Your Phone Number
First, you need to determine the plan for your business phone number.
Keep your existing business phone number as normal with your current phone carrier. This option won't require you to do any work updating any marketing materials containing your existing phone number as it will not change. Once the setup of LocalResponse is complete you will need to set (conditional) call forwarding with your phone carrier for incoming calls to reach your LocalResponse menu. You will operate with both your existing business line, as well as a secondary marketing number through OneLocal. This is our most popular configuration.
Keep your existing business phone number, but port the number under OneLocal. This will allow you to continue using the same phone number and be able to have all of your phone calls and SMS conversations under the same number. Read more about porting your number here. Please note that this process can take up to 1 month to complete. You will operate with just 1 number for business and marketing purposes.
Discontinue your existing business number and use the OneLocal marketing number as your primary number. This will require some updating of any marketing materials you currently have digitally, as well as in the physical world. This is a great option for business owners who started their business using their personal number and now need an alternate to run the business as the business has grown. You will operate with 1 number for business purposes and can determine what to do with the previously used number.
Choose what you believe will be the best option for your business, or discuss this with your Implementation or Marketing Specialist.
Business Goals
Depending on your current business goals, we have 2 standard configurations for your LocalResponse menu.
Is your goal to grow your business and gain more clients/revenue?
Setup LocalResponse with conditional call forwarding. This will allow your business to answer any incoming phone calls as normal, but if someone is unavailable to answer the phone, the inbound call will be forwarded to LocalResponse where the caller can review the menu options setup and choose what suits their needs. Answering your inbound calls will be the best way to convert callers, but LocalResponse will have a higher conversion rate than a standard voicemail when set up well. Read more about conditional call forwarding here. You will need to contact your current phone carrier to set up call forwarding when you are keeping your existing business phone number.
Alternatively, has your business already grown so much that you are just trying to stay on top of your existing customers?
Setup your phone line with universal call forwarding, which will forward all of your inbound calls directly to the LocalResponse menu. This will allow callers to select automated menu options to accomplish their reason for the call, but we do strongly encourage you to include a "Speak to a Representative" option within your LocalResponse menu when selecting this option.
You'll find both of these applications under LocalMessages in your OneLocal dashboard.
Setup LocalPhone
LocalPhone allows your business to make and receive phone calls from both your desktop on your OneLocal dashboard, as well as the mobile app.
Calls will be saved in your Call Log which you can access here. Your call log contains information on who called, when they called, what they were interested in, the duration of the call, a recording if a voicemail was left, and easy follow-up options.
You will need to ensure you have LocalResponse setup to determine the reason for the call and you will need to have Incoming Calls configured to be able to receive the incoming call.
Setup LocalResponse
LocalResponse is able to answer your incoming calls on your behalf when you are not able to. It can be setup with predetermined options that cover the main reasons people call your business and offer solutions to help them, such as sharing helpful information, sending SMS text messages including links, or forwarding the call to another staff member.