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Are You Listening To Your Customers?

Your customers are trying to communicate with you, are you listening?

32% of consumers attest to texting a business and never receiving a reply. AT&T reports that 150 million texts are sent every day to numbers that are not text-enabled. 

90% of people want to use messaging to interact with businesses and 93% of consumers trust text messaging as a communication channel.

HostMyCalls Business-Grade SMS System makes engagement easy. You can send and receive SMS messaging on all of your existing telephone numbers while leaving your current voice services entirely intact. That’s right – you do not have to replace your phone system to enable SMS texting.

To learn more about our SMS platform, visit hostmycalls.com. You can engage with real humans using our SMS chat initiation widget in the lower right corner of our web page. You can also request sales contact by texting ‘learnsms’ to (678) 916-1952.

It’s time for your business to stop surviving and start thriving!

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Stop Losing Business Because You’re Too Busy!

68% of people surveyed would prefer to have a root canal without anesthesia, a tax audit, or dinner with their mother-in-law than to be put on hold. Coupled with small and mid-sized businesses only answering 37.8% of their inbound calls, it’s understandable that customers hesitate to place a phone call.

Live website chat offers a solution:

  • 41% of customers think a company that offers live chat on its website is more trustworthy
  • 38% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that offers live chat support
  • 52% of consumers are more likely to repurchase from a company that offers live chat

Yet, only 9% of companies use live chat because of its many logistical problems including dedicated staff monitoring chat rooms and customers chained to their web browser.

The HostMyCalls Website SMS Initiation Widget is the perfect solution. Customers can initiate communication with your business from your website, but the communication does not require the customer to stay connected to their browser and your staff does not need to monitor chat rooms.

The SMS Initiation Widget is part of the HostMyCalls Business-Grade SMS System which makes engagement painless. Further, you can send and receive SMS messaging on your existing telephone numbers while leaving your current voice services intact. By simply conversing with your customers through text, they will have a more positive outlook toward your business and will be more likely to recommend it to their friends. 

To learn more about our SMS platform, visit OTA1.com to try out a fully branded SMS widget for yourself! You can engage with real humans using our SMS chat initiation widget in the lower right corner of our web page. You can also request sales contact by texting ‘learnsms’ to (678) 916-1952.

It’s time for your business to stop surviving and start thriving – and Online Technology Associates is here to make that happen!

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Stop Missing Business Calls!

Guy Holding a Cell Phone with Text saying, "Stay In Touch with Customers".

Businesses miss calls when they are busy – and calls turn into voicemails, which are often ignored…

Did you know that only 18% of Americans listen to voicemails, with only 24% answering calls from an unknown number? The same goes for emails, as most emails get lost in the storm of message filtering and junk mail folders. So, how are businesses getting important messages these days?

As someone with a mobile phone, you know better than anyone – because you use that mobile phone many times a day. Even a quick glance at your mobile phone, as the screen lights up, tells you a lot. You are much like every other American who checks their cell phone an average of 150 times a day. This is because people always have their mobile phones, which is the most convenient way to view and reply to messages.

Spam filters, unanswered calls, and ignored voicemails significantly impede human-to-human interactions and rob you of your ability to increase business. The HostMyCalls Business-Grade SMS System is designed to open the gates to the most effective communication channel. Our SMS users build stronger connections and long-lasting business by engaging in uninhibited dialogue with clients and potential customers.

To learn more about our SMS platform, visit hostmycalls.com where you can engage with real humans using our SMS chat initiation widget in the lower right corner of our web page. You can also request sales contact by texting ‘learnsms’ to (678) 916-1952.

Communication is Key! It’s time for your business to stop surviving and start thriving! Reach out to OTA with any questions today!

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Governor Brian Kemp recently announced nearly $15 million in grants for broadband expansion across the state of Georgia

Image of people connected online in background with state of Georgia in foreground plus text saying "Georgia Gets An Upgrade."

This article was originally published on Newsbreak.com. Authored by Matt Lillywhite. Link: https://original.newsbreak.com/@matt-lillywhite-561024/3062302137293-governor-kemp-surprises-georgia-with-amazing-news

Governor Brian Kemp recently announced nearly $15 million in preliminary grant awards for broadband internet expansion via the Capital Projects Fund Grant Program. These grants will help communities, households, businesses, and anchor institutions in several Georgia counties improve their connectivity, per a press release by the Governor’s office.

Governor Kemp announced the establishment of the Capital Projects Fund Grant Program last year, which would use funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The Georgia Technology Authority and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget collaborated to identify the state’s most unserved and underserved counties and to establish a competitive grant process to receive applications for Governor Kemp’s consideration.

