What to Consider Before Signing up With a Call Service Provider

Many different kinds of businesses can find benefits in the use of a call service or phone answering provider. For sole traders, in particular, it can free up time that can be used in other more productive ways as well as giving your business a professional touch. If you are looking at going down this path, it’s important to go with a proven call answering service that offers customised business services for your particular needs. Below are a few of the considerations and questions you should keep in mind.

How Do They Charge?

Most providers will have a range of different packages available and it's worth considering each of them. Monthly, low-cost plans may look good on the surface, but often it will mean you’re dealing with a lot of extra, add-on costs that you didn’t account for. Other options are on a per-call or per-minute basis, meaning you only really pay for what you use (this may be in addition to a sign-up fee of some description). Keep in mind that these can quickly rack up the bill if you’re getting a lot of calls from tele-markers and/or not very important calls. Ultimately, you know what will work best for you - for example, if you have only a few quite intensive phone calls a day, a per-call package will be in your best interests.

The details of the contract are also something you should consider. Some providers will try to lock you in for 6 months or more, which may not suit your situation. Others may go month by month.

What are Their Business Hours?

For some types of businesses, you may need 24/7 phone service without any exceptions - in fact, this may be the reason you’re looking for a phone answering service in the first place. Some services will provide this and some may not - again it comes down to what you need and matching yourself up with a provider that accommodates this.

Who’s Working the Phones?

Part of the job description of these providers is that they have an excellent phone etiquette to represent your business in a professional way. If it is obvious to the caller that they are speaking to a third-party rather than the company they intended to call, this is obviously not ideal.

Find out where their call centres are and how big the phone team is. Usually, it’s a case of the more the better - you don’t want to have you callers kept on hold for too long.

A lot of providers will have offshore offices with foreign staff that answer phones, which in most cases is fine and can mean lower rates. However, if possible you’d prefer onshore phone operators as they are more likely to be able to connect with the callers culturally and in terms of the language used as well.

What is the Level of Service Provided?

This may seem like a broad question, but how much of your work the call service company is able to do is very important. Some will simply be able to take a message or book appointments and nothing more. Others can provide information according to a script they are given. Some may even be able to deal with problems the callers face on-the-fly or take payments. Figure out what you’re looking for and what you’re expecting before finding the provider that offers this.

For more information about phone answering services, virtual office services and more, speak to the friendly team at Call Service today!

20 Ideas to Build Your Small Business Virtual Office in the New Year

Thanks to innovations surrounding the internet, mobile phones as well as email and messaging services, many people are now finding it easier than ever to leave their office and create their very own virtual office at home or on the move. We are one of the oldest and trustworthy virtual office service providers in Australia and we believe that there are myriad of products or service ideas on the market that can make your business life simpler by offering you multiple ways to send files, take calls and make those important deals go through smoothly. Here are some worth sharing ideas:

1. Cloud Services 

When the idea first came about for cloud services, many people saw it as a little fad for a way of backing up their work with some online storage. But the cloud has moved on since then, offering Microsoft Word, Google Apps, Photoshop and a host of other applications that no longer rely on installation on a single computer, which makes cloud computing service great for businesses. So, why don't you move to cloud services and enjoy its multiple benefits?

 

2. VOIP telephone services

Many businesses now see the benefits of setting up VOIP services and cut the costing in their landline telephone system. These Voice Over Internet Protocol services allow for massive amounts of traffic to your network which is handled by a single computer at a time. Automated switching and voice messaging is one place that has taken off in a big way with virtual offices around the world.

3.Combined scanner, fax, email and photocopier

Storing your paperwork can always be a bit of a hassle when it comes to high turnover businesses, so keeping a record that can be easily accessed is a great way to keep on top of your finances, clients and overheads. Combined scanners, faxes and photocopiers allow you to backup all of your important paperwork, name the individual files by date and time and place them in multiple safe storage locations to make searching for important documents easier than ever.

4. Use virtual meeting software

Need to call a meeting with your other virtual office workers around the globe? Then take advantage of the host of virtual office software out there that can set up video calls, share software over an Internet connection and work on files and projects together in real time. These services have taken off in a big way for the creative industries where collaboration is a key factor in everyday working environments.

5. Use a VPN service for an intranet

Whilst most static offices have intranets that allow for workers to connect to databases to perform their duties, you can start using VPNs for workers outside of the network to connect to. If you are a virtual office business you can also create a virtual intranet to host your databases, files and documents on several different platforms, allowing your workers to connect directly to your company network.

