Is your business growing and bursting at the seams? It’s about time you added a virtual receptionist to your team.
According to Statista, the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) market is poised for steady growth in the next few years. In fact, in 2024, the market is projected to generate a significant revenue of US$146.30 billion.
These figures underscore the demand for outsourcing services and signal a growing faith in the virtual workforce, making now the perfect time to get a virtual receptionist.
If your business gets a high volume of calls, virtual receptionist services can skyrocket your team’s productivity to great heights. Not to mention they’re more cost-effective and flexible than on-site, in-house receptionists.
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But before you look for providers, read this guide first to ensure you hire the right virtual receptionist:
What is a virtual receptionist service?
A virtual receptionist service, also known as a live answering service, is a remote service that handles call-handling activities.
They handle call transfers, incoming calls, messages, and other communication tasks on behalf of your business — just like an onsite, in-house receptionist would.
The key difference is that a virtual receptionist works from a remote location. They use Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools to answer calls, forward calls, schedule appointments, take messages, and give customer services without being physically present in the office.
Their services can be highly customized to meet your dynamic business needs. For instance, they can handle overflow calls, give after-hours support, assist with customer inquiries, and even manage live chats.
Virtual receptionists are highly trained professionals who can represent your business, ensuring every interaction is handled professionally. This means your internal staff can now focus on their core activities.
Who would benefit the most from hiring virtual receptionist services?
Not everyone can benefit from live answering services. After all, most businesses’ needs are dynamic and could change instantly. That said, if you’re one of these businesses, rest assured that you’ll get benefits from hiring a virtual receptionist:
1. Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
SMEs face the struggle of managing customer calls while focusing on core business activities. A virtual receptionist can ease small business owners’ burden by directing callers, handling calls, scheduling appointments, and managing customer inquiries.
In addition, a virtual receptionist can also help SMEs maintain a professional image, giving the latter a chance to grow a consistent brand image to their potential customers.
2. Law firms and legal professionals
Law firms and solo practitioners can greatly benefit from a virtual receptionist. The latter can make sure their important calls are never missed, while the lawyers are in court or meeting with clients.
A virtual receptionist can also handle new client intake, which is important for most starting legal practices.
3. Healthcare providers
Medical offices, such as doctors, dentists, and veterinarians, often experience high call volumes related to appointments and emergencies.
With virtual answering services, they can manage a huge part of the call volume and help with managing patient communications at the same time. This helps healthcare providers focus better on providing high-quality patient care.
4. Home services businesses
Companies such as plumbers, electricians, and HVAC providers often need to be on the job site, making it hard for them to manage incoming calls. This is where a virtual receptionist can assist them. The latter deals with calls from interested customers promptly, which is especially helpful during emergencies and staff shortages.
5. Consulting and technical services providers
Consultants and coaches can also greatly benefit from hiring a virtual receptionist. From managing client inquiries and bookings, the virtual receptionist helps a consultant focus better on delivering their expertise and core services, rather than administrative tasks.
Benefits of hiring virtual receptionists
There are numerous benefits of adding a virtual receptionist to your team, but we’ll just talk about the most important ones here:
1. Personalization
Virtual receptionists can provide a highly personalized customer experience.
A virtual receptionist can do that effectively by taking the time to understand your business, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and brand values.
They can then tailor their interactions to reflect your brand voice, making sure each customer who inquires in your communication lines feels heard and valued.
2. Scalability
Remote receptionist services are highly scalable, which means they can follow whatever direction your business needs go.
Whether you experience seasonal spikes in call volume or expanding into new markets, virtual receptionists can easily meet your needs without you needing to hire extra staff. You can save on hiring costs plus extra equipment.
3. 24/7 availability
It’s often overlooked, but virtual receptionists are highly advantageous since they can work even after business hours. This is especially valuable for businesses that deal with international clients or customers in different time zones.
Having a virtual receptionist who offers round-the-clock service makes sure no call goes unanswered, even outside your team’s working hours.
4. More focus for employees
Your core team already has enough in their hands. What they need is a productivity partner, and that comes in the form of your virtual receptionist.
With the latter around, your core team staff can now focus on more strategic, revenue-earning activities. This leads to increased productivity and a more engaged workforce.
5. Disaster recovery
In case of a natural disaster, office closure, or a power outage, virtual receptionists can maintain business cotinuity.
Since they work remotely, a virtual receptionist has a higher chance of addressing concerns and completing administrative tasks — even as your core team doesn’t have the capacity to do so.
6. Legal and regulatory compliance
For businesses that are in highly regulated industries such as financial services, cybersecurity, or healthcare, hiring a virtual receptionist can help you maintain compliance.