“Since day one, my administration has prioritized bringing opportunity to all parts of our state, including those areas often overlooked,” said Governor Kemp. “These projects are just the latest steps we’ve taken to connect Georgians in rural communities with professional and educational opportunities, building on the significant progress we have made in recent years to close the digital divide.”

According to a statement released by the Governor’s office, nearly $30 million will be invested to serve over 3,500 locations in areas most in need of high-speed internet access. These awards follow the state of Georgia’s announcement in January of $234 million in preliminary grant funds for 28 counties.

“High-speed internet access is critical for both academic and economic opportunities, as well as overall quality of life,” said Governor Kemp. “These projects announced today will go a long way to helping Georgians in some of the most unserved and underserved parts of the state become better connected.”

Key Take-Aways of this Announcement:

  • The goal is universal  broadband availability
  • The government is paying for almost all of it
  • This will mean more choices for business as well as home users 
  • The carriers will not tell customers about this, using an independent agent (like OTA) will give them all of the available options

Reach out to Online Technology Associates today to learn more, at no cost to you!

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Are You Sharing Your Internet Connection?

Hacker's lines of code on screen with headline: "Sharing Your Internet? Probably So!"

If you think sharing your internet with strangers is a bad idea, you are correct!  However, you may be doing just that without knowing it.

A popular internet service called “Broadband” is actually shared with many users and not just in your neighborhood – but with users miles away. Is there any other type of internet that is not shared? The answer is YES!  But only if you have a business circuit known as dedicated internet.

Carriers have proprietary names for business circuits such as DIA, DDE, and other confusing names. These carriers also hide shared services behind confusing words such as Uverse, Xfinity, and product codes with the designation of BB (Broadband) in the product code.

How can you find out if your internet service is shared? Well…all cable circuits are Broadband, and there are many fiber optic circuits that are low price and these are also all shared. In fact, any service that has a speed rating with two numbers for the speed, such as 100M X 20, are shared! Check your product!

You may have a VPN on your shared service – which does help…But that circuit is still shared and is easily hacked at points beyond your VPN, which ends at the carrier. The best protection begins with a dedicated circuit, but that alone is still not enough.

You may not think you need the additional security of a dedicated service and other safeguards such as custom firewalls designed for your usage, and you may not. But if you are a business that deals with customer information of any type: addresses, dates of birth, ages, or any personal information that could help a hacker steal their identity – then you definitely need to take every precaution to avoid being liable for identity theft of the people you do business with!

There are credible estimates that almost, if not all of the US population have already been hacked!

The best way to avoid being blamed, or even sued for this is to take all reasonable precautions to prevent it.  It is definitely a scary world we live in, so take precautions to carefully secure the information you are trusted with.  

 

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AI + Telecom?

AI + Telecom Online Technology Associates

Nothing New Here: Artificial Intelligence Has Been In Telecom for Years!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest trend in many areas, but telecom has used the concept for years. SDWAN  (Software Defined Networks)  have been around for years, but are they really AI?  Well…technically, YES!

It all started with the quest for more reliability in business and residential internet circuits. The fact is that there are NO internet circuits that are 100% reliable, even though there is high demand for the highest reliability available…The solution is to stack two or more circuits, then intelligently send and receive data on a combination or selection of the available services.

SDWAN uses a device onsite that is connected to multiple circuits, usually diverse types, such as cable, copper, fiber, satellite, ETC. The onsite device combines the circuits and points the incoming and outgoing data to a SDWAN provider, which receives the traffic from a customer and resends it according to preset priorities and programming.

The result is that missing packets and down circuits are rectified by simultaneous transmission of the data so the SDWAN provider can sort it out, replace missing packets and resend it over clean fiber connections. The customer also gets to take advantage of the combined capacity through load balancing to for a larger, faster, and more reliable circuit than any of the circuits in the mix.

Customers can also choose to send critical data over the most secure and clean circuit in use – and relegate less critical traffic, such as casual surfing, social media, etc., to a cable or other less secure broadband circuit to keep the secure capacity available for more important data.

SDWAN is not just an appliance, it is a service that can ensure the most secure, clean, and reliable connections available. There are also other AI services in telecom, such as “Smart Networks” – but we will discuss that at a later time.    

Got Questions? Yep, AI is a lot to ponder…Just reach out to Online Technology Associates to make sense of it all…we’re here to untangle the info and help you get the best connection for your business!

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