Scheduling Software Services

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There are a few considerations to keep in mind when using a service such as ours.

Caller ID

The first we have mentioned previously. Your telephone number is used as the caller ID when the system makes your calls. It has been our experience that about 3% of the list will call your caller ID number back for various reasons. Some will call back before listening to their voicemail, some don't have voicemail at all and are calling back based upon caller ID as they always do, and some will actually receive the message but return the call anyway. Since we don't believe in sending fake or missing caller IDs, you can count on getting a few return calls.

If you are calling for a business advertising a sale or the like, we suggest using the store's main number when recording the message, then planning on more phone calls than usual while the calls are going out. If callers to your business tell you they are returning a call, just briefly mention the event in question so as not to put the "hard sell" on the caller. You want to turn a potential negative ("Take me off of your list!") into a positive (a polite personal sales opportunity). For a meeting notification or the like, you may wish to answer the calls yourself, if only to give that personal touch, or you can just let the system call them back and deliver the message to them or their voicemail.

If you would prefer to have a unique phone number for use as a caller ID, we have other systems which provide this functionality. Our customers can request a phone number, which we provide, and their calls go out with that caller ID. Then anyone on your list who returns a phone call to that number is presented with your message. If you require this level of functionality, please contact us at info@schedulingsoftwareservices.com or 956-581-5577.

Nature and Frequency of Calls

Calls should usually be about 30 seconds long, and shorter if possible. Meeting announcements or other calls with lots of necessary details can go longer, but you certainly don't want to make a sales call that's too long; rehearse the recording of your messages so that you know how good they sound and how long they'll go. We are willing to assist in the editing of important announcements via email; please contact info@schedulingsoftwareservices.com if you would like this assistance, or just mail your announcement text to us at that address and we'll have a look at it for you.

The number which you use to record calls, and which the system will use as the caller ID, should be a high-quality connection. Most landlines are superior to cell phones in this regard. This should not rule out the use of a cell phone when appropriate, however. A clearly-spoken message over a cell phone would be much superior to a mumbled one over a landline, of course. A clearly-spoken message recorded on a landline will sound beautiful.

If your calls are more telemarketing in nature, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but you should be aware of any specific requirements in your state. From the federal perspective, you are allowed to make calls to anyone with whom you have an existing business relationship, as long as you clearly identify your organization and give a means for the callees to opt out if they should so desire.

Texas requirements are that the business be identified clearly, and that the phone number or address of the business be stated during the call. The sending of a valid caller ID may not sufficiently fulfill these requirements, so we suggest including this information in Texas, or maybe checking upon the requirements in your particular state.

Pre-screened lists of phone numbers may be purchased from various companies on the internet. If you are calling for sales leads, we can find you numbers in your area very inexpensively. Our systems can also record responses and email them to you, or connect people directly to your business if they press 1. Contact us if you think you may need this functionality.

You probably don't want to call your customer list with a "gigantic sale" once per month. On the other hand, calls to clubs, church groups, and the like can be sent very often while still retaining their positive effects. Civic organizations which meet weekly or bi-weekly, for example, can send calls the day before each meeting giving a brief run-down of the agenda and any special announcements, and members will appreciate this heads up.

Calling Schedule and Speed

Our current calling schedule is 10am - 8pm, and 1pm - 8pm on Sundays. We find this to be a reasonable schedule for most organizations. The system determines the time zone of each number you upload so that calls are sent during the proper times no matter where the number is.

The speed at which your calls are delivered will depend upon their length and how many of your numbers are answered quickly. For 30-second calls to a good-quality list, you can expect 8000 completed calls per hour. Factors such as the nature of your list, the time of day, or the availability of our providers may affect this estimate. We do provide you with a progress screen so you can see, in real time, which and how many numbers have been contacted. If a call fails to complete, our system waits a minimum of 60 minutes before trying it again. With a total of up to 10 tries for failing numbers, we do attempt your calls at all times of the day, which greatly increases their chances of being answered. On the other hand, don't try calls more times than you need to, since this can upset some people who don't answer calls they don't recognize but don't have an answering machine.

The system uses a fairly common method for detecting answering machines. Whenever a call is answered, the system waits for 1.2 seconds of silence before playing the announcement. There is no perfect method, in the telecom business, to detect all answering machines, but this system works pretty well.