Google My Business to Log Recent Customer Calls

Google My Business is engaged on a brand new characteristic that can permit companies to see current buyer calls triggered from search outcomes.

Google is notifying enterprise house owners about this upcoming characteristic by way of the GMB. The notification will be seen beneath:

Clicking on Try it out prompts a message saying “You’ll be notified when this feature is available.”

Call historical past in Google My Business is clearly within the early phases of growth. But there’s a assist web page already revealed the place customers can study extra in regards to the characteristic earlier than it launches.

Clicking on Learn extra hyperlinks to a assist web page that reads:

“You can use name historical past to preserve observe of telephone calls out of your clients on Google Search and Maps. Your calls are multi functional place to enable you to reply to missed calls and keep engaged together with your clients.

These calls could make it simpler for you to discover and do enterprise with clients who discovered what you are promoting by means of Google. Any calls you get out of your Business Profile will begin with a brief message that allows you to realize it’s from Google.”

How Google My Business Call History Works

When this characteristic launches, a devoted “Calls” tab will probably be added to the Google My Business app.

The Calls tab will log calls from clients that click on the “Call” button on a GMB enterprise profile. Both missed calls and answered calls will probably be logged.

Call historical past can solely be considered from the Google My Business app. It is not going to be obtainable on the browser model of Google My Business.

This subsequent half is vital to listen to, as a result of it might decide whether or not you even need to use the characteristic or not.

Opting In or Out of Call History

When name historical past in Google My Business turns into obtainable, companies can select to activate it or not.

There’s one massive motive why a enterprise may select not to opt-in to name historical past: it disguises the enterprise’s precise telephone quantity.

In order to log calls from GMB profiles, Google has to create a forwarding quantity for purchasers to use as an alternative of the quantity on the enterprise profile.

For some this can be a difficulty, and for others it will not be.

Whether this issues all relies on how vital it’s to the enterprise that they’re contacted by means of their precise telephone quantity.

Here’s what Google says about name forwarding within the assist web page:

“The Google forwarding number varies based on the location in which it’s dialed, which includes its area code or prefix number. When possible, the forwarding number will share the same area code or prefix number as your business. Otherwise, a local number in your geographic region is used. If these numbers aren’t available, a toll-free Google forwarding number is used.”

This feels just like the telephone quantity equal of Google disguising writer domains in AMP URLs. Although that’s additionally a difficulty which issues to some and never others.

Customers will nonetheless find a way to see your actual telephone quantity on what you are promoting profile. The forwarding quantity will solely be used when the “Call” button is tapped.

Should you determine to activate name historical past, in the beginning of every name out of your GMB profile you’ll hear an automatic message that claims “Call from Google.”

When Google launches name historical past companies can flip it on and off at any time from their GMB dashboard.

Calls are saved for 45 days within the “Calls” tab. Call historical past solely tracks telephone calls, not texts.

The beta model of name historical past in Google My Business will probably be obtainable for a choose group of companies within the US solely.

Sources: Google My Business Help, Local Search Forum