Telephone Cock Ups Come To An End..... Maybe
What a magnificent telephone business we have in Australia with Telstra!You just know it's going to be one cock up after another with Telstra and they never disappoint!
After moving the office, and finding we couldn't take our 'old' number, we organised for the old number to give a message with the new number we were given and then to divert to that new number.
Phone Disconnected, Then Diverted To The Wrong NumberThat didn't happen of course - took us 7 hours to get that rectified.
And that new number - yep, they gave us the wrong one!
So the message tells the wrong phone number and then diverts to that number.
Terrific. We've only missed about 50 client calls so far and 4 man hours!
So, the new phone number is (and this one actually works):
New phone number is: 07 5535 1967
The new fax number is: 07 5677 0296
The numbers work so feel free to call.
The interesting thing about all this is that we just knew it was going to happen.
It seemed so simple.
- We'd like a new number in the new office - "Ok, the new number is xxxx xxxx."
- We'd like 'old' number to give a message telling the new number and then it diverts the call to the new number.
Cheers
Brendon
[ comments ]
Cheers
Three good lessons I see in this one:
Have a number (preferably witha different company ... like a Skype number ... you can publicize before the move.
Make a list of every current client and prospect and as soon as the new phones are working have a person call each one and email each one with the new numbers. I learned this the hard way ... our business changed numbers but no one 'saw' the new listings.
When building a web site, make the address and phone numbers variables in the code and call them whenever they need to appear ..same way smart copyright notices 'call' the system date to show the year. This way, when you move you will only have to change one set of variables and each page will be updated.
Best of luck with the new digs, Brendon
It's frustrating because in reality it's nearly as simple as flicking a switch; or so you might believe. Nothing appears to be as simple as it does on paper.
Still a few places to change the numbers.
I reckon the most disappointing thing is that we have an expectation of disaster with the phone companies.
And they never fail to deliver!
Or is it, like the grils stealing from the Girl Scout, a case of us hearing these horror stories more because of repid communications?