5 Reasons You Should Consider Using a Virtual Receptionist

What is a virtual receptionist?

A virtual receptionist serves the same role as an in-house receptionist by answering phone calls, taking messages and setting appointments. The difference is that a virtual receptionist is located at a call center facility or other remote location. It’s a natural complement to implementing one of the best business phone systems.

Importantly, it’s critical to understand that a virtual receptionist is an actual person working for your company remotely and not a chatbot, auto-attendant or similar digital tool. Virtual receptionists also differ from virtual assistants — the latter is a person who performs an executive assistant’s typical tasks remotely, while the former is a person who performs an office receptionist’s typical tasks remotely.

“[Virtual receptionist] services allow small businesses to have a receptionist give personalized attention to small or variable call volumes without requiring the business to hire, train and manage a full-time employee, along with all the added expenses and burdens,” Jason Junge, CEO of PointerTop told us.

How does a virtual receptionist work?

Outsourcing call handling to a virtual receptionist service allows a business to manage inbound calls in a professional way without requiring in-house staff to stop what they are doing to answer the phone lines. Instead, the calls are sent to a virtual receptionist who handles them based on the needs of your business automatically.

“The virtual answering service will answer all of your calls for you,” said Shayne Sherman, chief marketing officer of TechLoris. “You will work with the service to determine the script for the representatives to follow so that it’s pertinent to your business. Important calls will be forwarded to you and messages and prospects will be compiled and sent to you to distribute to your sales team.”

For example, if you know certain types of calls can wait for a response, the receptionist could be instructed to take a message and send it to the relevant staffer to address at a later time. If you want other types of calls to be forwarded to you immediately, the receptionist can be instructed to put them through. Some virtual receptionists can even answer common questions on your behalf, depending on the sophistication of the service you choose.

The best virtual receptionists are flexible and adaptable to your business needs. They should understand your business well enough to field incoming calls with the knowledge and professionalism to deliver efficient customer service and boost customer satisfaction. They should also be willing and able to pivot services as your company’s needs change.

5 reasons to use a virtual receptionist

A virtual receptionist can be a huge benefit to your business when you select your communications partner carefully. Here are the top reasons to consider using such a service.

1. Frees up internal resources

Many small business owners and their employees wear multiple hats, and handling the phone lines can take away from completing other important tasks. Outsourcing calls to a virtual receptionist takes the burden of customer service and phone communication off your in-house team and places the responsibility on an agent trained in increasing customer satisfaction.

2. Improves customer experience

A good virtual receptionist guarantees that customers’ calls will be answered promptly and handled with professionalism and care. Virtual receptionists are trained customer service professionals who understand the right way to represent your brand. A high-quality answering service can have a positive impact on the overall customer experience and, ideally, increase your retention rates.

>> Read Next: The Pros and Cons of Outsourced Customer Service

3. Provides after-hours support

When your small business closes for the day or weekend, who is available to answer your phones? With a virtual receptionist, callers can still reach your business, talk to an actual person and feel they are being taken care of. If your virtual receptionist can answer common questions, callers might have their issues resolved then and there; if not, their messages will be waiting for you and your team when regular business hours resume. Expanding your customer service hours with the help of a virtual receptionist is yet another way to boost customer satisfaction.

4. Streamlines appointment schedules

Setting appointments can be a tedious process, especially if multiple staff members are handling scheduling in multiple systems. Passing off the task to a virtual receptionist centralizes the appointment-setting process and keeps every stakeholder up to date through automatic notifications and shared calendars. Some virtual receptionists can even deliver appointment reminders to reduce no-shows and last-minute cancellations.

5. Appears more professional

Maintaining a receptionist gives an appearance of prestige to your business. When a receptionist answers the phone on your behalf, it signals to customers that your business is a professional organization with a refined workflow. 

How much does a virtual receptionist cost?

The precise cost of a virtual receptionist depends on the specific answering service company you choose and its pricing model. Below are the most common pricing models:

• Per-minute rate: A per-minute rate is often based on your selection of services and call volume. You’ll be charged the nominal rate based on your monthly call volume and how much time a virtual receptionist is connected with customers on your behalf.
• Monthly subscription: Some vendors offer monthly subscriptions that include a prepaid package of minutes to be used as needed. Generally, these minutes don’t expire, though that depends on the terms of the agreement you sign with the provider. Often there are monthly minimums that specify how many minutes you must use to keep your account active.
• Pricing tiers: Other answering services are available via tiered pricing, allowing you to prepay for only the services you need. If you just want a simple automated menu to direct customer calls to in-house staff, for example, you might choose a lower tier. More sophisticated services, such as a live agent who can respond to frequently asked questions, would be available at a more expensive tier.

Rates vary by the complexity of services and your business’s expected call volume. Typical per-minute rates range from $125 for 50 minutes to more than $500 for 500 minutes. For pricing packages not based on per-minute figures, you might pay as little as $25 or as much as thousands of dollars per month.