6. Virtual offices need a virtual storefront

If your business is a public-facing entity that offers services to the public or clients, then having a place for your clients to visit is a must. But having a virtual office means that you may have no physical offices at all which is why taking your internet site, blog or page must be done seriously. This is the single place where outsiders will find you and interact with you for the first time, so creating a user-friendly design will set you in good form for the future business. 

7. Add a personal touch

Even though the majority of your business may be concluded in a virtual realm, on the phone, via email or virtual network it is often a great idea to meet new clients and customers in person for the first time. This will give new customers a personal touch that they will notice and take you more seriously. It is far easier to cancel a deal via email, but when meeting face to face it gives a personal touch to every appointment you make.

8.Be as organised as you can

One thing can be said for virtual office advantages and disadvantages and it is that you simply must be super organised. Getting things done right can be a pain even when you are in a physical office where you can talk face to face with people, so putting distance between you and your co-workers can sometimes be a nightmare. This is where good virtual apps and video calls come in to save the day, ensuring that everyone is working to the same beat.

9.Ensure everyone has a dedicated workstation

Making sure that everyone working for your virtual business has at least one dedicated workstation is a great way to ensure some form of work ethic will remain as your workforce may be more fluid than a stationary office. Virtual office space is important, so work with your colleagues to find a professional solution for their requirements.

Virtual office pros and cons come into force when workers are spending the majority of their time on the road or interviewing people, so allowing them to come back to a dedicated location to “sign in” on a regular basis will preserve good working practices throughout your virtual business.

10.Use instant messaging services for live messaging

Instant messengers are one of the best virtual office solutions for new companies, as getting in touch with workers and colleagues when you need them most is one of the great advantages of working in a virtual environment. The virtual office definition is such that you won’t need any face to face communication with clients or colleagues so long as they are always reachable.

11. Shop around for your services

Many businesses don’t shop around for their virtual office services as often as they should, so the next time your billing comes in for virtual call services or messaging systems, be on the look-out for special deals. A virtual office doesn’t have to cost a small fortune, and in fact creating a virtual office with free services is possible for those start-ups that do not have masses of capital.

12. Use group chat services to your advantage

Organising group meetings and messaging services can seem like a nightmare to set up initially, but by creating a live chat system for your entire workforce you are able to cut down on the complexities that could leave you scratching your head. There is a lot of reasons you should consider to use live chats and leave them open to organise your teams and allow the free flow of messages to help your workers have organic conversations about your business - a must for creative industries.

13. Use document sharing services

One of the best ways to keep up to date about the projects happening in your business is to use the services of online document sharing solutions. With virtual apps like Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive you are able to store a large amount of data for free - with terabytes of storage available for a fee if you need the space.

Doing so will free up space on your worker's computers, and allow them to access the files and folders from any device on the road - be it a mobile phone, tablet or another computer in another office.

14. Create an office telephone number for your small business

Many small businesses and working at home companies still rely on their home phone number for contact with their business. This can be a cheaper option for some but will leave your personal and working life open to difficulty if not taken care of.

Many virtual office workers create a private business line in their home or use a host of services to give you a virtual number on which to take calls.

15. Set yourself strict office hours

Even though you may not work in an office, you still have to work! So setting yourself strict office working hours and keeping to them will be an important test on how your working life balance will hold up. If you are having problems with sticking to a routine, why not choose a different location to work from or create a permanent office environment in your home to keep you on the right path.

16.Hire a virtual call service to take your calls

One of the best ways to ensure that you are always available for your clients without leaving them hanging on busy phone lines it to hire a virtual call service to take your calls. Virtual call services will be able to route your calls to a specific mobile device if your home or office number is busy, as well as greet your customers with a customised message and take voice messages for you.

You will be notified of calls, numbers, who is calling as well as having voice messages forwarded to a mobile device. Call logs will be handled in a professional manner and you will sound and feel like you have moved up the professional small business ladder overnight!

17.Professionally handle paying your employees

One thing that many freelancers and virtual office workers suffer from is an unreliable system of payroll. One great way to handle paying your workers is to automate your payroll system based on a number of factors you can customise such as working hours, days missed, the volume of work produced as well as holidays and overtime on projects.

Handling your payroll professionally will ensure that your workers and your clients will remain happy and that they see the virtual business as a professional, trustworthy company and not a virtual company run from a back bedroom in another country.

18. Host regular team meeting events

Although you may all work virtually from home or another office, taking the time out on a regular basis to get the whole team together will work wonders for morale, as well as being able to oversee projects with a personal touch.

Use team building exercises and days out to get together with your team of co-workers and you will find that your workers may work better together in the future and allow them to understand each other better when working on new projects.

