Almost every company outsourcing to a live answering service uses some form of on-call dispatching for their after hours or business hours calls that require immediate attention. And why not! Businesses don’t want to drop the ball on potential sales, and customers with urgent requests don’t want to be left waiting until the next business day to be heard. Letting a virtual receptionist give you a buzz to pass important messages along or transfer callers is a great way to harness the power of an answering service. This leaves customers wondering, “If it’s one of the best tools an answering service can offer, is there a way we can get more out of it, and how should we structure our on-call?”

We are an answering service, so naturally, we have your answers! We looked at hundreds of accounts who use on-call dispatching as part of their script, compared it against any customer service issues for each client related to on-call, and found 6 similarities among the best performing campaigns.

1. Keep the on-call information updated

Just like you wouldn’t let your on-call schedule go outdated in your own office, you shouldn’t let your on-call schedule expire with your answering service either. In order to maintain a successful outsourcing experience, you have to make sure you are always on the same page as your  service. That means if something changes in your office, your answering service should be notified of the change as well. If you don’t, your answering service will wind up making errors that could cost you business.

2. If there’s a problem, we’ll let you know – you just need to act

Whenever our operators encounter a problem with a script, they always log the error for our support team to look into. Our support team then starts a case with the client to alert them of the error so that we can try to come to a resolution. Once our team alerts you of an error, the best thing to do is to respond with an answer, and to do so quickly. The quicker we can get the issue resolved, the quicker your customers can continue to receive the best service possible. Some examples of the most common on-call errors we come across include:

• Expired on-call schedule: If your on-call schedule has not been updated, the system is going to pull the last known configuration and use that as a guide. That means that if Paul was the last scheduled person from 2 weeks ago, the system will continue to dispatch to Paul until you can update the schedule with new information.
• Staff no longer works for the company: Often times we’ll see that businesses update their own company roster, but fail to keep their answering service in the loop. Whenever you add or remove employees, you always want to make sure your on-call staff list is properly updated and your schedule reflects the changes.
• Incorrect phone number: Just like how some businesses fail to alert us with updated employee rosters, they also sometimes fail to let us know when an employee changes his or her phone number. Keeping phone numbers updated is one of the many keys to ensuring successful interactions.
• Incorrect schedule: If you’re not familiar with making updates in our on-call platform, it can be easy to make a couple mistakes here and there. That is why we offer articles and tutorials within our help desk to guide customers in making changes. However, if making updates just isn’t your thing, our customer support staff would be happy to help!
• Schedule is not integrated: In order for our operators to access your on-call schedule, it must be integrated into your script. Many customers think that just adding their schedule to the portal is enough, but they often forget that second step. While our support staff is pretty good at making sure schedules are properly integrated, some do slip through the cracks. If you do happen to add a schedule, send a quick message to our support staff so they can double check your work!

3. Understanding what a schedule start-stop time refers to

When creating your on-call schedule in SAS’s portal, the system will require you to select a start/stop time for your on-call rotation. Essentially, this will dictate when your schedule will start and when it will change over to the next person. No matter what time you select, the start/stop time frame runs for a full 24 hours. So, if you select 8am, your schedule will start at 8am, and end at 8am the following day.

If you have the same person on-call all week, the schedule won’t technically “end” but it allows the system to know when one day has ended and another begins. If you have multiple shifts throughout a 24 hour period, you can create a custom time frame. The time frame will still run for 24 hours, but the custom setting will allow you to add multiple different time slots within the 24 hour period. For example, you could have one employee on-call from 8am-2pm, another employee on-call from 2pm-10pm, and another employees on-call from 10pm-8am the following morning. As long as you complete a 24 time frame, you can add as many time slots as you want.

4. A status update is not an on-call update

Not to be confused with an on-call update, a status update is a change you can make within your SAS portal that allows you to provide temporary instructions for the operators. The temporary instructions don’t actually change your call handling, they just add a simple note for the agents. After your set time frame for the status update has expired, the instructions automatically get removed from your script.

