learn more about real-time presence status options and how your company can benefit from their use.

What is user presence?

User presence is the unified term that includes your co-workers’ phone and location status at any given moment. It is an advanced feature that represents the online or offline status of the employee. It plays a key role if you build an application or program to enhance the real-time virtual experience of users. It also is account and device-neutral as it can be connected to the various profiles of users and implemented on desktop and mobile devices.

What is phone presence?

Phone presence is the status indicator showing another employee’s real-time availability. It displays at a glance the phone extension status, which can be: 

• online available
• busy – on a call, DND (Do-not-Disturb)
• offline 

The Phone status feature was set up on some desk phones when legacy phone systems dominated as a business communication solution. Such an option was configured, especially for administrative assistants or office receptionists who needed to view the phone status of different extensions before they transfer inbound calls.

The advanced business phone systems today, which rely on VoIP technology, extend the phone status beyond office desk phones, making it an available feature for any mobile device – laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Thus you have a clear view of the current phone status of your colleagues, even if they work from another location.

Enhance your collaboration and communication with our cloud phone system with integrated phone presence status!

What is a location or presence status?

Location status is part of the users’ real-time status showing whether your co-worker is at his desk, in the office – having a coffee or lunch break, or is away. With the help of such features, real-time technology gives users a real interactive experience. At any time during the workday, you know if your co-workers are online or offline and whether they are available to communicate.

By integrating online data like real-time status in your phone system app to provide relevant presence information (like who is available or not), team members can feel more engaged and connected, which helps improve their overall efficiency and communications.

Phone status – the use, the benefits, and how it works?

As mentioned, phone or presence status is a key feature for any business phone solution requiring real-time communications. Being able to see the phone status of the person you are trying to reach can help you save time and frustration. It ensures you make the best use of your time during your workday.

In times when companies adopt different HR management strategies and work models, real-time connectivity grants users the instant feel of an in-person experience. Thanks to functionalities like phone status incorporated in your cloud phone system, team members enjoy the authentic virtual experience regardless of location.

The main advantages of phone and presence status for communications

Saves time
You know at a glance if the person you are trying to contact is available or not. It applies to both in-office and remote colleagues.

Minimizes work interruptions
If the person you want to contact is busy on the phone or in a meeting, you can transfer the call to the next available agent or send it directly to his business voicemail.

Increases customer satisfaction
Call wait time can be optimized, which is often the deal-breaker for excellent customer experience. You can immediately inform the caller awaiting whether to expect a callback or be redirected to the next agent in line.

Improves employees productivity
The phone presence feature allows you to save clients valuable time. The same applies to the precious time of your employees. Phone status gives them immediate insights into who in your contact center is available to take the call. There is no need to use email, phone tags, or other time-wasting activities. For remote employees, the phone availability app speeds up their communications. It helps them feel more connected and engaged even if they do not share the same office space.

Optimizes call management
With phone presence status, you have at a glance the display of all available agents from your customer support. So if you want, you can seamlessly delegate, redirect, or route the incoming call to the right co-worker. If the presence status is busy, the caller can be offered a voicemail or callback option. The best part – all these activities happen within seconds.

What options do you have with Mixvoip’s real-time status dashboard – Tempus?

Three main indicators represent your real-time phone availability on the app dashboard:

Available – online. It means you are at your desk at that moment so that you can take the incoming call. Your status is also colored green.

Busy – on a call. That indicates that you are working, but you are on the phone. So the caller should leave a voicemail message or wait for a callback. Your status is still green, but the phone headset is vibrating.

Busy – in a meeting. If you attend a business meeting, your phone status will show it. It is a light green color, which is easily noticeable by co-workers. So they know you are unavailable for a phone call at that moment.

Location or presence status can be displayed in several ways:

Break – shows that you are working in-office or remotely, but you cannot take the call at that very moment. The color of the status is yellow on the dashboard.

Away – that location status represents that you are not at your desk to take the phone call, but you will be back and available soon. It is used for short pauses – like a coffee break. Its color is orange.

Lunch – that presence status is important, as many companies do not have flexible lunch breaks policy. Setting your location status to lunch in the app means you are unavailable, but you will return the call as soon as you return from lunch.

Route – many companies have remote teams that often travel to meet customers and partners during the workday. With that presence status, you know that your employee will not be available soon for a phone call, so you should give the caller other options for contact.

Holidays, Sick, Stop working – all these options mean you are temporarily unavailable to answer phone calls. It will be so during the whole workday and probably for a longer period.

All these status features are important as customers and suppliers are used to working with a specific person in the company. So if they are trying to reach out to him but he is unavailable, the office admin (viewing his real-time status) can either forward the call to the next available representative or suggest they write an email if the matter is not urgent.

Who can use real-time status options?

Phone and presence features are considered smart call management tools. If you want to implement them in your daily communications, you can ask your telephony services provider if they offer them as built-in functionality. Anyone who actively uses a business phone system can benefit from these value-added collaboration features. As they cover incoming and outgoing calls, just like internal calls, office admins, receptionists, and call center agents are among the top users.

Administrative assistants are usually in charge of transferring the inbound calls to the right department and employee. They often manage all communications by forwarding calls to the right person. Having an at-a-glance display of colleagues’ phone availability allows them to connect with clients and workers fast and easy.

Call-center agents often have to transfer an initial conversation to another representative, so with the insights of who is online and available, the transition can be as smooth as possible – with no delays and happy customers.

Last but not least, everyone. When it comes to effectively maximizing phone presence literally, anyone who works in the office, from home, or in a coffee shop and needs to collaborate with team members can benefit. High-call volumes can be better organized if users know their colleagues’ real-time presence status.

In today’s fast-paced work environment, real-time communications play a major role in a company’s communications. Managing your calls based on that functionalities helps you solve faster client issues. Features like phone or presence status can help you retain and grow a loyal customer base. Implementing users’ real-time status in your communications platform enables you to enhance your workflow as it helps your whole community to stay connected and feel more engaged.

Don’t miss any more news or articles!