RingCentral Online Blog

Truffle Farmers use RingCentral to Help Manage Their Business

RingCentral Online spoke with NYC-based Aron Ponticelli of Piedmont Valley Truffles about how RingCentral helps him manage a business half-way across the country, in North Carolina.

Why RingCentral?

AP: I think RingCentral is tremendous. I was partial to RingCentral because of the Inc. Magazine review [June 2006] that I read, but when I called, that's what got me. The customer service at RingCentral is just tremendous, you'd be surprised at how rude some of the other vendors are. RingCentral set up the service for me and showed me all the tools: for example, the Call Controller that pops up on my laptop when the phone rings, how I can check voicemails on the Web...I mean all of that is great for us because it gives our business the flexibility we need.

We hear that a lot.

AP: I'm between North Carolina and New York a few times a month, and I really see RingCentral as one of my primary tools, along with my Blackberry and my laptop.

Because you're in New York City and your business partner/father is in North Carolina, it must be challenging to manage your business affairs.

AP: Yes. What I like is that RingCentral keeps a detailed Call Log. We're both on the road a bit. I'm a little more organized, but sometimes my father is out in the field or on the road and he loses people's phone numbers or the numbers get lost in his cell phone and he loses voicemails. This way, we can both keep track of calls. We get email alerts of new voicemails; I get them on my Blackberry. And I can see calls coming in, and seeing calls come in is something I really like because truffles are not my full-time job yet; I have another full-time job.

So separating all these aspects of your life is critical for you.

AP: Yes, having the ability to see calls coming in for Piedmont Valley Truffles is great so I know how to handle the calls appropriately.

You're also setting up a truffle distribution organization with the other farmers, and you plan to sell on the Web with your RingCentral toll free number.

AP: There are a lot of small growers now, with between ½-acre to 3 acres of trees, and they're going to sell their truffles to the local restaurants so the market is going to get saturated - then they'll look for someone to sell their truffles outside of that area. What we're going to do is set up a consortium or a co-op and sell the truffles for them. The way I see it, why give your profits to a middle man? The farmers always get paid the least amount of money, and there's no reason we can't run the demand side of the business as well. Chefs and restaurants in New York City are just the beginning. I'll sell on the Web, and obviously the toll free number from RingCentral is going to become more important there. It's where your higher margins are made because you're selling wholesale - about $800 a pound wholesale. That's where the money is made.

How will RingCentral help you manage all of this?

AP: It takes about three to four years to cultivate truffles and we expect an influx of calls during the next truffle season, December through March. As a way for us to manage things, we have the option to not take some of those calls and let them go to voicemail, which will be emailed to us. We can then look at the Call Log to see who called and when the calls came in. I have calls ring to my home and my cell and wherever else I may be. Also, I will have all of my truffle business calls and faxes centralized. I don't want calls going to my cell phone's voicemail or a different business email because I don't want them co-mingled with my other calls. It also allows me to make sure that other employees in the company are following up with important callers.

Your employees will also use RingCentral?

AP: We have a lot of farm workers we need to contact, and we will have a customer service department. And I really see that as we expand, RingCentral will be growing with us. I would like to build a sales team, who will be traveling around, and I know I'm going to be traveling all over, so to be able to manage that process is great.

I didn't realize truffles were being cultivated in North Carolina. Typically, this is not a product produced in the US.

AP: We're really finding that where grapes for wine can be cultivated pretty successfully is where black truffles can be as well. There's been a lot of success in cultivating truffles in the mid-Atlantic states on both sides of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which has an agreeable "terroir": the soil, sunshine, wind factors, etc. North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee share similar attributes to southern France and northern Italy.

How do you cultivate and harvest truffles?

AP: We bought seedlings inoculated with Tuber melanosporum, the Perigord truffle, from our partner Franklin Garland who was the first to bring inoculated seedlings to the US. He bought the process from the French in the early 1980s. You're taking either oak or hazelnut trees about a couple of weeks old and essentially you're

Answering Rules Helps Ecommerce Business Manage Calls on Both Coasts

RingCentral Online recently spoke with Foodzar.com CEO John McGowan. McGowan also recently started an ecommerce company for fundraisers, Fundraisingdirect.net and Fundraisingdirect.org.