A status update is great to use when there are last minute changes and customer service isn’t able to make the update in the time that you need it to go into effect, or you’re on the go and can’t reach out. However, it is not error-proof, and should only be used as a last ditch effort when you need an immediate change. Otherwise, we always recommend updating your actual script or on-call schedule to guarantee your updates are followed.

5. When to use a warm transfer, and when to go cold

Since each customer interaction is different, you probably want to handle different situations in different ways. For example, if a potential customer calls who is interested in your service, you may want those calls warm transferred to your sales team to close the deal. However, if an existing customer calls with an issue that isn’t urgent, you may want to cold transfer them to your support team. If no one is available, they can leave a message for a return call. If you’re not sure what the difference is between a warm and a cold transfer, don’t worry! We broke them down for you below:

• Warm transfer: During a warm transfer, the operator would put the caller on hold, dial the appropriate contact, and see if they are available to accept the call. If they are, they transfer the caller through. If they are not, they either attempt a different number, or they go back to the caller to gather the message.
• Cold transfer: During a cold transfer, the operator would not put the caller on hold to see if the appropriate contact is available. Instead, the operator would just transfer the caller blindly. If the contact was not available, the caller would be able to leave a voicemail for a return call

6. Send it early and we’ll make the updates

If you’re not comfortable making your on-call changes yourself, our support team would be more than happy to do it for you! However, you should always send updates prior to when you actually need them done, so that our team has ample time to complete them, review them, and get them back to you.

When our team is forced to make updates in a pinch, there are more chances for errors. Additionally, if multiple clients are requesting changes at the exact same time, your updates may fall into a queue which prolongs the time it takes to get them done. So, if you need us to make updates, make sure you are sending them to us at least 2 days in advance to guarantee they are done in a timely fashion, and done right.

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At Specialty Answering Service, we’ve been committed to the success of small businesses for over 30 years. We’ve helped thousands of businesses grow with the help of our live operator answering service. We’ve learned what works for businesses, and where we can improve to help you build value through your relationship with us. We’re committed to your success and we want you to get the most out of our answering service and our software platform.

We’re committed to helping you reach your business goals, which is why we believe that learning about our system is essential. In this post, you’ll learn:

1. Where to turn when you need answers or help
2. How to make some basic adjustments on your script and where messages are delivered
3. What advanced features are available at no extra cost
4. What features you can add to your subscription

1. Where to turn when you need help

Whether you have questions, concerns, or need to make updates, our customer support warriors have always got your back. You can contact customer service via phone, email and live chat Monday through Friday, 8:30am-6pm EST. In an effort to maximize our availability, we also utilize an on-call system that allows our support team to be available via email after hours and on weekends. Depending on which service level you are on, there are others ways you can get assistance as well:

Per Minute

If you are on our Advanced, or per minute service level, you have complete access to your account via your online portal and mobile app, and can make changes any time. If you have questions, you can always access our online help desk which includes a lot of helpful information, including walk through tutorials. However, if you are unable to find what you are looking for, you can send our support team a message right from your portal or app, and our reps will get back to you as soon as possible. Our normal turn around time during business hours is 2 hours or less, and our normal turn around time during after hours is within 12 hours.

Per Call

If you are on our Essentials, or per call service level, you are able to call up your own forwarding line and ask the operators for assistance. They are able to relay messages to you and make on-call/scripting updates while you are on the phone. If you need further assistance or have questions they cannot answer, they will happily create a support ticket for our in-house customer service reps to reply to as soon as possible. Our normal turn around time during business hours is 2 hours or less, and our normal turn around time during after hours is within 12 hours.