19. Be flexible in where and when you work

Sometimes taking time out to clear your mind can be a great idea when working long hours, which is why so many people prefer working in a different environment rather than a dull, grey office. But taking too much time out can start to have a negative effect. Try different locations to work from and see which suits you best.

You might find that you get more done in a coffee shop than your back room home office, whilst others might work best pulling up a workstation in a client’s office. Either way, test out your surroundings and be more flexible with the location of where you perform the majority of your work.

20. Travel and see your clients environments

One of the great things about being able to work in a virtual office is that it gives you enough time to travel to see what your business actually does. Travel and meet your clients in their own environments and understand the local market more.
If you offer services that relate to a specific town or region then having the chance to visit, research and find out more about the target audience is a great tool in boosting your virtual office sales and will help create new clients in an already-tested market.


Fantastic opportunities are out there for your small business, so why not move all of your office applications to the cloud. Hire a call service that can handle your calls efficiently and professionally and move your daily tasks to a virtual world to compete in the fluid markets of the future. This time next year you could be a completely virtual office that runs things more efficiently and more effectively than ever before.

Key Factors to Achieve Positive Customer Response in Any Business

Having a professional answering machine service is essential for your business in many aspects, no matter if you are a large international firm or a single tradesperson. Your customers are your next pay cheque so taking good care of them is the most important part of the business.

The inevitable fact that you are not available for certain periods of time during your working day means that having a system in place to direct your customers to leave a message is essential to keeping your customers coming back.

Build your business relationships

Making a great impression on a new customer is always an important part of your business, so if a customer is not able to get through to you immediately, having a 24/7 professional message answering service is necessary for keeping client’s good opinion for your business.

Greetings are one of the most important parts of any kind of relationship within the business as that first impression can really make an impact on how you are judged by your customers. Great first impression sticks in the mind of potential clients, and a bad first impression can mean they search elsewhere.

Every Call is Important!

It's very important to never miss a business call to make a great impression on your customer. When organising your personal message answering service, there are certain things to avoid. Being unavailable in the first place is obviously the first roadblock for many people, so not having a professional answer machine message is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.

Leaving a message such as “we take your call seriously” is overused and often reminds your customers of all the other times they’ve heard this message and prompts them to immediately hang up, but there are other things you can do to start building relationships with your clients immediately!

Call Service tools for business

There are a number of tools you can use to help you out in this situation and help avoid missing those important business calls. One of the best ways to avoid a message machine in the first place is to use a Call Service to outsource your call answering services for you. This is often much more cost effective than hiring a personal assistant, though the services work in the same way.

With a call service, you can have a real person answering your calls, taking the caller’s information and have the call information sent to you via text or email, making it one of the most powerful tools for trades-persons out working in the field.

Making a great first impression is a key factor in helping you win new business. Some of the best tips to help create a good impression are:

• Try to avoid giving out too much information in a single message, keep it simple with an optimal voice message of around 25 seconds max. 
• List the available alternative options to your potential customer in ways of getting in touch with you. For example email, alternative numbers etc.
• Let the customer know exactly who they have reached, and instruct them on whom should the message be left for, such as which department, employer and the reason for leaving the message. 
• Ensure to apologise for not being able to take the call. 
• Speak clearly in a friendly and inviting tone.

Be clear, concise and friendly

Leaving the perfect message answering service for your business doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. Simply try to cut down on the amount of information you want to pack into the message and offer alternative options for getting in touch for you. Making a great impression is a simple case of speaking clearly and using a friendly tone.

As long as the customer knows that you are sincere about being sorry for not being able to take their call, and most importantly, apologizing for not being able to take their call when you do finally get in touch with them will often make a great first impression on a customer as a friendly company to do business with in the future.

The Benefits of an Answering Service for Small Business

A small business possesses fewer employees and relies heavily on its loyal employees and customers. Often small businesses have faced many challenges to survive in the marketplace and compete with larger organisations who have much more capital to support their growth.As we know, a good and first impression can make all the difference and clever small businesses should always try to give the very best service to their clients at the very first contact.

New businesses also have to work very hard to gain customer’s trust, and established businesses should always be working on maintaining trust in their company. If the business is unable to gain customer loyalty, the small business may find it hard to grow and develop.

Running a successful small business means utilising different methods to stay in contact with customers. Whether the business is small or big; it can’t afford to lose any clients or customers, and one of the strongest mediums to keep the customers engaged with the business is to use a long time experienced and upright telephone answering service.

Answering services are used in various types of industries because it is one of the easiest methods for customers to contact a business regardless of the time and number of other customers waiting on the line. There are many benefits of using a telephone answering service for small business.Let's have a look at some of those benefits:

No Chance of Missing a Sales Call For The Second Time

Sales calls are the foundation of many businesses and being accessible is key to engaging customers and making sales. Though the services can also be given online, a telephone answering service makes clients feel as they are important and that they are not neglected. Many customers feel that talking to a human rather than a machine means they are more likely to return to the business.

