Chances are you’ve heard of call forwarding—and you and your team may even be using it along with other important tools from your answering service.
But, how much do you know about using call forwarding strategically to save time and lower your work-related stress level?
Consider this scenario: Many organizations, especially small businesses and practices, have a specific person who, at the end of each day (and prior to the weekend, too), manually switches call forward on and then, the next business morning, manually switches it back off and pointed the office again. This person knows how the system works, and generally does a pretty good job of staying on top of the answering service and, more specifically, the call forwarding.
Manual Isn’t Optimal & People Are People
But sometimes, because that person is human and because life is life, that person doesn’t come into work, or has an emergency and has to rush out, or gets sick, or leaves the company abruptly or even forgets one morning or one evening.
Or, consider something like this: What if that person leaves earlier than usual one day, doesn’t turn the call forwarding on prior to leaving and forgets to tell anyone else on the team to do so. That night, a hurricane or snowstorm hits the area and the office is closed the next day. Or, maybe the next day is a holiday.
No matter what the specific circumstances, a manual system can be hit-or-miss, and calls are going to be missed—this is never a good thing. And no business or practice or firm or organization likes missed calls, especially when there is already a call forwarding option in place, but one that is, unfortunately, being under- or even mis-used.
As you know, missed calls can come from customers or patients with emergencies, new callers looking to hire you or make an appointment or even loyal clients looking for routine information such as billing address, fax number or an email address. Letting any of those calls go unattended and often unnoticed at all is not a good idea for anyone.
This Is Why We Recommend Call Forward No Answer
What is Call Forward No Answer? After a set number of rings, your call forwarding can be set to switch over directly and automatically** to your answering service. (It’s important to point out that you can also choose to have calls forwarded to a home or cell phone number that belongs to you or anyone else on your staff.)
Think of the Call Forward No Answer—and Call Forwarding overall—as an automatic, built-in option that offers:
- Greater flexibility
- Increased capacity to provide better customer service
- Improved response times
- Increased peace of mind for you and your team
- A more efficient and responsive way of operating your organization and its incoming phone calls
**Please note and remember that call forwarding is configured at the carrier level.**