2. Let’s do some simple stuff

While our support staff is great at helping make changes to your account, some updates are simple enough that you can save yourself some time by making them yourself. These include:

• Adding and Updating your FAQs
• Changing where your messages are sent
• Updating script steps
• Adding and removing script steps

3. Advanced features you can use, for free

At Specialty Answering Service, we want to arm our customers with as many tools to help their business as possible, which means most of our advanced features come complimentary with the service. So, even if you’re on our lowest plan, you still have access to app integrations, interactive portal features, and more! Here is a comprehensive list of the advanced features you can use, free of charge:

• Rating calls: Not only can you listen to all of your calls from your online portal, you can also rate your calls 1-5 stars, and leave feedback. The feedback that is left can then be used to coach operators if their performance was poor, make scripting changes, or as examples of how calls should be handled for less experienced reps.
• Generating reports: In our online portal, users can generate a total of 9 different types of reports which can be used to help monitor monthly usage, see where your marketing attempts are paying off and what needs more attention, and more. You can even schedule automatic reports that can be sent to you daily, weekly or monthly.
• Creating call surveys: Want to know what your customers are thinking? Let us ask them! With the SAS Survey App, you can have our agents email your customers after each call, and customize the questions that we ask them. Our call surveys are a great opportunity to gather feedback from your caller, and figure out what’s working and what’s not.
• 30+ app integrations: No matter what CRM or software platform you use to manage your customer data, we’ve got an app for that. Specialty’s portal includes over 30 app integrations, including a Custom Action app which would allow users to integrate with a platform that isn’t already listed. Some other apps include Salesforce, Zendesk, Google Calendar, Google Sheets and Google Maps.
• Mobile app: As long as you’ve got an iPhone or an Android, you can have complete access to our mobile app which will allow you to check messages, listen to calls, and respond to customers, all from the palm of your hand.
• Custom status labels: In an effort to help you and your staff members stay more organized, we included an option to create custom status labels that can be attached to your calls. That way you can determine who needs a call back ASAP and from who, what was already handled, and what can wait. Of course, they are completely customizable, so you can create any status labels that you want!
• Share call details: If you’d like to share call details with your employees without giving them access to the portal themselves, you can do that by sharing call details right from the portal. You can send an email with just the message details, or you can include the recording of the call, as well as a little note to the person you are sharing the call with.
• Create and edit on-call schedules: Not only can you add and edit your on-call schedule within your SAS portal, we also offer other cool features to go along with it. For example, you have the option of manually adding your schedule, or you can upload it via .CSV file. You can also create and add specific groups for easy implementation, and you can set expiration alerts so you are notified before and after any schedules expire.

4. Like add ons? We’ve got them!

In addition to our advanced features that come complimentary with your service, we have other features that can be added on for an extra monthly charge. Some of those add-on features include:

• Outbound Return Call Service: Sometimes our answering service experiences spikes in volume which results in hold times, and sometimes people don’t like waiting. If your callers are hanging up while in the queue, you can add an outbound return call service which would allow our operators to call back anyone who has disconnected before reaching a live voice.
• Outbound Calling: Are your employees too busy for cold calls? Need to up your telemarketing game? If you’re interested in having our agents contact potential leads, you can set up an outbound calling campaign where you are able to upload the leads you’d like our agents to call out to.
• Bilingual Support: Just because you may not be able to provide bilingual support in your office, doesn’t mean your Spanish speaking customers should be left hanging. Our answering service offers 24/7 bilingual support which can help bridge any communication gaps that may be affecting your business.
• Sub Accounts: Whether you have multiple companies, or multiple departments within your company that you want to keep separate, we offer sub accounts which are situated under  your main account. Sub accounts are separate from your main account in the sense that they come with their own script and forwarding number, but they all share the same billing, which means you don’t have to worry about dealing with multiple invoices each month.
• Automated IVR: Need help routing your calls to different departments or people? Setting up an auto attendant with Specialty Answering Service is easy with our call center technology. your IVR can be as simple as pressing 1 for English or 2 for Spanish, or it can be as complex as your business is.

