A virtual receptionist, sometimes known as a “live receptionist,” is responsible for more than just answering phone calls. Virtual receptionist firms provide a number of services that can improve your company’s capacity to manage incoming client calls, adding a professional touch to your customer-facing communications. If you’re thinking about hiring a virtual receptionist, you should be aware of the advantages it might provide your company.
Is a virtual receptionist the correct choice for you? These are some things to think about.
What does a virtual receptionist do?
A virtual receptionist performs the same functions as an in-house receptionist, including answering phones, taking messages, and scheduling appointments. The distinction is that a virtual receptionist works from a call centre or another remote location.
“These services enable small businesses to have a receptionist provide individualised attention to tiny or fluctuating call volumes without having to recruit, train, and manage a full-time staff, along with all the accompanying expenditures and obligations,” said Jason Junge, CEO of PointerTop.
What is the function of a virtual receptionist?
Outsourcing to a virtual receptionist enables a company to manage inbound calls in a professional manner without having in-house workers interrupt their work to man the phone lines. Instead, a virtual receptionist will manage inbound calls based on your company’s requirements.
“The virtual answering service will answer all of your calls,” Shayne Sherman, CEO of TechLoris, explained. “You will collaborate with the service to develop a script for the reps to follow that is relevant to your company.” “Important calls will be routed to you, and messages and prospects will be gathered and distributed to your sales staff.”
For example, if you know that some types of calls may wait for a response, a live receptionist could be directed to take a message and forward it to the appropriate person to handle at a later time. A virtual receptionist can be trained to patch particular sorts of calls through if you want them sent to you promptly. Depending on the sophistication of the service you select, some virtual receptionists may even answer typical queries on your behalf.
The best virtual receptionists are adaptive to your company’s demands. They should be familiar enough with your company to handle incoming calls with the expertise and professionalism required to increase client satisfaction. They should also be willing and able to adapt their services when your company’s demands evolve.
For These 5 Reasons, Hire a Virtual Receptionist
When you choose your partner properly, virtual receptionists and answering services may be a significant asset to your organisation.
“The most important thing to consider when deploying a virtual answering service is if it solves your present front-desk phone concerns,” remarked AgencyFlare founder James Harper. “Where many small businesses fail is that they don’t properly investigate to see whether the virtual answering service can be personalised to their phone difficulties and demands.” You should only use this type of service if it solves an issue. “It should not add to the workload of your front desk.”
If you’re thinking about hiring a virtual receptionist for your company, here are five advantages you should be able to get:
1. Make internal resources available.
Many small company owners and workers wear several hats, and answering the phone can take time away from other critical responsibilities. Outsourcing your calls to a virtual receptionist relieves your in-house staff of the load of customer service and leaves the obligation with an agent skilled in increasing client satisfaction.
2. Enhance the consumer experience
An excellent virtual receptionist ensures that your clients’ calls are returned promptly and with professionalism and care. Virtual receptionists are educated customer care representatives that understand how to properly represent your business. The correct answering service may improve the overall customer experience and, ideally, increase retention rates.
3. Provide after-hours assistance.
Who answers the phones when your small business closes for the day or the weekend? Your callers will still feel taken care of by a virtual receptionist, and their messages will be ready for you when you open your doors the next morning. If your virtual receptionist can answer frequent queries on your behalf, your callers may be able to settle their difficulties right away. Increasing your customer service hours is another strategy to increase client happiness.
4. Make appointment scheduling more efficient.
Scheduling appointments may be a time-consuming task, especially if numerous staff members handle it using different systems. By delegating the duty to a virtual receptionist, the appointment-setting process is unified, and every stakeholder is kept up-to-date through automatic alerts and shared calendars. Some virtual receptionists can even send appointment reminders to reduce no-shows and cancellations at the last minute.
5. Make yourself appear more professional.
Keeping a receptionist gives your company a sense of grandeur. When a receptionist answers the phone on your behalf, it communicates to consumers that your company is a formal entity with a well-defined procedure. In other words, a virtual receptionist may help to strengthen your image as a competent company that provides excellent customer service.
The Top Virtual Receptionist Services
#1. AnswerForce
Collect leads and plan callouts around the clock, with real people answering calls and chats after hours, on weekends, and during vacations.
AnswerForce specialises in virtual receptionists who can assist you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, saving you money on missed opportunities and allowing you to focus on what really matters: your clients.
Features:
- Plans that are adaptable to clients’ needs and seasonality
- Appointment scheduling, estimates, and callbacks are all available.
- Answering in both English and Spanish.
- Qualification and capture of leads
- Workflow, CRM, and calendar software integrations
- Calls, overflow, after hours, and weekends can all be handled in a variety of ways.
