What is an answering service

What is an Answering Service?

Answering services take the calls that you and your team don’t have time to take. You delegate when the service takes your calls, such as when your phone lines are busy, when your receptionist steps out for lunch, or when your staff leaves for the evening or weekend. Best of all, the service handles your calls however you instruct them to. You can instruct them to take messages, transfer calls to other people within your office, or even offer the customer troubleshooting steps. There are a variety of ways in which a service like this can bolster your business, no matter which industry you’re in.

An Answering Service Makes Your Business Sound Professional Being good at your job doesn't always translate into handling business telephones professionally. Some jobs require workers to be out of the office or back in the work area, away from the phone for a good portion of the day. This is especially true in certain industries; HVAC services, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, and other service companies can't always afford a full-time professional secretary or receptionist to handle calls when workers are out servicing customers.

Answering services for plumbers, heating and air businesses, electricians, and mechanics can handle the calls when workers are unavailable. This prevents your business from losing customers because they can't get you on the phone. Unfortunately, in industries like these, if callers don't get an answer immediately, they just call the next number in the Yellow Pages, which costs you valuable business. These calling services are especially valuable to one-person shops and to small businesses that don't yet have the resources for a full-time receptionist.

An Answering Service Can Help Your Clients after Hours Many industries -- including health care, heating and air, real estate, and others -- get lots of calls after hours. These businesses are well-served by a professional service that can handle issues like giving instructions for emergency situations or dispatching workers to after-hours service calls. An answering service for health care offices and other 24/7 type businesses doesn't just bolster your level of customer service, it helps people who have problems outside of your normal business hours, providing a valuable service to the community. These services can also schedule appointments for you, assist callers with customer support issues, and many other tasks -- without requiring you to add to your current staff.

An Answering Service Can Get the Phone during Those Busy Times Most businesses have peak times during the day or week when more calls and customers come in than your regular staff can manage. A call answering service works as a protection against overflow so that you don't miss important calls just because the lines were busy or no one in the office could pick up the phone. Is Monday a nightmare around

your office? Does a Friday afternoon rush always catch you off guard? Phone services can pick up the slack so that none of your valuable customers get left without an answer.

Personalized Communications gives you choices about how those messages are delivered to you, and can handle outgoing calls as well as answer inbound calls. Outbound calling services are ideal for when you need to conduct a survey or need someone to call and confirm upcoming appointments. Visit the website for more information or to speak with a representative about pricing. Spanish services are also available so that your business can take advantage of the growing percentage of Hispanic customers who need your services.