How Virtual Receptionists Can Benefit Virtual Offices

This guest post was submitted to The Anywhere Office by Kevin Gillam of Ruby Receptionists

Whether you wear all the hats in your virtual office or you have staff working from remote locations,there’s often one thing missing – a receptionist. A phone answering service for your virtual office is a simple solution that can provide you with the same invaluable benefits enjoyed by businesses withon-site receptionists.

From forwarding calls to your business number to making calls on your behalf, a virtual receptionist service is the glue that helps hold your operations together, no matter where you or your employees are. Just like on-site receptionists, virtual receptionists provide a variety of services, including: Phone answering with a custom greeting and letting you know who’s on the line before transferring, just like a receptionist in a physical office. Taking messages by hand or forwarding calls to voicemail – both of which can be emailed to you. Connecting calls to any phone number of your choice. Making phone calls on your behalf. Relaying messages and information to callers.

The big companies all have someone to answer the phone on behalf of the head honchos and other employees. There is no reason you can’t have someone providing you with the same professional first impression just because you have a virtual office. When you have an attentive virtual receptionist handling your calls, you provide your callers with a top-notch experience.

Enhanced Customer Service – Instead of just sending callers to your business line, a virtual receptionist engages them. After learning the caller’s name, the receptionist notifies you about the call, giving you the chance to craft a personal greeting. If you’re not able to take the call, the receptionist politely lets the individual know you’re away from your phone and offers to take a message or sends the caller to your voice mail. A virtual reception service can do the same for your staff members, too, so your customers don’t have to worry about extension numbers or individual phone numbers. Each caller gets connected to the right person every time. The personal touches a virtual receptionist service provides make a big difference.

No More Missed Opportunities – A missed phone call can lead to missed business opportunities. Because of this, many small business owners working out of virtual offices are afraid to step away from their workspaces. A phone answering service, on the other hand, gives you the freedom to be more mobile because the receptionist can connect you with callers wherever you are – your desk, cell phone or home. So if you’re out running errands, you don’t have to worry about missing a call from the next big client.

Save Money and Increase Your Bottom Line – When you have a virtual office, setting up a workstation for an in-house receptionist can become tricky and expensive. Plus, on days you don’t receive a lot of calls, you end up paying the employee to wait for the phone to ring. Instead, you can use a virtual receptionist service only when you need it and pay only for the services rendered. The beauty of this setup is that you get all the benefits of having an in-house receptionist for a fraction of the cost, and your callers will never notice that your receptionist works from an off-site location.

Author Biography:  Kevin Gillam is Director of Marketing at Ruby Receptionists, a leading live virtual receptionist service in Portland, Oregon. Harkening back to an era when every call to an office was answered by a friendly receptionist, Ruby provides personalized, remote receptionist service for attorneys and small businesses throughout North America.

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