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In B2B or B2C sales, if you’re not getting back to leads lightning quick, you’re losing business. There’s really no way around it. Without instant lead follow-up, you’re daring that prospect to call your competitor. So, instead of growing your small business, you’re left treading water. Lead officially blown. Although it’s super important to make sure new leads are communicated with and relationships established quickly, in a normal business that’s only operating from 9-5, it’s not always feasible.

However, there’s one tool businesses can use to make sure their employees aren’t expected to work around the clock and no leads are missed: The 24 hour answering service.

It’s all about time

According to the Harvard Business Review, leads go cold very quickly. Their research showed that businesses that were able to contact new prospects within 1 hour of receiving the lead were 7 times more likely to qualify or close the lead versus those companies that tried to contact those companies after an hour – 7 times! Taking that a step further, if you compare the less than an hour response time companies to those companies who waited 24 hours or longer to call a lead back, now we’re talking about that lead being 60 times more likely to qualify or close comparatively. Those are pretty cold statistics if you’re on the > 24 hour end. But despite that, a surprisingly low percentage of companies, 37 % to be exact, will respond to requests within an hour.

So why do companies do it? Why are only 37% of businesses fast to respond? The reality is that most businesses aren’t equipped to contact leads back instantly. There’s no in-house 24 hour staff. There’s no unicorn employee that likes to be answering phones and responding to requests 24/7/365. Businesses aren’t just businesses. They’re powered by people with families and responsibilities outside of work.

Unless you’re running your own 24-hour shifts, it’s time for a change. By diverting those leads and having them captured and responded to by a 24 hour answering service, you’ll be better equipped to close more leads by decreasing your lead response time. With the opportunity captured, you can focus your decision making on what leads does your staff want to be contacted for, and what leads are important – just not important enough to disrupt my sales staff’s lives as 9:00 PM.

It’s all about tools

Routing your sales line to a 24 hour answering service throws any limitations on money and manpower you may be tethered by out the window. For a low monthly price that’s based on volume, you can reap the benefit of that 7 times higher close rate by giving your prospects a live voice to speak with to ensure their lead data is captured. The best companies take this a step further and learn how to take advantage of specific scripting and protocols to find a balance between what the lead wants, and what your employees expect in terms of work-life balance. When setup correctly, your 24 hour sales line can get you in the game:

Deciding which leads should be transferred

While all leads are important, not all need an immediate response from your sales team. For example, someone calling in with a few questions but not showing any real interest in signing up at this time could just result in a message for your sales team to follow up on a later date. However, hot leads, or leads who are very interested in your product or service should probably be transferred to your team to close the deal. Your answering service should be able to program in screening questions which will help the operators determine who would need to be transferred or not.

For example, they could ask your callers “are you interested in signing up or did you just have questions?” If they are interested in signing up, they can transfer the caller to your team. If they just want more information, the reps can utilize your custom FAQs to answer questions and then take a message for callers who need more information.

Deciding on your transfer methods

If you decide to transfer hot leads to your sales team, your next decision should be what type of transfers to implement. Typically, there are 3 types of ways your answering service can reach out to your staff, which include:

• Cold Transfer: A cold patch would involve an operator blindly sending a call through to another party, like your sales team.  This means they are not testing the line first to see if someone is available. If no one is available, your caller would be given the option to leave a voicemail message for a return call.
• Warm Transfer: A warm patch would involve the operator placing the caller on hold to see if the person they are patching to is available. If they are, they can transfer the call through. If they are not, the operator can take down the message details and let the caller know their call will be returned soon.
• Reach On-Call: A reach out would involve the operator taking down the message details from your caller and disconnecting the call. They would then reach out to your staff via phone call with the message details and hop off the line. It would then be up to your staff to call the customer back.