As an ecommerce business owner, how do you use RingCentral?

JM: So far, we’ve been happy with RingCentral. We have two companies with two different phone numbers and different times zones. We have our gourmet food Web site with our toll free vanity number on it, which people call if they have customer problems or want to place an order over the phone rather than online. Then we also have the fundraising company, and some of the callers to that business will get forwarded to my partner’s office in California.

How are the calls to your two toll-free numbers routed?

JM: Well, the Foodzar number is routed directly to my cell phone or to our office here in Ohio. We set the Answering Rules so that calls are scheduled to forward to me from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Afterward the calls automatically go to voicemail. For the fundraising business, call are routed to me in the morning, from 9 a.m. to noon, because I’m on Eastern time, and then calls are routed to my partner in California for the rest of the day, from noon to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard time. So this way we can cover the United States.

How is the fundraising company related to Foodzar?

JM: Foodzar is a gourmet food business. We carry more than 500 products and we’re adding more every day from all over the world. The fundraising business started after we got a lot of calls from people who wated to buy our products because they’d have a fundraiser for their church or school. So we thought we’d go ahead and get into that business using our upscale products. We think that people want to support their kid's school or their church or fire department or whatever, but they don’t necessarily want to buy ridiculous stuff like wrapping paper or garbage just to show their support. So now they get a choice and when their order is delivered to them, there’ll be a card with it that says, "now when you go online to fundraiser.net, every order you place online, a percentage of that goes back to the school or organization all year round." It’s a very unique program, relatively new, and we’re trying to get it going.

Why RingCentral?

JM: Compared to the other systems that are out there, it beats them all. What initially attracted me to the service was that you included some free minutes with the monthly price whereas everybody else charges from the start.

What other services are valuable for your business?

JM: We use the internet fax and I use the Call Logs: If somebody called and I couldn't see who it was, then I can look at the logs. The network is great, too, and the Call Controller let's you see who's calling. The icons on it provide you with quick access to everything in your account, which is a nice feature.

E-commerce Merchant Boosts Sales with Adoption of RingCentral

RingCentral interviewed Shner Hickson, a titanium power seller on eBay and president of ZoomCell.com, an e-commerce site with an office and warehouse in Brooklyn, NY.

Why RingCentral?

SH: RingCentral is a great option for our site visitors to reach us toll-free. It helps us serve our customers better and it has definitely helped us increase sales.

In what way does it impact sales?

SH: Since we switched to RingCentral’s professional system, we have seen a 20% increase in over-the-phone sales, as well as an increase in Internet orders by customers who have called in with sales-related inquires.

Twenty percent is impressive.

SH: Consider that there are a lot of Web sites out there and not all of them are up-to-date, so speaking with someone lets customers know that everything is in order and that there are real humans on the other end. Also, with email, sometimes it can take a long time for them to get a complete response to their question, and giving our customers a real person to speak to boosts their confidence.

What did you use before RingCentral?

SH: Before RingCentral, we were using regular landlines, VoIP and cellular phones, but it was not always easy for customers to reach the right person at the right time. We didn’t have a PBX system. The RingCentral system has advanced features that you can only find in expensive high-end PBX systems.

You’re also a titanium power seller on eBay ($150,000 or more in sales). What's your strategy and key to success?

SH: We sell our most popular products as well as our overstock products and customer returns on eBay. The items are sold in fixed price “buy it now” listings, which allows us to choose the price the item will sell for.                                       

Our key to success on eBay is quite simple. We provide honest, clear descriptions and a truly dedicated customer service staff. We have consistently maintained a customer satisfaction level of at least 99% or more based on customer feedback, which is no easy task.

Why not?

SH: Because of the technical nature of cellular devices. It requires complete dedication to working with each and every customer and doing your best to provide full customer satisfaction, at all times. When customers see your feedback history and your dedication to customer service, they choose to buy from you.

Do you have a story about when RingCentral came in handy for you or for your employees?