#2. AnswerConnect
With 24/7 help from a team of professional, live receptionists, you’ll never miss another call again. You may ensure that the most critical opportunities reach you right away by using customised call scripts and call routing. No matter what hour they call, every caller is answered by a kind voice.
Features:
- Experience spanning over 20 years.
- Call answering, live chat assistance, appointment scheduling, lead qualification, and other services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Connect with your preferred CRM solutions, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho.
- The best smartphone app for organising prospect and customer conversations
#3. Grasshopper
Grasshopper is a virtual phone system for small businesses that is hosted in the cloud. They give you business phone lines and even transfer calls to your personal phone so you can answer them from wherever you are.
Features:
- A mobile application that allows you to receive customer calls and messages on your own phone
- A desktop programme that allows you to accept VoIP calls, text messages, and voicemails and respond to your clients accordingly.
- Call forwarding and transfer
- Answering machine.
- Call blasting: They give various phone extensions to ensure that no calls are missed.
#4. Ooma
Ooma Office provides a versatile virtual receptionist service to organisations of all sizes. When it comes to automatically routing calls, it works fairly well. Ooma lets your business save face by automatically routing calls so that no calls are missed. Ooma also excels at creating personalised communications.
It is fairly simple to generate personalised messages with Ooma by entering typical company information such as location and operating hours. You may also add menu items for multiple languages, such as English, French, and Spanish.
Features:
- Identify yourself by name.
- Modes for business hours may be easily created.
- Personalized message creation
- Calls are automatically routed.
- Choose from a variety of greeting templates.
#5. Nexa
Nexa is a virtual receptionist services provider established in the United States that provides bilingual receptionists that are educated to meet the call-answering demands of various sectors. They mostly serve insurance companies, home services, and legal experts.
Features:
- Outbound calls for increased sales and marketing initiatives
- Making appointments.
- Smartphone application that provides insights into relevant data-driven conversations.
- Bilingual employees provide live virtual receptionist services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Reports that summarise the data gathered during phone calls.
#6. Ruby
Ruby provides virtual receptionist options such as live receptionists and chat 24/7/365, as well as a mobile app that allows you to quickly direct when to take up your clients’ calls. Ruby’s receptionists are trained to provide personalised service to your callers.
Features:
- Virtual receptionists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Employ virtual receptionists to work around the clock or for a limited time.
- Ruby is a smartphone application that connects you to virtual receptionists that work for you.
- Outbound marketing campaigns, for example.
#7. ReceptionHQ
ReceptionHQ is a virtual receptionist service provider headquartered in the United States that has served over 25,000 customers to date. They provide a seven-day trial period. Before you pay them, you may view a demonstration of how they function.
Features:
- Bilingual receptionists are in charge of answering live calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Scripting is what it’s called.
- Options for flexible messages and phone transfers
- Mobile application for managing call, greeting, transfer, forwarding, and other settings.
- CRM connectivity is a must.
#8. My receptionist
My Receptionist is a 132-person company that provides virtual secretary services around the clock. Its services span from phone answering to message taking and CRM integration, among other things.
Features:
- You may send encrypted communications to your clients using the mobile messaging capability.
- Making appointments.
- Reminds your customers of forthcoming appointments.
- 24/7 answering services that are available in real time
- Screening calls.
#9. Davinci
Davinci provides innovative solutions for your company’s needs. They provide services such as virtual company addresses, live answering services 24 hours a day, actual meeting rooms, and much more.
Features:
- 24/7 Services for Live Virtual Receptionists
- Virtual office address for your business cards, worldwide auto-receptionist
- Actual places may be reserved instantly or on an hourly basis.
#10. Abby Connect
Abby Connect is one of the top virtual receptionist firms available, with a team of well-trained receptionists who are bilingual, professional, and devoted to providing the greatest service to your callers.
Features:
- Receive answering services during business hours or 24/7, depending on your needs.
- Receptionists who are bilingual
- Making appointments.
- Competent, well-trained receptionists
FAQs
How much does it cost to hire a virtual receptionist?
In summary, depending on the package, a virtual receptionist might cost anywhere from $25 to $3,000 per month. Yet, virtual receptionist programmes might include a variety of components.
What makes me desire to work as a virtual receptionist?
Flexibility. Work whenever and wherever you choose. One of the most significant advantages of working as a virtual assistant is the freedom to choose your work schedule and location. Many of us have a designated home office space or location in our houses where we can work quietly and without distractions.
What is the function of a virtual receptionist?
A virtual receptionist is software that makes certain that no client call goes unanswered. Incoming calls are handled by virtual receptionists, who also handle basic consumer needs. These requirements might include appointment scheduling, call routing, or account information.
Conclusion
This article analyses and examines the top virtual receptionist service providers in the industry so you can choose the best one for you depending on your specific needs.