Every industry has its own jargon and answering services are no different. If you are considering an answering service for your business, you will be asked a series of questions to help define your needs and develop a plan. In order to make the selection and sales process smoother, there are a number of answering service terms that you should know.

Here’s a short list to get you started.

Not every answering service is the same. There are, however, certain things that a customer should look for, at a minimum, when hiring an answering service. This post will be a guide to questions and answers to consider.

After years of overseas call center outsourcing, many companies are bringing their call centers back to the United States. In order to decide which one is right for your business, here are 10 things to look for in a call center.

When a client hires A Better Answer, we take on their customer base as our own. This month's call demonstrates that fact.

July’s call was taken by Nina, our July call handling hero®.

Every month we honor a call handling hero® for a job well done. When we get feedback from the client, we’re even more thrilled.

June’s calls include 2 calls for Martha, our call handling hero®, and one call for Kyle, our June runner up.

When you consider an answering service, you might expect things such as someone to answer your phone when you’re busy, away or on vacation. You might expect 24/7 coverage from trustworthy, well-trained and reliable call handlers. (If not, you should be!) What you might not expect, however, are other services that A Better Answer provides that go above and beyond the typical answering service.

Summer is here and all of your Facebook friends seem to be taking a vacation somewhere. You’re a business owner and you’ve been working your tail off all year long. You deserve a vacation, too, don’t you think? And preferably one that doesn’t include a laptop.

ATSI

As an answering service and call center, our calls are always unpredictable. Thus, our call handling heroes® must be prepared for anything. During the month of May, we salute not just one, but three Call Handling Heroes!®

Kerri – May’s Call Handling Hero®

When trying to switch out a call, Kerri heard the caller say, “I’m holding onto my wife so she doesn’t jump out the window.”

Earlier this year, a UK based answering service conducted a research study on consumer perceptions of business call handling. According to the research, 55% of respondents stated that they would take their business away from companies that relied on call automation instead of a real person. Even more said that they would choose another business rather than speak through an automated call handler.