Amy (name changed to protect the innocent!) started a small business working from home eight years ago. Originally selling through an E-bay shop, she moved to her own e-commerce website and now turns over £252,000 per year. Based from an office at home it was the use of a Cisco VoIP phone system that allowed her to make a success of the business and grow her revenue. The key to success in her business (or any business for that matter) is to be responsive. Everyone expects instant service nowadays - but being a busy mum, Amy still needs a life. The sophisticated call handling features of her phone allow her to do this. When not at home, Amy can pick up calls which divert from her home office to her mobile. The caller is not aware she is out of the office or that she is on her mobile so she maintains a professional appearance. If she can't answer her mobile, the caller's number is available for her to call back.  If the caller leaves a voicemail on the office phone system, this is forwarded as an email to her smartphone. She can find out what the call is about and text the caller back. Customers tell her they are very impressed to get a text message back in response to a query. This means she can keep on top of customer service and leave her office to attend to other activities with confidence that she is not missing out on sales. Amy's Typical Working Day starts at 7am when she attends to emails and order admin from the previous day. She has a gym class  that takes her away from the office from 9am to lunchtime. No worries as she takes her iPad and mobile wherever she goes. Between classes there is an hour's break and she picks up all her calls and emails over a Cappuccino in the Gym café. The phone she uses is a Cisco CP-7945G.  Previously this type of phone was only available to large corporations. (You see them all over the place. The BBC use them so they appear on most BBC dramas. Holby City and The Thick of It will never be the same now you know!) These organisations invested hundreds of thousands of pounds on the VoIP infrastructure to make them work. With advances in the internet this technology is now available to small businesses via a hosted, or cloud, service. Monthly plans, starting at £2.99 for sole traders, make VoIP affordable for any business. All you need to get it to work is an internet connection. You can have advanced features like Auto Attendants (1 for Sales, 2 for Service etc.) and professional on-hold music. You can have any UK number at any location or 0345 numbers if you prefer. All this gives you a totally professional phone presence and lets you compete with the largest. All while maximising your sales and keeping a work-life balance. To find out more about how VoIP works go here: https://gripcom.co.uk/how-does-voip-work To order or contact us for more information go to our website here. GRiP Communications are a UK based VoIP Service provider providing high quality affordable business telephone systems to organisations with one phone or many. All you need is an Internet Connection. For more information on how VoIP works go to: https://gripcom.co.uk/how-voip-works To order a VoIP system online or chat about your requirements visit us at: https://gripcom.co.uk