The answering service industry is known for hidden fees and upcharges, so you should thoroughly examine any agreement before signing. For example, some companies charge for what is known as agent work time. This refers to the amount of time an agent is not actually on the phone but still performing work related to your account and it can greatly inflate your monthly bill.

Another common upcharge is incremental billing, which is when companies round your minutes to the nearest increment. A standard increment is the nearest sixth second of a call, but some companies round up by as much as the nearest minute. This can increase your monthly bill significantly, even though the nominal per-minute rate might seem inexpensive.

To avoid surprises, request a breakdown of every fee and cost you could incur during the life of your agreement with any answering service or virtual receptionist. A reputable company will be more than happy to provide you with this information.

What features are most important in a virtual receptionist service?

When enlisting a virtual receptionist service, you should aim to customize your package to include the features that make the most sense for your business.

“The main thing you should look for when implementing a virtual answering service is, does it solve your current front-desk phone problems?” said James Harper, CEO of PowerPlacing. “Where many small businesses fail is they don’t truly look to see if the virtual answering service can be customized to their phone challenges and needs. You should only implement a service like this if it’s solving a problem. It shouldn’t create more work for your front desk.”

The features available from a virtual receptionist depend on the individual answering service you partner with, but here are some of the most important features of a virtual receptionist service:

• Live answering: Virtual receptionists give your customers a real person to speak with on your behalf, adding professionalism and personal touch to your customer communications. Live receptionist services allow you to customize the greeting agents use when answering calls and determine how agents should handle each type of call you expect to receive.
• Message taking: One of the more basic but essential virtual receptionist services is taking messages, which involves recording caller contact information and the reason they are calling.
• Patching and call transfer: Virtual receptionists can patch calls directly to the relevant company phone number or extension, which you can specify in your agreement with the answering service. Transferring callers who need immediate assistance to specific staff members streamlines the answering process and resolves customer inquiries more quickly. 
• Appointment scheduling: Many virtual receptionist services can integrate with your preferred calendar application to schedule appointments for your company. You can specify times and locations at which your business is available for appointments, and the virtual receptionist will handle the rest, alerting you when new appointments are added to your calendar.
• Frequently asked questions (FAQs): Some virtual receptionists maintain a list of answers to FAQs about your business so they can help callers who have common questions. If you provide this list to the answering service, you can reduce the number of call transfers or messages delivered to your in-house staff.
• Auto-attendant: Generally simpler and less expensive than a live virtual receptionist, auto-attendants and interactive voice response trees can direct callers to the right place the first time. An auto-attendant reduces the burden on your internal resources to direct call after call. It also improves customer satisfaction by helping callers resolve their inquiries quickly and easily.
• Fast response time: It’s important to understand how quickly your customers’ calls will be answered. Some virtual receptionists guarantee a call will be answered before the third ring, for example. Make sure your customers won’t be left waiting. 
• Around-the-clock availability: Many answering services offer 24/7 availability, which is crucial if you want to offer your customers a point of contact after business hours.

When choosing a virtual receptionist or answering service, small businesses should ask about the vendor’s internal processes, including how it hires its agents, said Shawn Breyer, owner of Breyer Home Buyers.

“Make sure that the company you are vetting trains its employees initially and [on an] ongoing [basis],” he said. “Ask them to explain their training process in depth with examples. Most times, this individual that you are hiring is the front line for your company. They will be the first impression that your customers have of your company. Nailing this with well-trained individuals will set you up for success, while untrained people will lose you customers and money.”

Also, see how involved you can be in the evolution of how the agents answer the phones for your company. You should be able to be an active participant in the way they handle your account, Breyer added.

“It’s easy to think that, since you are hiring out a virtual phone service, you can wash your hands of developing and training that role,” he said. “If you want the money you spend on the virtual phone service to be an investment versus an expense, take responsibility and spend time training and giving feedback to the person who is taking calls.”   

Best virtual receptionist providers

If you’re looking for reputable virtual receptionist companies, the vendors below are worth considering:

• Specialty Answering Service: Founded in 1985, Specialty Answering Service is a call center outsourcing firm based in Pennsylvania. With a team of 30 employees and a national network of freelance customer support specialists, the company can provide 24/7 customer service.
• PATLive: PATLive is a fully remote company that can handle your order processing, lead capturing and message taking. Its online portal can be accessed from anywhere, so you can change your call status and access messages on the go.
• PCMSI: PCMSI advertises itself as offering the lowest rates of any virtual receptionist service. In addition to live answering, it can transfer calls, schedule appointments, capture leads and take orders. It also has help desk functionality that can send callers to your IT department for more complicated issues.
• BPO American: BPO American, based in South Carolina, provides virtual receptionist and larger-scale call center services 24/7. In addition to handling calls, the vendor also offers email responses and live web chat.

If you ultimately decide you would rather manage all customer calls internally, check out our recommendations for the best call center software. These omnichannel communications platforms can help your team handle queries via phone, email, text, social media and more.

Max Freedman contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.