Are you frustrated with your phone service? Are you still anchored to answering machines and voice mail? Are you missing the opportunity to provide quick, efficient service to your customers through an integrated phone system? Have you ever lost a customer because of your phone system?

As local phone service providers inundate you with single phone user services such as call waiting, caller I.D., and caller I.D.- call waiting, they may be missing the big picture. A much larger opportunity exists to serve customers - especially those with small businesses, in the office or at home.

Small businesses, even if they are only as large as one-man show, need better business phone systems to compete. This is especially true for the Realtor, who lives or dies by the expediency of his/her business equipment - especially the phone.

Bizfon Inc. has introduced a new integrated phone system that is so inexpensive and timely that the company is even marketing it to local phone companies as a small business solution. It particularly has some worthwhile solutions for the Realtor.

Bizfon’s primary product is a communications switch that incorporates call management, voice mail, automated attendant, fax-on-demand and Internet access in a single, low-cost package. With functionality previously found only in expensive, complex systems requiring third party integration and support, Bizfon provides everything the small business needs at a price it can afford.

Designed for companies of 25 persons or less, the Bizfon system includes a basic system with four telephones (more can easily be added) for a purchase price of under $1,000 or a monthly lease price of $35. What you get is a fully digital communications switch, desktop telephones and installation services.

Bizfon has exactly what a small business needs to be competitive - voice mail, caller ID, conference calling and professional call greeting and routing capabilities.

How is this system different from the one your local phone company may be offering as a small business solution? According to Bizfon president Michael George, local servers offer what is called " Centrex services."

"With Centrex services it is very difficult to understand what you get and what it costs. The fees for the services are based on the amount of usage so you don't know what the services will cost," says George. "Ours is a flat-fee service."

Let's say your office is closed on a Friday night. A client comes to town and has decided to make an offer on a house. With Bizfon, the call is transferred to your home or your car phone, and you don't miss the call. The caller also has the option of requesting information on demand. They can get daily mortgage rates, new listings, or other information. It means the office can be open 24 hours a day, whether you are in or not.

Another scenario - you are at a showing and your buyer is ready to make an offer. Is that chandelier included? To make sure, you call the selling agent, but can't get her on the phone. Biz Phon will transfer you to her cell phone. You have your answer and the sale can move forward.

The upshot is that whatever capabilities your office phone system has, you will also get on the road. Bizfon also comes with a modem and Web server built into it.

What about support? You know to dial 911 if you're in trouble. When you are having trouble or want to make a change on your Bizfon system, you dial 299. If you are on the road and need to transfer your calls while you are out of town and don't happen to have your manual with you (and who wants to read one, anyway?) you can access the call center at 299 and a customer service agent will take care of transfering your calls for you, as well as any other system configurations you may want.

You can pick and choose what you want in your phone system. The system is easily upgradeable, and can also include caller ID, five-party digital conferencing, automatic voice/fax switching, external paging, and both local and remote call forwarding. The base system is expandable up to 24 incoming lines and 32 phone extensions.

Each user of the system can specify how they wish their calls to be handled when they are in the office, on the phone, or out of the office. Each user can be notified of new messages by pager or telephone, day or night, ensuring that when your office is closed it doesn’t have to sound like it is.

The system is plug-in ready. Answer a few questions, and you are ready to make phone calls.

Welcome to a life without busy signals.

Related Article: Try Hiring a Virtual Assistant

Published: March 19, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.