When Choosing a Virtual Receptionist is the Right Move

Virtual Receptionist

There are many cases when a business can greatly benefit from using a virtual receptionist. Here’s how you can tell if it would be a good choice for your company.

Virtual receptionists are people who answer phone calls for businesses, take and deliver messages, screen and transfer callers, set appointments, input orders, and plenty more tasks that sound much like those in the role of a traditional receptionist. However, the biggest difference is that normally a receptionist would work out of your office, but a virtual receptionist operates in a professional call center environment.

Perhaps you’ve already heard of virtual receptionists and know a bit about how they work, but you’re wondering if using one is the right move for your business. Here’s a few things to help you know if going the virtual receptionist route is a good option…

You want some backup for your front desk

If you have an in-house receptionist, you know that they can’t take every phone call that comes in throughout the day. They go on breaks, need to use the bathroom, have lunch, and get busy with other tasks. A virtual receptionist is a great form of backup. Whenever your receptionist steps away from their desk or isn’t able to take a call, your virtual receptionist handles any overflow calls so your callers always have a live person to talk to when they dial your company.

You want to cut costs

Perhaps you’re ready to do away with the position of in-house receptionist altogether. The endless cycle of hiring them, training them, and buying equipment for them only to be let down in some capacity must be getting old. Plus, the average annual salary for a receptionist is around $30,000 plus benefits, and they are only in the office from 9-5, M-F. You can get a virtual receptionist to take care of your phones around the clock for about $60 a month. And you don’t have to worry about training them, buying supplies for them, or figuring out what to do when they are on vacation.

You want to save time and focus on your core competencies

Remember how much of your time ends up going towards handling the phones yourself or training your in-house receptionist? It’s significant. If you use a virtual receptionist, you don’t have to waste time answering calls yourself or hiring/training someone else to do it who is going to interrupt you 6 times a day with questions. A virtual receptionist lets you focus on what you need to do to run a successful business. You and your team can put your time and energy into the most important parts of your jobs while an experienced professional takes care of your calls.

You want to improve customer service and your brand image

Offering customer support on a 24/7 basis is one of the best ways to improve your customer experience. Virtual receptionists are real people with a passion for service and a polished, friendly approach that will leave your callers feeling like they have been taken care of. Your brand image gets a huge boost when people have a consistent, direct line to your company where they can receive information, have their issues resolved, and get their needs dealt with. Courteous, helpful people covering your business phones works wonders for both customer service and branding.

You were thinking of hiring an answering service

A virtual receptionist is basically an answering service on steroids. While answering services can cover some basic live support functions, virtual receptionists are able to go beyond that to provide a more comprehensive array of reception services. Rather than just fielding calls and relaying name/number/message, virtual receptionists know your company as well or better than some of your employees. Plus they are able to screen calls you don’t want, transfer the ones you do, take messages if you’re busy, input customer orders, schedule appointments for people, share directions or hours of operation, and much more.

Truly the only difference between a standard receptionist and the virtual variety is that they don’t sit in your office. They are set up in ours. If you’d like to have a conversation about your needs and how a virtual receptionist could be the perfect fit for your business, give us a call today at 800-295-7000.

Learn More

Get more information
to help you make the right decision
for your business.

No Free Consultation
    By accepting our ‘Privacy Policy’ above, you agree that A Signius and its affiliates may communicate with you via email, text, or phone through the email and/or phone number provided on the form. A Signius may use automated technology (e.g., pre-recorded messages, auto dialers) to contact you. You are not required to provide your phone number to A Signius. Your information is collected and used in accordance with A Signius’ Privacy Policy and Data Processing Agreement, and you may opt out of electronic communication at any time.
  • * This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

    We guarantee 100% privacy. Your information will not be shared.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.