Servicing your customers after hours is an important business decision. If leaving a voice mail message for one of your employees to return the call the next business day is not an option, then a 24 hour answering service is the solution. The cost of this service will depend upon the level of service you want to provide to your customers. There are two basic types of answering services available. The higher the level of service you want to provide, the more it will cost you. No mater which type of service you choose, the call will be answered as if your customer is speaking to one of your own employees.
Basic Answering Service
This level of service is the cheapest and provides the bare essentials of telephone answering services. The agent answers the call with a greeting you provide and will proceed to service the caller. Using your guidelines, the service attendant can triage the incoming calls and decide if you need to be contacted immediately, provide alternate information, or take a message for a return call the next business day.
Advanced Call Center Services
This level of service is more complex and expensive. But the expense may be offset by the additional services that it provides. As with the basic type of service, the call will be answered as if it is one of your own employees. In addition to triaging incoming calls, this you can choose which of the following services you want to provide to your customers:
- Technical Support
- Order Taking
- Emergency Service Dispatching
- Appointment Scheduling
- Inbound Sales Leads
- Product and Information Requests
- Customized Responses
Providing these services does not come without effort on your part. In order to provide this level of service specific to your organization, scripts must be written for the call center agent to follow. Every scenario must be thought out and written responses will have to be entered into the call center’s computer system. If order entry is a service you desire, your inventory and pricing information will have to be continuously shared with the call center.
Additional Considerations
- Offshoring is the process of routing your calls overseas to a foreign country that can provide the labor at a cheaper cost. Before you pursue this option, you should evaluate the possible political repercussions of your decision.
- Medical physician answering services provide a specialized service specifically tailored to the needs of physicians. This includes the ability to handle and route medical emergency calls.
- Legal considerations can range from simple contract reviews to negligence and liability claims resulting from the actions of the answering service.
- Cost will vary from service to service. In addition to a monthly fee, charges will kick in if you exceed a pre-agreed upon call volume, the average talk time per call is exceeded or specialized services are provided.
- Automated attendant instead of a live person answering the phone first is one way that you can save money on your contract. The trade-off is that your customers will have to proceed through a series of menu options (e.g. "Press 1 to place an order", etc.) before they speak to a real person.