SH: We had a large corporate customer who called with an important matter. Thanks to RingCentral, we were able to seamlessly transfer his call to the account manager, who happened to be on a business trip in Europe at the time. During this call, we closed a major deal.

How is your service configured?

SH: We set up our virtual PBX with five extensions, with calls going to our regular and VoIP phones and to our cellular phones. For sales, we direct all calls to three different phones that will ring simultaneously. Customer service and technical support employees set up their own regular hours of operation and direct all calls from those extensions to their cell phones. During after hours, calls are routed to voice mailboxes.

We have five employees who are all located in New York, but some travel. We sell nationwide. RingCentral allows them to stay in touch with customers no matter where they are.

What is ZoomCell.com?

SH: We’re an online retail store selling high-quality cellular phones and Smartphone devices. If a customer wants to upgrade their handset, or buy a cellular-related gift, we can give them advice, products and support. What’s unique about us is that our customers are not tied to any contract—and the devices can be used with any wireless network worldwide.

Online Merchants Speak Up: "RingCentral is the Bomb"

What are online merchants saying about RingCentral? In the ProStores online forum, a Web store that's integrated with eBay, they're recommending the service for its value-added business features. According to Timebuilders.com, "The value of the RingCentral service with toll free numbers again proved itself today with another $300.00 order." Responding to Change2e85, which sells ethanol conversion kits, Timebuilders added, "You are right, RingCentral is the bomb..." Check out the thread on the ProStores forum.

Other online merchants spoke to me about how they use RingCentral, and their stories have been posted in this blog: ZoomCell.com, Venus Rising, Amerilink Global, and more.

Bay Area Entrepreneur Shucks and Jives with RingCentral Online

RingCentral Online recently spoke with RingCentral customer and Bay area-entrepreneur Max Spavron about how he juggles several businesses while trying to maintain a sense of balance. His companies include Gobagger.com, Calpros.com, and the Design Factory.

First of all, what kind of businesses to you own?

MS: I own a web site design company, a manufacturing facility, and I own mortgage companies. I’m very entrepreneurial.

So you have separate toll free numbers for each business. How do you manage them all?

MS: I have a toll free number for GoBagger.com, I have one for my mortgage company, and I have another for my web site design company. For Gobagger, it’s pretty simple. We put the number on top of our web pages and in this particular case I have calls go directly to voicemail. The announcement says, “Do not hang up. You have just reached the Gobagger sales line. Someone will call you right away, just leave your name and phone number," and the moment the caller leaves a message the system sends a text message alert that A) tells me that I’ve got a message waiting and B) shows the caller ID of the number they called from and then C) I can go into my email and there’s a .WAV file [the recorded voicemail] in there. I mean isn’t that the coolest thing in the world? I could be on the beach, I could be having dinner, anywhere, doing my other business, and it lets me know that I have a customer waiting.

And how has this helped your business?

MS: My response time has been amazing because of that. All I have to do is excuse myself from whatever I’m doing and call the client back within seconds of his call.

What about your other businesses? You use RingCentral a little differently for them.

MS: When it comes to the Web site design and mortgage companies, I have calls forwarded to me. So calls go to my business line, my cell phone, then my home number, then my other office, and then ultimately it goes to my voicemail. And I love that, too; in other words, I don’t want to miss those calls.

Tell me about the scalability aspect for you, because that must be critical for someone juggling several business.

MS: With your system, when I want my phone to ring in my Great Aunt Myrtle’s house, I go into the web site and just tell it to do that. To attempt anything like that with a phone company is like an act of congress.

And let’s say that I want to add a number. Let’s say I’m going to Lake Tahoe. I’ll just add that Lake Tahoe number to my follow me list and calls will be directed to it instantaneously. That’s just phenomenal and that’s just scratching the surface. I’ve actually called all of my friends and my girlfriend and I told them, “you have to see this.” Finally, someone who actually has a product that does more than what you charge for.

What made you switch from your old 800 number provider to RingCentral?

MS: I am still getting bills for fifty dollars a month for an 800 number from another provider that I barely use and I can’t shut it down because I don‘t want to lose a potential customer. So I pay fifty dollars for a featureless, flat 800 number that does one thing: it rings. For half the money with RingCetntral, I get voicemail, follow me, systems, manageability. It’s better, cheaper, faster, there are more services, and it allows someone to manage their business the way it should be managed.

