Telephone Answering Services

[Simmy]

Recently I'm getting around 10-15 phone calls per day and alot of the time they are whilst I'm out on other jobs. I could redirect them to my mobile, but it just doesn't feel right answering the phone on someone elses time/money.

I have also found that when people leave a voicemessage, they are still likely to carry on phoning around until they talk to a human.

I'm considering using a service like Moneypenny, where someone in a call center answers the phone as though they work for you - "SMG Computers, how may I help you" etc. At least this way, the customer will get through to a human. Moneypenny then text me a brief report saying who has called and what the problem is. The other advantage is they weed out the telemarketing callers and I get to decide who I respond to depending on whether I think I can sort the problem or whether it's a waste of time.

For those of you that use this service, what do you think about it? I'm deciding between trying this route or taking on someone else to work with me, which raises a whole load of other problems.

 

[seedubya]

Yes, absolutely. My phone is like yours, rings 10 - 20 times every day. Many of those calls are non urgent. I let ALL my landline and about half my mobile calls go to the answering service and I get a text and email with a message. It's like having a receptionist. Everyone gets called back within 2 hours. I pay €100/mth. for 100 mins of "answering time" and most calls are less than 1 minute. Highly recommended. I use http://www.thephoneansweringservice.com/ who are based in Ireland but can handle calls pretty much anywhere, I believe.

 

[pcweirdness]

I have the same issue. Getting so many calls is excellent but kinda frustrating too. My policy is if I am onsite working for a client then my calls go to voicemail, its just common courtesy. Trouble is the people that will hear the voicemail then call back right away and again and again. Don't stress I WILL call you back ;-) So your idea of a "human" answering service is pretty good I may have too look at that myself.

 

[seedubya]

It works really well. I only started using it February of this year. Since I started using it I have not had a single missed call. Not one. Not even the "private number"s

 

[Sevdog]

I have a friend who works for an answering service and he answers calls for a local technician. They enter his appointments into a Google calendar and he is always fully booked. Seems like it is well worth it if you have that many calls and I will look into when I get into the phonebook. Since I'm fairly new (January) I am not getting enough calls for it to be a problem for me.

 

[Bryce W]

Sounds like a good idea, just be sure to call your own number and test them out every now and then. Also, be aware of the accent the peson answering the calls as it can turn people off. Its shallow and probably racist, but its a sad fact that many clients DO care about the accent that answers the phone.

 

[Shaggyra]

I am very interested in a good service in the U.S. I get between 10-15 calls per day and most of the time I'm on the road. As hard as I try it seems I always miss calling back someone in a reasonable time period. (Bad for reputation.)

It has become a real problem and I intend to research it more this weekend.

Any ideas or success stories welcome...

 

[TechGirl86]

Unfortunately it IS a big part of my job to "weed" through the calls from my techs, and I have to say I get about 10-15 unnecessary (as I am typing this I received such a call). I've had to learn to recognize the voice and tone of true customers, of telemarketers, and local sales call. About every 3rd call I get is an actual customer with a relevant computer issue. I wish we did have an answering service at first, and the important calls can be directed to me, but I don't think this would work either. I say the "answering machine" or the out sourced receptionist is a great idea if you don't have a "catch all" like me. I do have to agree with Bryce and say you would need to get someone that speaks clearly in your language because many people are put off by this, and yes I agree it is a shame.

 

[angry_geek]

I disagree with some of you. I do think it's a shame to not be able to understand the person on the other end due to accent, however I don't think it has anything to do with racism. Over the years, I have become pretty adept at understanding Indian accents due to many hours with various customer service companies. The problem is many non-Indians are not familiar with Indian or other accents, especially in the central US where I live. It's not that people think less of them or are prejudiced. They just get frustrated because they can't understand them. I work with a couple of Pakistani doctors on a regular basis. Usually the nurses have to go over the doctor's orders with the patient just to make sure they understand what to do with a certain drug or whatever. It's especially difficult for older people to understand foreign accents. My neighbor across the street is about 65 years old and is from Puerto Rico. Although she speaks English, she has such a thick accent I can hardly understand her. However, I understand just fine when she invites me to eat with her family. That woman can cook!! I think it's her fault I'm putting on weight. I digress. Anyway, I think it's important to have a call service in your own country or at least people answering with the same native language as you. That being said, I often have a friend of mine answer my calls for me when I get busy. She was born and raised in Ireland. My customers love it when she answers. People will talk to her just to hear her voice and accent. If only they knew how much fun she is to look at, they would want her to come out to fix their machines. Anyway, language is an issue. Make sure your call service is pleasant to speak with and your customers won't have any problem understanding them.

 

[TechGirl86]

I disagree with some of you. I do think it's a shame to not be able to understand the person on the other end due to accent, however I don't think it has anything to do with racism. Over the years, I have become pretty adept at understanding Indian accents due to many hours with various customer service companies. The problem is many non-Indians are not familiar with Indian or other accents, especially in the central US where I live. It's not that people think less of them or are prejudiced. They just get frustrated because they can't understand them. I work with a couple of Pakistani doctors on a regular basis. Usually the nurses have to go over the doctor's orders with the patient just to make sure they understand what to do with a certain drug or whatever. It's especially difficult for older people to understand foreign accents. My neighbor across the street is about 65 years old and is from Puerto Rico. Although she speaks English, she has such a thick accent I can hardly understand her. However, I understand just fine when she invites me to eat with her family. That woman can cook!! I think it's her fault I'm putting on weight. I digress. Anyway, I think it's important to have a call service in your own country or at least people answering with the same native language as you. That being said, I often have a friend of mine answer my calls for me when I get busy. She was born and raised in Ireland. My customers love it when she answers. People will talk to her just to hear her voice and accent. If only they knew how much fun she is to look at, they would want her to come out to fix their machines. Anyway, language is an issue. Make sure your call service is pleasant to speak with and your customers won't have any problem understanding them.

Good post, but I was speaking not about racism. I too was talking about the "understanding" thing. It had nothing to do with people being prejudice towards the Indian tech people. I was saying it because I know where I am from, lots of people are impatient and won't even try to understand foreign accents, and I was not speaking of just people in the US. I wanted to include everyone, that's why I said "speaks your language clearly" because it would be a shame to lose customers because of something like that.

 

[@ncient geek]

Recently I'm getting around 10-15 phone calls per day and alot of the time they are whilst I'm out on other jobs. I could redirect them to my mobile, but it just doesn't feel right answering the phone on someone elses time/money.

I have also found that when people leave a voicemessage, they are still likely to carry on phoning around until they talk to a human.

I'm considering using a service like Moneypenny, where someone in a call center answers the phone as though they work for you - "SMG Computers, how may I help you" etc. At least this way, the customer will get through to a human. Moneypenny then text me a brief report saying who has called and what the problem is. The other advantage is they weed out the telemarketing callers and I get to decide who I respond to depending on whether I think I can sort the problem or whether it's a waste of time.

For those of you that use this service, what do you think about it? I'm deciding between trying this route or taking on someone else to work with me, which raises a whole load of other problems.

This is not only an excellent choice, but has been practised with great success for many, many years. A secretary would be the best choice, but in absence of the necessary funds outsourcing is second best.

The voice answering the telephone decides often if you will get a job or not. A professional answering the phone will do so in a manner to represent your company in the best possible manner.

Rests finding this rare service person