Is an answering service worth the money?

Many small businesses wish to appear larger and/or to offer callers a real human to answer the phone on those occasions when they themselves are unable to do so and there are a plethora of answering services and VA’s (Virtual Assistants) about to fill that need. Packages are typically two stage. A fixed retainer which includes a certain number of messages and then a rate per call or a rate per minute thereafter. Unanswered calls are forwarded to a remote number (at whatever rate the carrier charges) and the VA answers the call and takes a message, a summation of which is then emailed to the user. However where is the value add? The issue about which the caller rang must still be dealt with so there is little if any benefit to inserting a telephone answerer at all. A modern phone system offers auto answer, voice based routing and voicemail services where the actual caller’s message is emailed to the user just as the VA’s notes, but at no charge whatsoever. There is no judgement in reaching a voicemail so where is the point? Especially as the VA brings human error into the equation.

There are two obvious reactions to this state of affairs; a) why not use the call handling features of a modern system to either route calls to a colleague or allow the caller to leave a message which can then either be transcribed automatically and then emailed or the recording be emailed to the user which saves money and is actually more reliable. Or there is option b) which is to engage a proper VA who can trained on your systems such as to be able to not just answer but in many instances to deal fully with the call. Functions such as booking appointments, gathering information and even processing orders can all be outsourced and to best effect.

If your current call handling does not cut the mustard ro if you would like to see how much better it might be, get in touch here to arrange a conversation with one of our consultants.