There are many benefits to having a call service, but depending on how they bill you, you may be getting overcharged.
An answering service is an important part of your business operations. When you don’t have an answering service, you lose many calls that come in during non-business hours, especially since many callers don’t like to leave voicemails. Having an answering service is an investment in good customer relations. There are many benefits to having a call service, but depending on how they bill you, you may be getting overcharged. Read on to find out more.
Ways to Pay
Many businesses pay for their answering services on a per-call basis. This makes sense for many because it means that they aren’t being charged for the time, possibly many hours each day when they aren’t receiving calls. However, it also sometimes means that the company is charged for all calls that come in for them, even hang-ups and wrong numbers.
The Issue With Short Duration Calls
Short duration calls are those that get disconnect quickly, like wrong numbers and hang-ups. These are calls that usually aren’t even actually for your business, and they don’t result in any new business prospects. If you’re being charged on a per-call basis, you’re paying for those calls anyway. There isn’t much you can do to avoid these calls either, except possibly add an electronic phone directory system, but this will likely only aggravate the callers who are actually trying to reach you. Most of these types of calls last only 6-10 seconds, but you may be getting billed for a full call unit anyway.
How It Translates To Dollars
When you’ve got a contract that charges you by the minute, even short calls are reasonable. For instance, if you get charged $1 per minute, a 10-second short call is only about 17 cents. If you’re being charged $1 per call, on the other hand (because your contract is billed on a per-call basis), that 10-second call is still a full dollar. If you get a handful of calls a month, those dollars start to add up pretty quickly. Even if you’re only being charged an extra $25 per month, those charges will eat away at your bottom line.
Contact TeleRep Today!
If you are ready to install a call center service for your business, TeleRep is here to help. If you still have more questions, our trained professionals are ready to answer them. We know how important customer feedback is to you and your business, so let them know that you care with an answering service. To learn how TeleRep can help you today, visit us online or give us a call at 1-800-638-2000. To keep up with our work and to see what we have been up to, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.