Part One: Real Estate
In this series, we’ll be exploring how you can make the most of your new business phone system with our specialty configurations that have been tested and proven by our customers in their respective industries.
In the first post of this series, we’ll be discussing the Hosted PBX phone system currently in use by Century 21 in Ottawa, Canada and how this strategy can be duplicated for your real estate business to maximize the efficiency of your phone system.
Key Communication Issues
Let’s start by examining the key communication issues faced by the real estate industry:
1. Multiple locations: multiple offices within one city or larger geographic area
2. Agents that work remotely: realtors who work from home and are constantly traveling to meet with homeowners and buyers
3. A missed call could be a missed sale: many people shy away from leaving voicemail messages. In a competitive industry, a potential seller/buyer may call another agent or another brokerage if their call goes unanswered during business hours
The Hosted PBX Solution for Real Estate
Switching to a Hosted PBX phone system and new IP phones creates the opportunity for advanced call features and a customized specialty configuration of the phone system and call routing.
Century 21’s Hosted PBX solution contains the following elements:
| Configuration Element | Description | Benefit |
| # Phones | One desktop phone for each real estate agent and each receptionist | Basic phones with intuitive usage for agents and additional button console for reception |
| # Lines | 2 lines per phone | Ensures no limit in capacity for sharing lines |
| Custom Call Routing | If one location receives an incoming call and is not able to answer, it automatically rings a second location and third if necessary until the call is answered | The incoming call’s intended destination is displayed on the reception phone so that it may be answered accordingly |
| Custom Auto Attendant | The auto attendant is configured to only answer calls after business hours and provides a corporate directory unique to each location | Provides each office with single unit functionality while still maintaining 3-digit dialing between offices |
| Advanced Call Features | Each extension is equipped with its own voicemail to email, and advanced call forwarding which allows multiple phone numbers to ring simultaneously when active | Advanced features provide agents with easier access while on the go |
| Extras | Softphone for Laptop, iPad or iPhone | Configured to match desktop phone extensions, the softphone works well on Wi-Fi and is perfect for travel |
In addition, multiple office locations are better serviced by dealing with a single service provider. Each desktop phone can use the 3 (or 4) digit extension of other team members to dial reach them, even if they are in a different office. The advanced call features and custom call routing are designed to ensure that calls are always answered by a live person whenever possible. All agents are accessible by phone all of the time with this custom configuration- especially when using the mobile VoIP App which can reduce mobile phone costs and allow each person to use a single business number instead of providing clients with multiple phone numbers (office extension and mobile). The best part is, agents are all only as accessible as they want to be because each extension is personally customizable online.
If you would like to learn more about how this specific configuration has benefitted Century 21, please read our Case Study: Creating a Custom Solution for Century 21 >>