Live Virtual Receptionist Vs Call Answering Services: How Are They Different?

You may be surprised to learn that call answering services and virtual live receptionist services offer very different services. An answering service typically has a more limited scope and may not have all of the features that a live virtual receptionist provides. Here are a few of their differences:

Live virtual receptionists. At leading virtual receptionist companies, every call that comes in during business hours is promptly answered by a live person. Small business answering services may have calls route to an automated greeting if there are more calls than agents available and even on good days, calls could ring several times before anyone picks up.

Friendliness. When you think of call answering services, a grumpy, unhelpful experience may come to mind: "I'm just the answering service." Virtual receptionist services are known for having friendly, cheerful employees who set the right first impression for businesses and go out of their way to help callers and clients.

The ability to transfer calls live. Many answering services can't connect calls to you, and if they can, they may charge you per transfer. A virtual live receptionist can transfer calls to you wherever you are, whenever you'd like. With certain companies, you can update your availability at any time. Virtual receptionists can relay to callers that you've stepped into a meeting, are at lunch, etc. With the same feature, you may also change your instructions so that calls are connected to your cell phone, home phone, or wherever you are. With more advanced services, you can make these status updates from your computer via email or from your smartphone by calling them in, logging into their mobile-friendly Member Services Area, or bringing up their free iPhone app.Conversational

More call handling features. In addition to connecting calls live, virtual receptionists can often customize your call handling instructions to a higher degree than traditional answering services. They can perform different actions based on the type of call. For example, they can track you down by trying your desk phone and cell phone for potential clients and only try your office number for current clients. They can ask different types of callers different questions; for potential clients you may want to know how they heard about you or what services they're interested in and for current clients gathering what the call is regarding may be helpful.

Noise level. Answering services are notorious for being noisy; cramped quarters may keep costs lower, but it won't help agents to sound professional. In some companies, virtual receptionists have glass partitions separating them and noise-canceling headsets to make sure they come through crystal clear.

Messages delivered to your inbox. Call answering services often have limited message-taking abilities. They may "batch" your messages, sending them at the end of the day. You might then miss an urgent call or time-sensitive request. Other services ask you to call in for your messages, which can be time-consuming. Virtual receptionist services can email and/or text your messages to you. Some places even emails your voicemail messages to you as a .wav file, so you never have to wonder if you have a message waiting and you never have to dial in. Feel free to customize to whom messages are sent; for example, potential new clients can go to everyone on your sales team or your assistant can be copied on your messages.

Detailed, real-time call reports. With their limited scope, call answering services may not have a client portal where you can view your call records. Virtual live receptionist services, on the other hand, may offer this. Some companies have a mobile-friendly Member Services Area where clients can log in, update their whereabouts, view call logs, search calls and messages, track minute usage, and export their records to Excel.

Depending on your needs, you may want an answering service; however, if you're looking for a service to provide to make great first impressions for your business and perform many of the tasks of a traditional receptionist, for a fraction of the cost, then a virtual live receptionist is for you!