For any business, big or small, having a professional telephone answering service can be a great way to increase productivity and save money. There are plenty of great companies offering telephone answering services, but finding the right one for your business needs can be tricky. Depending on the size and scope of your business, some options may not be as important as others. Here are a few things to consider before choosing a telephone answering service for your business.

What Information Can It Supply?

The tricky part about phone answering services is that some offer more services than others in regard to how much information about your business they can handle. Some businesses require their call answering services to be able to supply detailed product and service information, while others simply need them to take messages. Usually, the scope of what an answering service can provide is listed on its webpage. The more information you want them to be privy to, the more it will cost. Finding a phone answering service that will allow you to determine exactly what you want it to know about your business is important. The people hired to answer your business calls, though not a part of your business, are seen as company spokespeople to whoever is calling. You certainly want them to represent your business well, and being allowed to customise what information they need helps in a lot of ways.

Try Before You Buy

A good option to take advantage of, if offered it by the telephone answering service, is a free trial period. Not all call service companies offer their potential customers a free trial period, but if one is offered it should certainly be utilised. This will give you a solid foundation as to how the service fits into your business. It is also a great way to test the service out on your own. Just because a company says it is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week doesn’t make it fact. It is advisable to call the company at odd hours during this trial period to make sure everything is what it claims.

Pricing

Usually, the most important selling point for any phone answering service is its competitive rates. These can vary significantly, depending on whether you sign up for a flat monthly rate or are paying by the call. You want to make sure that the contract you agree to is the best pricing option available for your specific needs. Several companies, such as Netcall Solutions, are extremely well priced, while others can cost a bit more.

Pricing can also be a bit tricky. Usually businesses that start using a phone answering service see significant increases in their business. This results in high call volumes, which may require a change in your contract. This is not always easy, as some companies will charge a fee for breaking a contract or going over the allotted amount of calls they are supposed to take. In order to avoid these fees, it is important to find a flexible plan that has options to be cancelled or altered if necessary.

There are also additional fees for more extensive services, such as order taking. Other hidden fees may include increased costs based on where your messages are sent. Some companies will charge more for messages through e-mail or text messages. Do a fair bit of research and make sure you read the fine print of your contract before signing. This will help clear up any confusing costs.

Call Monitoring and Reporting

In order for complete transparency with a telephone answering service, you will want it to be able to provide your business with detailed call logs. This will give you a fantastic idea of exactly how many calls are coming in each day, the average length of these calls, and much more. Not only will this help you get a clear picture of your call statistics, but it will also help adjust your telephone answering plan if you notice an increase or decrease in calls during certain times of the year. For example, if you notice in your call report that significantly more calls are coming in the afternoon, you can adjust your plan to only cover afternoon calls. Any good telephone answering service should provide detailed call logs in order to give your business all the information it needs to be successful.

Easy to Contact

Another important detail to analyse before choosing a telephone answering service is how easy it is for you to contact it. Things aren’t always going to run without problems, and in the case of a technical glitch you want to make sure that you can reach your call service at a moment’s notice. You should be able to contact them by phone at any hour of the day, and by e-mail, as well. This is especially true if you are paying by the second or by the call. The last thing you want is for your telephone answering service to continue to take calls when it’s no longer necessary. Being able to contact it immediately is definitely something that should be quick and easy.

It Works

There is little doubt that incorporating a phone answering service can increase productivity and save your business money. The hard part is figuring out which company is best suited for your phone call answering needs. Certainly, a bit of research is necessary, but usually these phone answering services will be more than willing to do a little research of their own to help find the best plan for you. Like any business partner, you will need to completely trust your call service provider. These services are unique, and, if tailored the right way, can do wonders for your business. Start your search by investigating companies online to see which ones have good customer reviews and likes on social media. This will give you a great point to start optimising your businesses communication strategies.