Call answering is actually about much more than simply answering a business’ telephone calls. In simple terms, it is about the management of telephone calls. This can either be managed in house or outsourced to a specialist call answering service provider. This solution can handle both inbound and outbound calls, as well as other components of your customer telephone support system.

A telephone answering service helps you manage incoming calls to your business. Specialist call answering services will follow your script, filter out unwanted calls, forward calls, take messages and reply to customers in real-time. Call answering services provide improved customer experience, as your customers won’t have to wait on hold for an extended period of time.

There are many benefits of call answering services. The most obvious one is cost efficiency; fees will be much lower than the cost of an employee. A telephone answering service reduces your workload to allow you to concentrate on the things that really matter to your business. In addition, outsourced call answering services give you access to bespoke technology and specialist experience. Third-party services will often utilise technologies like Interactive Voice Response (IVR), enabling a high level of client self-service through the use of speech recognition. Call answering service providers will have experience of how to reduce hold times, which is crucial as long hold periods have a negative influence on brand perception and customer satisfaction.