Small Businesses Keep Mobile Workforces Connected with
Speakeasy's Find Me/Follow Me Hosted Voice Technology

Speakeasy's Find Me/Follow Me Feature Gives Mobile Employees the
Freedom to Work Beyond Traditional Office Buildings

SEATTLE, July 1, 2008—Speakeasy (www.speakeasy.net), a Best Buy company (NYSE:BBY), is helping small businesses deploy mobile workforces and increase productivity with its Find Me/Follow Me Hosted Voice (VoIP) technology. The system gives employees, especially sales teams, the freedom to work out of the office while staying connected to team members and customers. Given mobile workers comprise 40 percent of today's workforce according to a 2007 Yankee Group survey, this is a growing issue for small businesses. For those already implementing hosted voice technologies, Savatar research shows 84 percent of small businesses reported their hosted voice system outperformed their old phone system in terms of functionality, with Find Me/Follow Me ranked as one of the top features.

Real estate is an industry vertical especially suited for this type of mobility tool. Ballast Realty is a residential real estate brokerage located in the South End area of Boston who needed a scalable system to accommodate its growing mobile workforce. The company is taking advantage of two of the main advantages of the Find Me/Follow Me feature: Simultaneous Ring and Sequential Ring. With Simultaneous Ring, calls to a business phone ring simultaneously at up to ten additional phones, such as alternate business and mobile phones. With Sequential Ring, calls to a business phone can ring sequentially at up to five additional phones.

"Real estate is a business of opportunity. If a client calls and doesn't get an answer, that's a lost opportunity for us," said Megan Kopman, Founding Principal, Ballast Realty Group. "With Speakeasy Hosted Voice and Find Me/Follow Me, our clients always get service in real-time, whether it's during business hours or not. Our transaction volume has skyrocketed because our people are out selling — instead of sitting in their offices checking voicemail and waiting for people to call in.

"The phones can follow you wherever you go," Kopman continues. "Speakeasy allows us to sell as much real estate as a larger office, despite our small staff."

Businesses can also link features to a specific time schedule. For example, calls to a business phone can be set up to ring simultaneously to a mobile phone during normal business hours and then automatically forwarded to a home office phone after hours. Calls from a specific client ring to employees who can help, in priority order, and VIP callers can be routed to any phone.

For more about Speakeasy and Hosted Voice please visit: www.speakeasy.net or call 1-800-556-5829.

 

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About Speakeasy
Speakeasy is one of the nation's leading broadband voice (VoIP), data and IT service providers. Speakeasy helps small businesses succeed by offering simplified voice and data solutions that improve the customer experience, increase employee productivity and help cut costs. Based in Seattle, Speakeasy has provided award-winning customer service since 1994 and joined the Best Buy family of companies in April 2007, working with Best Buy For Business to champion technology for small businesses throughout the U.S. Visit Speakeasy at www.speakeasy.net or call 800.556.5829.

Speakeasy Contact:
Jennifer Huaracha
206-902-5370
jhuaracha@hq.speakeasy.net