One day last month, I scheduled a meeting with a friend. I asked him where we should meet. He said “Kick Butt Coffee”! I said “That’s what I want, so where are we going?” He went on to introduce me to a cool coffee shop on Airport Blvd. called “Kick Butt Coffee”.

At first, I must admit, I thought it was a little hokey. Once you arrive you know that it is really “Kick Butt”! They idolize Chuck Norris. His sayings are all over the place including the restroom. There is usually a Kung Fu flick playing on the plasma TV. Oh, did I mention the place is owned and operated by a Tai-chi and Kung Fu black belt. His name is Master Gohring.

They have the usual coffee shop staples: Wifi, lack of plugs, and the notion that the customers should be entertained with guitars or stand up comedy. (I actually stayed for the open mic comedy and it was pretty cool). What makes this place unique is the employees where traditional Kung Fu outfits, you can buy fake Nunchucks and it has a full bar when a coffee kick is just not enough.

Everyone is friendly even though they could probably kick your butt if you get out of line. It has become one of my favorite meeting spots because it is roomy, comfortable and feel so safe with all the Chuck Norris disciples working behind the counter. This has become one of my new Virtual Offices!

How can one number work in five places? Christian Brothers Automotive has five locations in the Austin metro area. The owners got together and bought radio advertising. The radio spots where done by Dave Ramsey, the debt free motivational speaker. Rather than having to advertise five numbers for all of the locations, they wanted to provide one number for prospects to call. We helped them secure the number: 512-FIX-AUTO. The caller has the option to press a digit to reach the nearest location. This system is designed to route calls during business hours. After hours the system takes a message then delivers it via email.

The owners have the ability to log on to the web admin and view reports on how many calls were received over a specific amount of time.

This is a great way for multiple location companies to maximize their marketing. Callers only have to remember one number. They can use the number in print ads to save space.

I am a fan and supporter of NPR (National Public Radio). One of the shows I like to listen to is called “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me”. It is a comedy new quiz of the past week in the headlines. The show has very little to do with VOIP or telecom services. But wait! One of the prizes for answering the questions correctly is……. Carl Castle’s voice on your home ANSWERING MACHINE!

People seem to be genuinely happy about winning that prize. Every time I hear it, I laugh out loud and think “Do people really still have answering machines at home?” If so, where can you buy them? How much are they? For the record, I gave my last answering machine to my brother in law back in 1994 (He still has it!). Every since then, it has been CallNotes, voicemail and virtual pbx services.

I think the Answering Machine should take it’s place right next to the typewriter in the old school office. If you are running your business using an answering, please call us! We can save you. In fact if someone calls me at X.104 and still uses an Answering Machine, I will donate 3 months of service and help you find a new home for the old relic!

Check out this episode of “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” from NPR

People ask me “What is a Remote PBX?” How does it differ from a Hosted PBX or Virtual PBX? The short answer is: There is no difference!

A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) offers a unified front door so callers can reach all of your employees by dialing one main phone number, which is particularly useful if your business uses more than one telephone line.

Your local telephone company will be happy to sell or lease pricey PBX equipment to set up this type of service. However, you can now get many of the same telephone call-handling capabilities at a fraction of the cost by using a Web-based virtual PBX service.

A month-to-month Remote PBX gives you the flexibility of being able to enhance or cancel the service at any time. There’s no capital investment or commitment to a long-term leasing contract.

You do not need some big fancy office to have a Remote PBX. In fact, you do not even need a phone line.