5 Time Saving Services for Businesses

In order for businesses to maintain an edge and focus on important tasks they may need to look for alternative time saving services. Here are five such services:

Conference calls
It can be very time consuming travelling to meetings, presentations and conferences in different locations. Using a conference call service can be very productive in terms of time and costs. These services offer businesses the opportunity to hold meetings and conferences with delegates, both internally and from anywhere in the world, over the phone. All parties, wherever they are in the world, phone in to a designated number at a given time, enter a PIN number and the conference begins. Conference calls can be used to give presentations to delegates in different locations. The presentation would be shown online while the participants are able to hear the audio discussing the details. Using conference calls helps businesses to work together in a time and cost effective manner.

Call management services
A small business will not always have the time, or availability, to answer all phone calls. Lost calls can, potentially, lose companies revenue. One way of getting round this would be to use a tool such as a call management service. These are often free and offer a virtual switchboard service. They incorporate many features to greatly help businesses; taking calls outside of hours, voicemails and missed call information sent to mobile phones and email, blocking spam calls and redirecting to an alternative number. A call management service can be used in a variety of ways such as taking overflow calls, taking calls outside of hours or taking all calls on behalf of the company.
    
Social network sites
Using these sites can be a very time effective way of marketing for businesses. They can be used for direct advertising and selling products but also for setting up a blog which can be used to describe what the business does, any special offers or any changes being made to the company. Businesses can also join specific interest groups which allow for more targeted communications. These sites also allow for direct feedback from customers and potential customers.

Outsourcing
Another way for a business to be time and cost effective could be to outsource, to a third party, different elements of a business such as call centers, payroll, IT or human resources. A business may need to embark on a project but it doesn't have staff with the necessary skills. An outsourced service would use specifically trained staff and existing staff could work alongside them, therefore learning new skills.

Recruitment services
Using a consultancy to recruit key staff to a business can save valuable time as the recruitment process can be very long and time consuming. A company offering a recruitment service will place advertisements, vet potential candidates and shortlist appropriate applicants for interview. Many recruitment consultancies specialize in particular areas of industry. This gives them specific experience that can be utilized to find the right member of staff for any business.