Do you use the online fax features?

MS: For one of my numbers, I use the online fax feature all the time. I also like the fact, again, that you can change its format. I think you can choose between TIF and  PDF, which is kind of cool.

Which feature does the best job to address your business needs?

MS: Being alerted immediately via email and/or text message. But really, it’s the fact that it’s scalable- -If I do want the feature, I click on it; If I don’t want it, I don’t click on it. The fact is that whatever feature I use, it might change. 'I’m on vacation. We’re growing. Did I get a new office? Did we move? Do I have a new employee?' In other words, whatever may be happening in my small business, and small businesses because they shuck and jive, because they’re owned by a husband and a wife or two buddies or whatever, things change. It’s very acquiescent…To scale these features on almost a whim, that’s probably the most impressive part.

Can you give me another real-life example?

MS: A while ago I had my cell phone stolen in a pub. I had to immediately shut it off. I have another cell phone that I use for other things, so I went into my RingCentral account and switched the alert number to the other cell phone.

I can scale it and shuck and jive.

Building an International eCommerce Business with RingCentral Online

RingCentral Online spoke with Rajiv Choudhary of Sydney, Australia, about conducting international business economically using online telecom services, particularly RingCentral. Choudhary is the CEO of several ecommerce businesses including Amerilink Global and Australian Link Global. We spoke to him from Sydney.

How did you get started as an independent business owner?

RC: I worked in corporations for four years in business development for the telecom industry. One day in 2004, I woke up and didn't feel like going to work, and after that I haven't.

Why the toll free number from RingCentral?

RC: Adding an 800 number actually statistically increases sales by 15-20%. When we picked up RingCentral, we obtained all the prerequisites for a successful e-commerce business. Sellers and buyers will be free to call us without having to spend money, which is important because a guy in Germany probably doesn’t want to make a call to the US or Australia, but if he sees the RingMe Click to Call on our Web site, with the flexibility to press and enter his number, he will call.

You have a pretty interesting set up. Can you explain?

RC: In Australia, telecom is very expensive. For example, I could pay $3 or $4 for a 10 minute call from Melbourne to Sydney. Now, we use a local VoIP service, which is a Sydney number, a US VoIP service, which is a Florida number, RingCentral's 877 number and Skype. We put these VoIP adapters into a small PBX with 3 extensions, and each of these phones have 4 incoming lines. We have 3 phones, scalable up to 16 stations.

All calls are pointed to Australia but they will be routed to the Netherlands, to Hong Kong and Dubai. I plan to have a virtual office in every location in the world.

Did you get any help setting up your system?

RC: Someone from RingCentral helped me set up the system for the first time, and he was amazingly patient and believe me people don’t like to speak to me in support situations. I can hear them sigh. But I could tell that the fellow at RingCentral really enjoys his work, and I think everyone at RingCentral really enjoys their work because customers like me always praise you.

And you received praise from a RingCentral customer...

RC: I called one of your customers, whom I found on your Web site. I told her, I’m sorry I don’t want to waste your free minutes, and she said, "No, that’s fine, you can ask me anything about RingCentral!"

What was the most important criteria in your selection?

RC: The most important thing was that RingCentral is highly, highly scalable. Also, we could have up to 20 extensions and Fax On Demand, which is important because we need to send non-disclosure agreements to our agents all over the world. The Fax on Demand service is fantastic as well as the RingMe Click to Call and the Outlook integration with RingOut. This is something I have not seen in any other company or parallel 800 number service. RingCentral makes me totally well connected. It is a flexible solution for my wholesaler business as well as my online retail trade. Even if I’m cut off from the rest of the world, as long as I have a landline and a toll free number, it's as if I have my own personal, portable switch.

How expensive is it to conduct business internationally?

RC: Let me put it to you this way. The same solution, if I were to install one in Australia, would cost me at least $10,000 US dollars. I just can’t even fathom the amount of possibilities this service has given me. Given the flexibility, the ease of operation and the cost...Well, I’ve paid $3,000 Australian dollars in bills in the last 5 or 6 months, and I’m literally glad. I'll pay $200 or $300 a month for telecom. I’m thrilled.

