I wanted to have some fun with my first post here on the CMS Blog, and using Instagram to showcase some of the old advertising pieces and telephony equipment we have on display around the office seemed like a great way to do so. A lot of this stuff goes unnoticed these days, but taking a look back at where we’ve come from really helps to put our progress into perspective.  (more…)

When you call a business and reach a courteous, polished customer service representative, you generally feel like you’re speaking with a larger company. Despite this association with bigger, more established firms, the reality is that any business can provide this level of service. With a few simple steps, deploying a customer service call center is well within the reach of even the smallest of businesses. (more…)

Using Google Voice in conjunction with a live answering service like CMS provides small businesses an affordable way to sound more established. This brief guide will introduce both services and show you how easy it is to develop a professional phone presence and create a positive experience for your callers. (more…)

“Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.” – Paul J. Meyer

This is one of our staff’s favorite business quotes. It says so much with so few words. All businesses, regardless of the services they provide or the products they sell, are in the communication business.

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We recently decided to move our blog away from Blogger and onto our own domain. The decision was made with SEO in mind, but we also wanted to have greater control over its presentation and make it a more formal part of our communication strategy. Though the decision to make the move was easy, determining how we would integrate a blog into our current website required more thought. (more…)

I am a firm believer in asking applicants questions that will help me get to know them better and what type of person they are.  You will be amazed at what you can find out about an applicant by asking them questions regarding their interests. How they handle their hobbies and outside of work interests often reflect what type of employee they will become.  (more…)

This post is designed for physicians, medical office managers, nurses and other personnel who are responsible for managing their practice’s relationship with a medical answering service or call center.

Managed properly, outsourcing a portion of your calls to a professional call center can be an extremely effective and worthwhile business decision. Your practice can provide patients with a better level of care, filter messages for on-call personnel, and avoid the high costs associated with hiring dedicated staff or implementing complicated automated systems. Done improperly, relationships with patients can be harmed and hard earned dollars wasted. (more…)

If you have ever been caught in a conversation with a stranger at a bar, restaurant, or waiting in line, you probably have come to realize that people love to talk about themselves. And I’m sure, like me, you occasionally have had both a “Why are you telling me this?” and a “This is an interesting person” moment…. You really want to achieve this type of candid, informal moment at some point during the interview. (more…)

Applicants arrive at interviews prepared to answer standard interview questions. Most companies will ask the following or similar interview questions:

• What are you major strengths?
• Where would you like to see yourself improve?
• Tell me about a time …. (more…)

You’ve created an effective application, advertised, received applications, and ruled out unqualified applicants using a fail-proof easy-to-follow system. (Shameless Self Promotion: See 1-Minute Fit Blog). Now what you have left are great applications.

Are you ready to commit to a 15-30 minute phone interview? Or would you like to rule out even more applicants, and save yourself countless hours of time on the phone?

If you are ready for phone interviews stop HERE. (more…)