How call forwarding can help your business

Peyton Duplechien • 24 Oct 2019 • 3 min read

Wait, what exactly is call forwarding, you may be asking yourself. Call forwarding allows you to have one phone line’s incoming calls sent to another line. This is most useful for example when the first line is tied up and you want a caller to be directed to the other line, with the hope that the call will be answered.

Why should you consider call forwarding for your business?

It’s very beneficial to your business that your calls are answered for many reasons. To begin with, this call could be a lead. And if you don’t answer, the caller may move on to the next business that does answer. So by missing the call, you’ve missed a prospective customer.
From a customer service standpoint, it’s irritating to a caller who has a question or is facing an issue to not have someone pick up the phone. It makes them feel underappreciated and it shows your business as lacking the capability to answer calls.
The easier it is for your customers to get in touch with you, the better. You may have a certain time of day where your call volume is too high for you to answer every call. Or you may get a lot of calls after hours when you aren’t going to answer the phone. In that case, consider a business answering service. You can choose when you have your calls forwarded, or you can set your call forwarding to your answering service as a default. An answering service can take messages from callers and send them to you for your review. You decide who to call back and when.

About answering services

You’ve probably spoken with an operator with an answering service before. Sometimes you are aware of it, like when you call a doctor’s office after hours. Other times, it’s so seamless you have no idea you aren’t talking to a front-desk receptionist at the business you’re calling. That’s because call answering services provide custom scripting, so the operators are answering the calls using the greeting and answer phrases you created when you set up your account.
And live answering services can do more than just answer your calls and take messages. They can patch calls to other employees, they can do emergency dispatching, set appointments and process orders. Some answering services offer after hours call answering or 24/7 answering, holidays included.

What to look for in an answering service

Quality is important to look for in an answering service. You want to know that the operators are trained specifically on your account. You want to know that there is a level of quality assurance, such as call auditing, to make sure your calls are being handled the way you want.
You also want to take a good look at pricing and make sure there are no hidden fees or taxes. Answering services bill by the minute, but they might also charge extra for things like call patching, after hours or bilingual operators.
At VoiceNation, we have the simplest, most transparent pricing. We have no contracts and no hidden fees or charges. What you see is what you get. We offer the highest quality call answering and all the features you need to help your business grow. Want to learn more? Give us a call at 877.679.3777.