In October 2020, Google began showing a call history feature in Google My Business. But the data was blank and it may, at best, have shown a summary of answered and missed calls initiated from Google Maps or Google Search.
Now Google has begun to show actual caller data, including their caller ID information such as the name and phone number, along with the date of the call.
What it looks like. John Smith shared a screenshot of this report on Twitter.
As you can see, it shows the caller phone number, the date they called and if you answered or missed the call. It also lets you click on three buttons, call, copy and history to either call them back, copy the phone number or see the history of that caller; how many times they called you. At the top, it shows you the total number of answered and missed calls in that time period.
Why don’t you see this? Google said in its help document that this is “currently an experimental feature and only available for a select group of businesses in the US only.” I personally do not see it for my US business, so I will wait and hope I gain access soon.
How it works. Google said that when a customer uses the “Call” button on your Business Profile, their calls show up in the “Calls” tab in Google My Business. From this tab you can find recent calls, missed calls, and more. Once call history is on, customers connect to you through a forwarding number instead of through the number on your profile. At the start of a call, you’ll get an automated message that says, “Call from Google.”
Why we care. As we said in our previous coverage, historically, small businesses have done a poor job in answering the phone and responding to missed calls. That may have changed considerably as many businesses struggle during this challenging period.
While a modest feature, call history could help improve small business customer service and secure incremental sales. There may also be more sophisticated enterprise use cases.
I know for me, my office is not fully staffed yet, many of my employees are working from home with not a great way to field calls. So answering all the calls are hard and missed calls is a much bigger issue for my company now and during COVID. These reports may help me figure out who to call back sooner or not call back at all.