Ensuring backup staff or supervisors are in place for the can’t miss leads

If your staff can’t be available 24/7, it’s a good idea to have an on-call system in place so that someone is always around on your side to close those deals that may come in after hours. Your on-call system should be on a rotating schedule so that you can evenly distribute the work, and your answering service should be programmed accordingly.

For example, your answering service script should be programmed in a way that allows the operators to determine which leads need an immediate response and which can wait. For the ones that need immediate response, your agents can access your on-call schedule to reach out to the appropriate person to deliver the message. Instead of having to wait for the next business day for a response, your potential customers will feel satisfied knowing they can speak to a member of your team any time.

For non transfers, provide realistic call back times to keep them interested

For inquiries that don’t require a transfer, it’s still important to provide callers with a realistic time frame of when their call will be returned. Otherwise, they may grow impatient and decide to move on to your competition. If your callers know someone will be getting back to them within a specific time frame, they are less likely to move on. However, it’s equally important to make sure your team is sticking to the timelines your answering service is relaying, otherwise you’re going to lose trust from potential customers, which means you’re going to lose business.

Use available tools to send out emails with more information

If you and your staff are unable to get to every lead that comes in right away, having your answering service send out emails to your callers with more information regarding your product or service is another way to help secure leads. While they are waiting for a call back, your customers can read through the information provided which may help answer questions and familiarize them with your company. When you do reach back out to your customers your interaction will be more streamlined and efficient, since they have already been sent all of the necessary preliminary paperwork when they first called in.

It’s all about making it personal

Voicemail isn’t just cheap. As a lead capture tool, it’s both cheap and ineffective. If you’re using voicemail to capture your leads, you’re failing. Customers would rather connect with a human being than with a business. In fact, according to a Microsoft customer service report, 34% of customers cite the most frustrating aspect of customer service is not being able to reach a live person. As your lead begins it’s journey through your sales funnel, you don’t want to start the relationship on a sour note. The first encounter your customer has should be with a live person. And by using an answering service with 24 hour availability, you can indulge in the benefits of live person-to-person interactions without the cost of doing it in-house.

Let callers know they’re speaking with the receptionist

If your answering service is fielding calls on your behalf, honesty is important. That means you shouldn’t have your answering service lie to your callers to make them think they are speaking with someone from the office when they are not. Not only does this mislead your callers and allow for false expectations, it also shows that your business is not trustworthy. Being up front with your callers from the get-go is a good way to show that your company is transparent and open.

On transfers, let callers know who they’re being transferred to

When building a successful business relationship, communication is key. That  means your callers and potential customers should never be left in the dark. When your answering service transfers calls, they should keep the caller in the loop as much as possible. That means they should familiarize the caller with what they are doing (being put on hold) and who they are being transferred to (John from our sales team). The cherry on top of the ice cream would include having your answering service introduce both the caller and your staff member to make for a seamless transition (Sally, I have John from our sales team on the line for you, he’ll be able to answer all of your questions.)

Let the service schedule appointments

If you’re just using your answering service to answer calls, you’re missing out. Having your answering service perform other tasks like helping schedule appointments means one less thing you and your staff have to do. Instead of having to return calls to schedule, potential customers are already in the database, and your team can spend that time preparing and focusing on other jobs and responsibilities. And, those services usually don’t cost any extra which means you won’t be spending any more money than you already were.

It’s all about success

24 hour answering services make it possible for businesses to connect with their sales prospects around the clock. Businesses who are in the know and outsourcing are doing it right, those who aren’t – just aren’t. The same Harvard study that showed 37% of companies responded to their lead within that golden one hour mark, 16% responded within 24 hours, 24% took longer than 24 hours, and 23% of businesses never responded – at all. Surprisingly disturbing, right? Leaving money on the table when it doesn’t need to be is how you sow failure, not success.

Having an answering service operating 24/7 on your behalf could mean the difference between the success and failure of your business. Just giving your leads someone to talk to makes all of the difference. It shows that you care about your customers, and that you care about the growth of your business.

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