5 Mistakes to Avoid Making When Selecting an Answering Service for Your Company

It's probably easy for you to think of all of the ways having an answering service for your phones can benefit your company. However, you may have some trouble navigating your way among the different answering service options out there these days.

When you're selecting an answering phone service, you need to avoid making the following five mistakes to find the service that's the best available option for your company:

Not taking the time to explore all of the different service features available to you

Before you even get started tracking down the right answering service, you should do some brainstorming on just what you want your answering service to be able to do for you.

Call screenings, cloud technology offering web access, voicemail, and appointment planning are just a few of the many features that can be incorporated into answering service packages. Make sure you're aware of all of the available features that could make the job of running your company easier for you.

Being unfamiliar with the training of call center staff members

It helps to know just what call center staff members are able to do if you're relying on a live answering service.

You're going to get your own clients calling in and asking all kinds of questions about your company, products, and services to these staff members. Call center staff will basically be representing your company. You therefore should be familiar with their training and capabilities. 

Neglecting confidentiality requirements of your particular industry

Depending on what industry you're working in, you may need to adhere to certain confidentiality requirements or risk legal repercussions. For example, if you work in health care you need to be absolutely certain you're adhering to HIPAA guidelines. 

When you use an answering service, the answering service will have access to client data. It's therefore important to make sure that you have the right to authorize an answering service to record this information for you. 

Focusing too much on the price when comparing package options

Certain add-on features that increase the price of your answering service package might actually save you money in the long run by reducing your labor or office equipment costs.  

Look not only at the costs when comparing packages, but the potential savings individual package features offer your company as well.

Being unaware of additional fees you'll have to pay as part of your package

Some answering services will charge you more for taking calls outside of business hours or on holidays. Make sure that you're aware of any of these additional fees so that you have a good idea of what the actual costs of your package will be. 

To learn more about the answering services available to you, talk to a business like A Tri-Cities Connection Inc.