What is it like to have an international business?

RC: I have more than 2,000 suppliers in China, and I get calls from many of them everyday to get their products into the real markets.

You must be exhausted.

RC: When business picks up, I want to get some sleep. I have been sleeping for only 3-5 hours a night. So far, this is a one-man army here and it takes a lot of energy but I will have more help in the near future; RingCentral has given me an amazing solution.

What do you sell?

RC: Primarily consumer electronics, and we will be selling everything from home and garden supplies to clothing, perfumes, and cell phones. Within 4 weeks, we're launching our eBay stores. We'll be selling a lot of things, and everything is virtual, I never even see the stock because it’s going directly from the distributor to the buyer. RingCentral will be a catalyst for my ecommerce dream, to put it at a higher sales level.

Any final thoughts?

RC: Whomever designed this service did not leave a single stone unturned to figure out what would be required for small businesses.

Venus Rising - Providing a Cozy Online Shopping Experience

Just in time for the holiday season, RingCentral Online spoke with Shannon Miller, an eBay PowerSeller and co-founder of Venus Rising, Ltd, an online retail store based in Newport Beach, CA. A lover of all things Italian, Miller often heads to Florence and Bergamo as well as some smaller towns in the boot to scope out her high-end luxury bedding for US markets. Prices range from $150 to $1,300.

What role does RingCentral play in your ecommerce experience, especially now during the busy holiday season?

SM: It's great to do your holiday shopping online, but we've discovered that if they cannot reach someone personally it can really make them frustrated. Customers need a toll free number to get a human being. This is actually kind of funny, but we're now putting a lot of effort into helping our male callers with product selection assistance.

So you are acting as personalized shoppers for them, in a way.

SM: Yes, women, too, but mostly men. We have a team of product specialists who will talk to customers about coloring, matching patterns, and so on. Customers can call toll free and instead of getting, "This blanket is cashmere, buy it," they can hear about the history of it in Italy, and we provide care instructions and answers to questions such as "What is the best or warmest blanket?" and "What is my wife going to love for Christmas?" They can feel confident about spending their dollars and some of the guys, they may have great ideas but need a little help matching some of the fabrics.

Where do customers find your toll free number?

SM: Our toll free vanity number is prominently placed on our Web site, eBay store and mailing materials, and it has helped us gain customers. And because we're on the Web, when someone does a Google search for cashmere or whatever, the phone number will come up on the search page and they'll often call us without even looking at our Web site, so it's really helping us grow our business and grow our sales. By the way, the vanity number is really cool. We chose 877-42-VENUS, which has been an awesome branding tool.

Yes, it's easy to remember.

SM: It's easy to remember and it provides credibility and professionalism. We also send mailers and postcards to our customers, stuff like that...there's still a large segment of the population that is not Web-savvy so it's good for them to be able to place an order by phone.

Absolutely. Luckily for you, you travel a lot to Europe as well as within the US. How does RingCentral help you stay in touch?

SM: Because we're an online retailer, it's important for us to find a way to connect with our customers because we don't have a brick-and-mortar store. Being in constant contact is really vital.

With RingCentral, when we're in trade shows, for example, we use the answering rules and forward all of our calls to our mobile phones. It's great to have a Web point where we can see all of our phone calls and faxes on our laptop or handheld device (T-Mobile Dish), and I can hear my emailed voicemails without having to call in to listen to them. It's awesome to be able to get my calls and messages by computer and by phone...we're never really out of touch and that has been valuable.

What other features are valuable for your online business?

SM: Another feature that's really been cool for us is the international incoming call feature, which allows us to accept toll free calls from Canada. It's a little more money per minute but we have a great deal of Canadian customers and we ship a lot of goods to Canada. Now no one feels disconnected. We also have a dedicated fax number, which is another great feature because we're not tied to a local fax. This is really awesome for us in terms of orders because we do go abroad. RingCentral really gives us an opportunity to take our business all over the world!

Speaking of which...how do you conduct business when you're traveling throughout Europe?

