Virtual Receptionists During Recession

In this time of recession, businesses across America have been faced with challenges to save money in order to be competitive and stay afloat.  And among several popular solutions have been virtual receptionists, a service made available by innumerable companies nation-wide who function successfully with the aid of different types of software.  Virtual reception services are affordable, can make a small business seem bigger, and can assist in improving a company's bottom line by being available around the clock.  A virtual receptionist is never late, does not call in sick, and will never put in a request for vacation time.  Best yet, virtual receptionists are still, in most cases, real (often bilingual) people. 

The gains are innumerable in the favor of these types of virtual services, usually provided for a modest monthly fee.  The way it works is simple: a virtual receptionist will answer your calls from a call center, using your company's custom greeting, and will screen calls, connect callers, take messages, and relay messages.  Services also promise to offer simple information to callers, such as hours of operation including holiday schedules, as well as directions to your establishment.  Because they'll answer the phone 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, you'll never miss an important inquiry or a serious message, which ultimately could help increase the bottom line of your business.  Not to mention make a small business appear bigger, as callers won’t have any idea the helpful receptionist they spoke with wasn't an in house employee.

Other reception services can be a hassle for clients to use, such as automated touch-dial calling.  These aren't as popular with callers who often complain they, "just want to speak with a real person," making live virtual receptionist services much more attractive in the long run.  Often times, especially with older callers, people become frustrated and hang up, choosing another business that is easier to reach.  This isn't a competitive way to go about business, especially in times of economic crisis.  A friendly and experienced receptionist who never misses a call is a much smarter and more profitable option.  Their calls are often recorded for the purpose of quality assurance, allowing business owners to listen through calls at their leisure to ensure their company is being represented properly, but this tool can also be handy for double checking phone numbers and name spelling.  No more transposed phone numbers, and no more miss-spellings.  In house receptionists can't make guarantees like this, and automated services surely cannot either.