How Does An Answering Service Work?

Not 100% sure how this whole virtual receptionist thing works? Not to worry. In this blog post we’ll answer any questions that may be running through your head right now about the phone answering service experience.

So what is a phone answering service exactly?

A phone answering service is a company that fields calls on behalf of another business. Think of these services as a call handling safety net, which essentially takes the place of your voicemail. Whenever you and your staff can’t get to the phone, a phone answering service will take on the call for you, and give your callers a live virtual receptionist to speak with in real time.

Why would my business need a phone answering service?

Those managing their own company have a lot to deal with these days, and it can be all too easy for them to become overwhelmed. Phone answering services like Ring Savvy help simplify life for those running growing businesses.

What solutions can phone answering services provide?

• They can keep you from missing out on new leads. You’ll be much more likely to make a quality first impression on potential new customers if you give them a live person to speak with.
• They can make onboarding new customers a smoother process. The best phone answering services will be able to expertly handle new customer intake on your behalf.
• They can take over phone answering responsibilities whenever you need a break. When you don’t feel like getting on a call, an answering service will always be there to make sure your customers aren’t being neglected.
• They can keep you from having to answer calls during overnights, weekends and holidays. Balancing work and personal time becomes a much easier task when you have professional phone answering help.
• They can help you engage with Spanish speaking customers. A bilingual phone answering service can be an incredibly valuable tool for helping your business expand into new markets.
• They can keep you from wasting time with telemarketers and robocalls. Let your answering service filter out all the callers you don’t want to deal with.
• They can assist you in managing your work calendar. Allow highly trained virtual receptionists to handle appointment scheduling with callers on your behalf and book appointments directly into your calendar.
• They can give your business a more professional appearance. Nothing is more unprofessional than sending a customer in need to your voicemail. A phone answering service will make sure that never happens.

Perhaps the most important solution phone answering services provide is that they keep your callers from getting sent to voicemail. These days, consumers have very little patience for dealing with automated machines, and are looking for immediate live support from the businesses they work with. Sending new leads to voicemail usually results in missed customer opportunities. Sending existing customers to voicemail often results in poor online reviews and/or missed opportunities for future referrals.

Having a live answering service in place will ensure that your callers get the chance to be turned off by your voicemail, and always get the opportunity to speak with a live representative of your company, who will make them feel heard and cared for.

Who are these services for?

Phone answering services can be useful for just about any industry that receives phone calls on a daily basis.

Those working in field service industries such as HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, construction, heating/oil and cleaning seem to benefit most from using a phone answering service like Ring Savvy, as virtual receptionists can provide their teams with invaluable phone coverage while working out of office.

Those running companies that receive a high volume of calls, such as auto repair shops, pet grooming shops, real estate companies, dental offices and accounting offices, also end up frequently turning to phone answering services.

Who exactly is answering my phones?

A typical phone answering service will provide a team of virtual receptionists to answer phones on behalf of a business. These virtual receptionists are often working out of a single call center location. In many cases, they will be operating from individual locations, such as their homes.

Don’t be thrown off by the word “virtual”. These receptionists are 100% human, and will be ready to provide a much needed human touch to your company’s customer service experiences. Quality phone answering services will go the extra mile of making sure all of their virtual receptionists are highly trained on performing tasks such as new customer intake, live transferring and appointment scheduling.

Don’t a lot of answering services outsource their calls?

Many phone answering services are guilty of this, which is why you need to be careful about which service you choose. Most companies won’t be too open about the fact that they’re outsourcing calls to questionable locations, so it’s important to ask phone answering services lots of questions about their receptionists before moving forward with them. If the representative you speak with doesn’t provide a lot of straight answers, it’s probably time to move on to another one.

Ring Savvy is one phone answering service that never outsources calls, and relies entirely on an in-house staff based in Long Island, New York. We’re always happy to spotlight our virtual receptionist team members and talk in-depth about our phone answering process. Seriously, call us now at 631-250-2794 and we can talk out any concerns you might have about using our service.

What’s the fastest way to get started with a phone answering service?

Most phone answering companies will give you the chance to participate in a free trial of their service. Ring Savvy provides customers with a 7-day free trial, which you can sign up for here. You can also obtain pricing information for Ring Savvy on this page.

We hope this post was a helpful introduction into the world of phone answering services. To read more about what a phone answering service can provide, we recommend you check out the following blog posts.

Why You’ll Need The Support Of A Live Answering Service During Your Busiest Seasons

Can A Live Answering Service Effectively Perform As A Full-Time Receptionist?

What’s It Like Interacting With A 24/7 Answering Service During Overnights and Weekends?