Virtual professionals in highly regulated industries have certifications and training that follow strict industry standards, such as HIPAA. Rest assured, you can entrust your documentation, call recording, and other communication lines to a virtual receptionist.
How virtual receptionists handle phone calls
1. Customized call handling
A virtual receptionist doesn’t just answer phone calls; they also follow customized scripts and guidelines that reflect your business’s preferences. These can include greeting callers in a particular tone and asking questions that qualify a customer before transferring the call.
For example, a legal firm might instruct its virtual receptionist to ask potential clients detailed questions about their case or inquiry before scheduling a consultation. This helps the lawyers cater to the more relevant cases, saving everybody’s time and effort.
2. Call filtering and prioritization
A virtual receptionist can filter and prioritize phone calls based on their importance. They can identify and block spam calls, route high-priority calls directly to key staff members, and manage less critical inquiries via voicemails or email follow-ups.
Say, a tech startup could use a virtual receptionist to ensure that calls from investors or major clients are immediately routed to the CEO, while routine calls about FAQs are handled by the support staff or documented later for follow-up.
3. Integration with CRM and scheduling tools
Many remote receptionist services can integrate with a company’s CRM, such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive. This allows them to easily schedule, cancel, or reschedule appointments with less to no friction.
This is especially beneficial for a healthcare clinic, for example, as their virtual receptionist can book patient appointments directly into the calendar. This reduces the likeliness of duplicate bookings or mistakes in the scheduling details.
4. Bilingual and multilingual support
A lot of virtual receptionist services provide bilingual support, helping companies tap into diverse communities or expand their services internationally.
Businesses with offshore branches can greatly benefit from this. For example, they could hire a virtual receptionist service that speaks both English and Mandarin, making sure every customer feels valued and heard.
5. Handling after-hours and emergency calls
One of the biggest advantages of hiring a virtual receptionist is they can handle emergency calls and address inquiries after business hours. This is especially helpful for businesses that deal with time-sensitive tasks.
For instance, a property management company could hire a virtual receptionist to handle emergency maintenance calls after hours, ensuring that urgent issues like plumbing leaks are addressed immediately. Meanwhile, the non-urgent questions could just be reserved for a follow-up in the next day.
6. Call data analytics and reporting
It’s not common, but some virtual receptionist services also offer detailed call analytics. This involves data insights into your company’s call volume, types, and outcomes. If improving customer service is pivotal to your business, this kind of service is highly invaluable.
Marketing agencies and consultants can gain an ROI from this. Using the call data from the virtual receptionist service, they can pinpoint call times and adjust their staffing or marketing strategies accordingly.
Key features of the ideal virtual receptionist services
When looking for virtual receptionist services, focus on these attributes. These are the green flags of a good agency or provider:
1. Professionalism and training
Virtual receptionists should be highly trained professionals capable of call-handling responsibilities. They should be able to address customer inquiries and resolve complaints with a consistent level of professionalism.
How can you know a virtual receptionist provider is known for its professionalism? They typically have comprehensive onboarding and ongoing training programs. This helps ensures that their receptionists are well-versed in meeting the needs of their clients.
2. Customizable services
Flexibility in service offerings is crucial. Live answering service providers should allow businesses to tailor call handling, scripts, and procedures to fit their specific needs.
So, when looking for a live answering service provider, ask about their previous experience of customizing call scripts and call routing options. If they have a lot to show about adjusting to a business’s needs, that’s a green flag.
3. Reliability and redundancy
Reliable live answering service providers have built-in redundancy to ensure that calls are never missed, even during peak times or technical difficulties.
If your business constantly receives a high volume of calls, look for answering service providers that have failover systems and backup protocols. Through this, you can rest assured that you can maintain your availability to your customers.
4. Data security and compliance
If your business handles sensitive information, it’s crucial that you hire a live answering service provider with stringent data-handling and compliance protocols. Their receptionists must not only be knowledgeable about your industry’s regulations but also experienced in applying that knowledge.
For example, if you own a clinic, you should hire business answering services who are well-versed in medical terminology and HIPAA. If your business has branches in the EU, your live answering service provider should also be well-versed in GDPR compliance and robust data encryption.
5. Affordability
Don’t be fooled by the notion that an expensive live answering service provider is always good. It’s not always the case. We’re not telling you that you should go for cheap answering service providers. All we ask is that you look at the phone answering services providers’ pricing with a critical eye.
Make sure the provider offers transparent and flexible pricing. For example, if they offer pay-per-call or tiered subscription models, that could be a red flag.
Should you hire a virtual receptionist?
If you have the necessary SOPs set and budget for a virtual receptionist, you could hire one. Even with just one on your team, the benefits for your business’s productivity could be numerous.
