01442 231663
FAQs
Q: I have a receptionist, why would I need another one?
What happens when your receptionist or receptionists are engaged, you have a call surge or unexpected absenses? All businesses, whatever the size miss calls or take too long to answer from time to time. With your Virtual Receptionist as a back up, you know you won’t miss that all important business call again.
Q: My calls are diverted to my mobile - I don’t miss calls so how can this benefit me?
Are there times when you are a slave to your mobile? Would it help to switch it off knowing it will be answered professionally. If you switch it off during a meeting - do you really want an important client to listen to a voicemail? How much new business do you think you lose because of voicemails - 80% of people will not leave a message? Divert it to your Virtual Receptionist and don’t be a slave any longer or miss any important calls.
Q: Surely it is an additional cost to my business?
Don’t think of it as a cost - think how much it will save you. For less than £1 per day, you could use the time you would have spent answering unimportant calls generating more business or just achieving so much more in a day. You can focus on the important calls by ringing them straight back and leaving the others to deal with at the end of the day. Many clients find that they have more than made up for the outlay with the first new client they would otherwise have missed.
Q: How does my Virtual Receptionist know enough about my business to sound professional?
We give you a simple password protected web page to allow you to type in a few lines about your business that automatically ‘pop up’ on your Virtual Receptionist's screen when a call of yours comes in. You can even give us daily instructions or ask us to ask a few questions. It makes your Virtual Receptionist a ‘real’ part of your team, by enabling them to sound knowledgeable and professional at all times. No one expects a receptionist to know everything, but they do expect them to give them a warm welcome and take a message.
Q: How does my Virtual Receptionist know the call is coming from my company?
By giving you a unique phone number to divert your calls to, our computer screens automatically ‘pop up’ with only your details when a client rings your number.
Q: Do I have to divert all of the time?
No, you can divert only when it suits you and you can arrange for calls to be diverted when the line is busy, via your normal provider. It is ultimately flexible.
Q: Are there any hidden costs?
Absolutely not. For basic phone answering we charge you £20 per month plus 75p per minute on a pay as you go basis. You can add the SMS facility at a cost of 20p per SMS. We have additional hours packages too, but again with no hidden costs. We also only charge on a per second basis, unlike other providers so you genuinely only pay for your exact usage with absolutely no rounding up or minimum call charges.
Q: How do I receive the messages and how quickly?
Instant email to your desk and if you are out and about a lot, there is an SMS facility? Our computer phobic clients are happy with the SMS only and rarely pick up their messages by email. Others love the fact that it arrives instantly on their desk as well as the facility to be able to look up previous messages via their back offices. Some keep a track on all of their messages when on holiday or away on business via an internet connection.
Q: What do you say to my callers when they ask for me?
We explain that you are not available and ask if we can take a message. If you have given us specific questions, we ask those too and these too arrive via email.
Q: How do you deal with multiple contacts within my business?
You may want some calls to be sent to one department (e.g. accounts) or person (sales) and some to another. We can deal with multiple contacts with different passwords to protect confidentiality.
Q: What happens if two calls come in at once and my Virtual Receptionist is on the phone?
We work in small teams with your Virtual Receptionist being the first line that is tried. If they are not available, the call is presented to another team member and your screen details will ‘pop up’ automatically ensuring a completely seamless service at all times.
Q: I need certain key information captured - how would you know what information I need?
You are able to enter 4 questions that will also automatically appear on the screens when the call is answered making the service exceptionally personalised. You can change these as often as you like, especially as they may be driven by specific advertising or promotions.
Q: What hours do you open and what happens out of these hours?
Our standard office hours are 9 a.m. - 5.30 p.m. but we also offer extended hours, which you will see on the sign up documents. At some stage we hope to be able to offer 24/7 cover in the near future. Out of these hours we have a standard message that the offices are now closed.
Q: When I am away or out of the country how do I know what is going on?
You can access your back-office through any web browser anywhere in the world 24/7. If you like to keep an eye on things while you are away without the cost of expensive connections when you are abroad, you will love this facility.
Q: How do I get started?
Simply fill in the sign up screens, wait for us to issue you with your unique number and then call divert as and when you want. It will only take 5 minutes to fill in your back office and you can be up and running in no time.
Q: What if I decide not to continue after the free trial?
If you have not used all of your free minutes, all you need to do cancel in writing (recorded delivery is always advisable) and you owe us nothing. If there is a small balance we will use your credit card to collect the balance. We do not agree with tying people into long contracts - we don’t need to. Once the service has been tried, virtually everyone wonders how they ever managed before.