24/7 Available Even if The Business is Closed

Customers will probably be interested in contacting a business whose services they need outside of business hours, to catch all these extra calls and possible sales, having a 24/7 answering system is the perfect solution. The clients or customers are free to enquire and get information at any time and will, therefore, be more likely to engage with your business and view your services as reliable.

Answering Calls Promptly Even when it is Busy

 

Being able to answer all calls, even if it is just to secure a return phone number on which the business can call back on, is a huge advantage for businesses. Unanswered calls are lost opportunities and by having someone always available to attend to your customer's needs will build trust and make customers feel well taken care of.

Recording a Call For Future Queries

It is very advantageous for a small business to record calls for future queries. As small businesses have fewer resources to track all their work, recording calls will help the business to cover such issues.

 

Direct Buying Through Telephone Service

 

Some small businesses sell products directly to the customers so having a secure telephone answering service will be the best medium for the customers and the business to process transactions and send any news in a timely manner.

Instant Feedback and Solutions

 

Call answering services are one of the best ways to deal with clients’ problems instantly. This will help the business to keep records of what problems clients are having, which means they will be able to avoid the same problem in future. This way the clients never feel neglected and are motivated to stick with the business.

For small businesses, having an answering service simply make sense, there are more opportunities for the business to find new clients and it makes it much easier to retain the old ones as well. Having someone on the other end of the phone gives customers peace of mind and confidence that the business is going to answer them regardless of the clock. Contact Call Service today for professional phone answering service for your small business.

7 Useful Australian Online Phone Directory

Having the right phone number for the right person or service when you need it in an emergency is a lifeline for many people, whether it is getting in touch with a local school, an emergency plumber or a power company, the internet is a great place to find all of the numbers you need in a single click. Whilst the big old phone books of the past are handy to keep at home, online directories are searchable and are much easier to navigate in an emergency than a bulky old phone book.

With access to the internet now available on most smartphones, these websites and their numbers have proven immeasurably important to many people across the nation, especially for those in an emergency. More and more local businesses are taking advantage of these online directories to offer their products and services directly to customers to the benefit of the community.

At Call Service - The Telephone Answering Service, Australia wide, we’re constantly researching and looking at new phone directories on the web – not just because we’re interested in the field, but because being in the service industry for a long time, we always look to help our clients.Here are some of the best online telephone directories currently available:

PersonLookup

This website specialises in finding people based on their names and locations. Advanced searches can be carried out and the majority of the time you will find the person you are looking for in a matter of minutes. It is a lot quicker to use this online service than trying to browse the local telephone book, as many people like to list their mobile numbers and are therefore not automatically entered into the telephone or address book in your local area.

WhitePages

The White Pages have become synonymous with finding businesses, services, government organisations as well as important numbers such as your local gas, power or electrical company, street lighting, ambulance and doctors numbers. This online directory should be the first port of call whatever your emergency or if you wish to find a local business or government organisation.

YellowPages

The Yellow Pages is a great online directory that offers you the ability to find all of your local businesses in one place. With an easy search facility, you can search by business type, the services they offer and the local community and region they supply. The yellow page is a popular site which seamlessly puts you in direct contact with the companies around you.

TrueLocal

This online phone directory is a unique take on a phone book service, as they offer great access to holiday related services such as car rental, taxis and booking companies. True local offers a search by your postcode to put you in touch with the businesses and companies around you, offering you a chance to take advantage of possible local offers that are not provided by national services.

LocalBlue

Local Blue is a newer online telephone directory service that offers a range of searchable companies and businesses. With more in-depth information about the companies listed on their site, Local Blue also puts you in contact with the company or businesses website, contact details, email and any other related information you might need so you can pick a company with all-around great service.

DLook

D Look is another great service that puts you in touch with all of your local companies and national services that are easily found with a simplified search engine. D Look features over 1.5 million local and national businesses in its archive, which is regularly updated with the latest phone numbers and contact information for speedy service.

Nationwide

Nationwide lists a large number of companies and businesses on a national scale, with local companies taking precedent when searching via postcode. You can also search by service type, such as plumber, electrician like the other main sites, so you will be familiar with the search functionality and will be able to find your local company with ease.

If like us you are always in search of a directory that provides useful phone numbers that may be of importance, please mention them in the comments section and share them with others. Important numbers and directories are what gives companies and businesses new clients, as well as boosting the visibility amongst the local community.