SM: We bring laptops and our smart phones to cafes. Europe, especially, is wired pretty well. We use our smart phones when we cannot access a hotspot so we can view our faxes on our phones. And we can log on to our Web account, access our Call Log and view a list of calls to follow up on later.

RC: From what you've told me before, it seems as if you're a big fan of the Call Log...

SM: Yes. There's been a couple of times when we needed to research something, a missed file for example, and the Call Log is great to have then. It's also good to have the Call Logs to gage our call flow and see who is handling what, and it gives us the ability to manage costs. For example, we can see how much we're spending connecting with customers.

Anything else?

SM:  What I use often, which I really love, is the Call Controller on our PC. And a really cool feature that I also love is RingOut - and I like the integration with Microsoft Outlook.

What were you using before RingCentral?

SM: We were using a standard business package from our local telephone company. We read about RingCentral in Inc. Magazine and we switched when I saw that you offered the vanity numbers. That was intriguing. And a huge part of our decision was the ability to have a free trial to see what it's really like.

I guess you liked it...

SM: We love it. We decided to stay with the service due to its professionalism, its ease-of-use as well as the ability to have separate extensions where we can personalize our greetings and we like having the custom music on hold. Again, back to the branding, you want to give customers the full experience.

I suppose that since your product line is high end, you probably get more calls than some other company that's selling, say, toothbrushes?

SM: I don't think so. Some customers can spend $2,500 without a quip and you never hear from them but there are some who want to call in and know everything.

What's the most popular item this time of year?

SM: Cashmere blankets and cashmere pajamas.

Yum. You're also an eBay PowerSeller and your store was featured in an article in Newsweek about eBay called "The United States of eBay." Can you comment on that?

SM: We were interviewed because the journalist came across our listing while shopping for sheets on eBay. She interviewed 5 different eBay PowerSellers - 3 from the US and 2 from Europe.

How did you get started in this?

SM: My business partner and I met through a mutual friend and we found out that we both have an interest in fine textiles and we talked about how difficult they are to come by - and we both have an interest in Italy.

I can understand that...I'm also a big fan of the place.

SM: Yes, there is such a great vibe to Italy. We once rented cars and drove over 3,500 miles across the country seeking bedding in really obscure places and there were some places we never did find. We were looking for a town called Bastardo and we were saying, 'well...that sounds a lot like bastard' and it certainly is the same translation, and we were going around town asking everyone where Bastardo was.

You must have been very popular...?

SM: We got some looks. We never found it and we drove around for hours. I've been in a lot of different countries, but Italy has my heart.

RingCentral Goes to eBay Live!, June 13-15

Join RingCentral at eBay Live!, booth #263 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, June 13 – 15, 2006. Numerous eBay merchants, including Fun Inc., TurkishCorner, Pet Promenade, Silk Nursery and Top Dog Distributing use RingCentral Online for on demand telecommunications services.

RingCentral spoke with Bob Semenak and Ted Goudie, ebay PowerSellers and RingCentral users. Semenak has been selling pet supplies for Pet Promenade successfully on ebay for more than 2 years. Goudie of Fun Inc. moves about 15-20% of his gaming merchandise from his brick-and-mortar store through ebay sales.

Using RingCentral's toll free number, Semenak said, gives them a “huge advantage” over ebay sellers without one because talking to someone live provides "an immediate turn around on an eBay listing. The back and forth, it’s a lot quicker over the phone than by email.”

Semenak manages 3 employees, all of whom work from home as well as in the business' main home office and distribution center. During business hours, the service routes calls to his home office phones and employees' cell phones, sending all after hours callers to voicemail.

"A lot of ebay shoppers will call us, especially those who are buying aquarium equipment, which is a fairly technical hobby. We try to post as much information as possible about our products on our listings, but people feel more comfortable calling us, which is fine with me. I would just as soon speak with someone to seal the deal.”

More than 25 percent of RingCentral’s online merchant customer base relies on eBay to power their stores. As online commerce continues to grow, there is a widespread need for telecommunications services that effectively connect merchants with customers and complement the flexibility and convenience of the eBay marketplace.