Every business wants its callers to be greeted with a friendly, familiar voice, but sometimes it’s simply not in the budget to hire a full-time receptionist.
Voicemail is so 2007, though, isn’t it? The truth is that today’s commercial voicemail systems are very different than the basic phone answering systems of the past. Voicemail in the modern world, like so many other things, is way more than just voicemail.
Voicemail Can Do More for Your Company
When it comes to voicemail, there’s plenty beyond the basic.
For many companies, these systems—whether they are called voicemail, phone trees, auto attendant or something else—can improve organization and streamline business without creating extra work or significant expense. It’s a win-win situation, especially if you’re using your voicemail for more than just taking messages.
Here are just a few tasks that can take your voicemail into the future:
- Allowing callers to skip call queues. If your office has busy telephone times, your voicemail system can help callers feel less like they’re waiting an eternity for an answer to their question or a resolution to their problem.When you give customers the option to skip the call queue and simply leave a message for a call back, that caller can go on with their day instead of wasting time on hold. Of course, this only works if you have someone available to return those messages promptly.
- Automatically transcribing messages to save you time. Very small businesses might not have a need for a complicated voicemail system, but it’s still nice to have a little help here and there. One of the most tedious jobs for any entrepreneur is transcribing messages from their voicemail each and every day.Obviously those calls need to be returned, but first they must be prioritized. Save yourself a step and let your voicemail system send you a written transcription of your calls.
- Helping your callers find the right person, right away. Small to medium sized businesses with multiple departments or several different experts on staff may leave their callers wondering just who will get their call when all messages are going into a group voicemail. Modern voicemail systems can be set up to act like a phone tree, giving callers the power to reach the exact person they mean to call, even after hours, at a fraction of the cost of an operator.
- Giving you the power to communicate with your callers when you’re away. Voicemail has always given you the ability to leave a basic message with instructions for your callers, but a modern voicemail system can be configured to give callers the power to help themselves. You can press 1 to leave a message, for example, or 2 to hear instructions for reaching a web-based self-service tool.Sales messages, instructions to call alternative numbers or even basic tips (a property manager might explain briefly how to change an air filter or a mechanic could provide information for getting a tow to their shop) make a voicemail system even more useful than ever before.
If you’ve been considering partnering with an answering service company, but believe you really only need a simple service, consider asking about enhanced voicemail tools. Not only will a phone tree make you look like a bigger company, they can help streamline your day in so many ways.
