A virtual receptionist service is a service in which live receptionists, working remotely (away from your office) answer and manage your phone line. At Abby Connect our receptionists all work out of our Nevada offices, providing a high-quality phone experience to small businesses across the U.S..
A great virtual receptionist service is different than your typical call center. They’ll sound like they’re at your office, sitting at your front desk—giving you all the advantages of a receptionist (or five) at a fraction of the cost of additional full-time staff.
A high-quality virtual receptionist service:
- Is cheaper than additional full-time staff
- Ensures that every incoming call is answered
- Saves you, on average, 13+ hours a week
- Increases your ROI from phone calls
- Represents your business right
- Is bilingual and HIPAA-compliant
And your experience with a virtual receptionist service is customizable – with custom call handling instructions, greeting, and transfer tunes.
Even more importantly, how you utilize the service is customizable! Here are four great ways you can utilize your virtual receptionist service to impress your customers, capture callers, and grow your business.
24/7, in Place of Full Staff
Your virtual receptionist service can simply be your receptionist.
If you don’t have a full-time receptionist, or you’d rather your receptionist manage in-office matters first, services like Abby Connect can answer your phones 24/7. With this configuration, all incoming calls will be routed to your virtual receptionist team first and then managed accordingly.
You decide what calls are forwarded to you, meetings to be scheduled, and when you’d like your receptionists to simply take messages. The 24/7 answering model is the closest to simply having an in-house receptionist. They are the consistent face (or voice) of your business.
This is a great way to make your business sound larger to callers, create the impression of a central office if you’re mobile or a solopreneur, and save you the cost of a full-time employee.
Use when you don’t have coverage for your phone lines or don’t want to hire full-time staff.
After Hours, Weekends
Another common use-case is to turn your virtual receptionist service on when your business office is closed—after hours and on weekends.
This is an effective way to ensure coverage when your receptionists aren’t working. You’ll come back to the office with appointments scheduled, messages ready for you to address, and new-customer intake sitting in your inbox. This way you won’t be missing potential customers just because you aren’t in the office.
After hours coverage is also great for businesses that get emergency calls – like if you’re a plumber or HVAC contractor who wants to be able to answer emergency, off-hours calls, but doesn’t want someone sitting at the phone full time. Your virtual receptionist team will filter out non-urgent calls and forward those that are important to you!
Use when capturing business is important, even when your business is closed.
To Supplement Existing Staff
Maybe you already have an in-house receptionist, legal assistant who answers the phone, or office manager. A virtual receptionist service can be utilized to make their lives easier!
You can decide when you have coverage—set aside a number of hours each day.
For example, we can cover from 7am – 10am each morning so your receptionists can prepare for the day, do the filing, or manage your morning customers.
Or maybe we can cover from 11am – 1pm every day, so your receptionists can take their lunch break in peace, knowing your phone lines are covered!
You get to decide when it makes sense for us to cover your phone, based on your, your staff, and your customers’ needs. Setting a consistent time for coverage gives your staff a break from the ringing phone to focus on the other work you need them to manage. They get their productive time back, you only get transferred the calls you want and need to receive, and incoming calls always get answered—you can kind of have it all.
Use when your in-house staff has a variety of responsibilities and can’t always afford to be interrupted by a ringing phone.
However You Want!
Of course, your coverage isn’t set in stone! You can move your coverage as your needs change.
Your receptionist is on vacation this week? Set up 24/7 coverage.
You need calls answered but can’t take calls this week? Use the AbbyGO app to change your status to “Not Taking Calls.”
Your open hours change? Adjust your coverage hours!
Your virtual receptionist team’s goal is to:
- Reduce the stress of a ringing
- Delight your callers
- Give you your productive time back
- Help you capture business
- Filter out the calls you’re not interested in taking
That’s why your virtual receptionist service is customizable. We aren’t one solution fits all because your needs are unique to your business.
Use your virtual receptionist service whenever and however you want!
The Abby Connect Difference
Abby Connect’s virtual receptionist service is different. We understand small businesses because we were one. A family-owned business, we’re driven by what our customers need – not venture capitalists or a board of directors.
Every customer gets a dedicated team of 5-10 receptionists who get to know your business before they ever pick up the phone. They’ll answer, transfer, take messages, do intake, answer FAQs, and schedule appointments on your behalf.
Most importantly, we’ll provide a service customized to your unique business needs.
Let’s talk about how we can help your business—give us a call at 877-303-5757 to learn more or get started!
