Frequently Asked Questions

A per minute fee allows for a different billable charge for calls that take 1-2 minutes as opposed to 10-30 seconds, as it should be.

A per minute fee allows our staff to focus on providing service in a professional and efficient manner.

In a per call or per message fee structure more money is made by taking as many calls or messages in the least amount of time.

How will my calls be answered?
There are typically 3 standard operating procedures in our industry.

1. Every call is answered on the first ring.
While this is possible and done well by many services, there will always be a time when the call volume exceeds the number of available agents. To accomplish the promise of every call being answered on the first ring the call is answered on the first ring and the agent says “xyz company, please hold”. The call was answered on the first ring, but the caller was placed back in queue until an agent becomes available.

2. No call is ever placed on hold.
This seems to be a great benefit. Each call is answered and completed by the agent that answers the line.

However, when the number of incoming calls exceeds the number of available agents the result is the phone will ring until an agent is available. This may mean it will ring 2-3 times or it may mean it will ring 6-10 times. The caller will not be put on hold but will have to listen to ringing until an agent becomes available.

3. Calls are answered in a timely fashion either by an agent or a customized greeting.

Ansaphone subscribes to this methodology.

If an agent is available the call is answered and the message taken and processed by the same agent.

If when the nubmer of inbound calls exceeds the number of available agents, a customized recording will answer the call typically saying ” Thank you for calling xyz company please wait on the line and someone will be with you shortly”. This recording can be customized to say the company name as well as office hours or other information useful to the caller. The call is then placed in queue for the next available agent. When an agent answers, that agent completes the call and follows the instructions on the account.

Our service levels are monitored and staffing changes made to ensure a high level of service is available 24 hours a day.

Service level reports detailing average wait to answer are monitored to ensure we are meeting or exceeding our service level goals. Individual service level reports are also available on an account by account basis.