An answering service can help you achieve your strategic targets
What is an answering service?
An answering service is where an external company answers some or all of your incoming calls. Call answering has been around for quite some time however the internet and making use of remote working has opened up the possibilities for how this style of business service can provide valuable solutions to a variety of businesses in meeting their messaging needs.
How does phone answering work?
The telephone answering process works in a seamless way. Firstly, when you sign up for a free trial of our service we will allocate you a telephone number. If you are a Sydney business then this would likely be a Sydney number however we have stocks of numbers from all capital cities within Australia. This phone number is the number that we will be answering so once your account is set up you would transfer your existing number to this number. Once you have your number you then need to let us know how you would like us to greet your customers. You may want to keep your greeting formal or you may want it to be more relaxed, it is totally up to you. You can also change that greeting at any time that you want. Now that we know how you want your messages answered you will need to tell us how you want these messages delivered through to you. You can get your messages delivered by either email or SMS. With the popularity of the smart phone we find that the majority of our customers these days get their messages delivered by email. You are now pretty well ready to go, all you need to do is divert your existing number to the number that we have provided and we can start answering your calls.
How is it different to an answering machine?
Callers generally dislike using an answering machine. With a telephone answering service your potential customer or clients will get to talk to a real person when they answer that call. The service that our team provide can include directing an incoming call to the correct person or providing your callers with information about your business. An answering machine cannot provide this style of service where it caters to the clients needs.
Who answers the customer calls?
During business hours your calls will be answered by our Australia based receptionists. Outside of business hours if you opt for our 24/7 answering services then your calls will be answered by a mix of our Australian receptionists, our UK based receptionist team and our American receptionist team. Unlike many of our competitors we do not outsource our telephone answering to low cost Asian call centres. Our professional receptionists are mature experienced workers who have been fully trained in answering calls and delivering a first class level of service. We aim to answer the majority of calls within 6 rings and deliver you your messages within minutes of the end of the call.
What types of businesses use answering services?
A broad range of businesses make use of our services. We have more than 2,000 customers across the world. Many of our customers are legal professionals, accounting professionals and IT contractors. We have customers who have eCommerce websites, bookkeeping services and architecture practices. At the ends of the day, if you have a small business or a start-up business then you can quite likely make use of a professional answering services.
Call answering can be flexible
You don't need to get all of your calls answered. Some clients use us just as an overflow service while others use us during seasonally busy periods when they are expecting a lot of client calls. Our answering plans can work in with your schedule and our team can be there to take that live call when you are either too busy or not available. We are a call service that is extremely flexible.
Will I be locked in to an answering services contract?
Here at VirtualOffice.Sydney we do not believe in locking our customers into long term answering services contracts. When you sign up with Virtual Office Sydney you will be able to cancel with just one months notice. We are currently answering calls for more than 2,000 customers worldwide and none of those customers are locked in to long term contracts. Some of our customers have been with us for more than 4 years and they stay with us because they value our service and the solutions we provide and and we bring real value to their business. If you would like to find out why our customers are so loyal and love our services then you should think about signing up for a free trial of our service and testing us out for yourself.
Do you just answer the phone and take messages?
Here at Virtual Office Sydney we pride ourselves on our flexibility. If all you want is straight forward answering and a solution that provides your team with messaging then we are happy to provide you with one. If you need a team to be on the other side of the phone taking specific actions with your customer or client calls then we are happy to work with you to make it work. Some of our customer solutions will require us to transfer certain calls and provide messaging on others. Other clients will require us to fill out web based forms when callers ring. If it is feasible to do via the internet then we will look at the possibilities of putting it in place. Many of our professional customers use our diary management service to make bookings and keep their diary up to date. Our receptionists are skilled at using a whole variety of diary management platforms. Why not talk to one of our customer care representatives about your requirements and we will be happy to work with you to see if we can come up with a solution that suits your specific situation.
How do I update my call answering account?
There are a number of ways that you can keep your account up to date. Firstly, you can log in to our portal via our website. If you look at the top left hand corner of the website you will see a button for "login". If you select this button you will then be taken to our login page. An alternative way of logging in to our portal is to use our iPhone or Android app. You can download the apps from Google Play or from itunes. Once you have the app installed on your phone you will be able to make changes to your services at any time that you like and from almost any location. If you don't feel comfortable making changes yourself via our portal then you are quite welcome to give one of our friendly customer care representatives a call and we will be happy to make those changes over the phone.
How can I get started with the service?
Easy, simply sign up for an answering services free trial and you will be able to test drive our systems for the next 7 days. Alternatively, you could just ring one of our helpful customer service representatives and we will be happy to sign you up on the spot. The one complaint that we continually hear from our customers is "I wish that I had known about this sooner!"