How Virtual Reception Services Can Help You Dial In Your Business

The largest hurdle you’ll probably face after getting your business off the ground is establishing your presence. There’s a lot that goes into legitimizing your name and business, from marketing and advertising to cold-calling. It takes time to establish a professional reputation, especially with a startup business.

A big part of establishing your professional reputation is handling inquiries and correspondence in a professional manner. While we know cost overheads are something that can’t be ignored for startup business operators, there are ways to provide clients and associates with professional reception services that don’t break your budget.

For this post, we’ll be diving into the world of virtual reception services; what they are and how they can help to “dial in” your business presence.

Let’s start with the basics:

What are virtual reception services?

Virtual reception is a deceptively simple term, which often leads to a lot of confusion about what those services actually provide. In a nutshell, virtual reception services provide business and professionals with all the things an office receptionist would do, sans the actual receptionist.

Virtual reception services can provide things like: call answering, call forwarding, messaging, appointment scheduling and all the other good stuff that no business owner really wants to deal with.

The important thing to remember is that most virtual reception services can be tailor-fit to suit your needs. We’ll describe some these services and how they work.

Virtual reception services explained

How are you handling calls for your startup? Do you have a dedicated business line or are you using your cell phone? Using your cell phone may be the most convenient method, but it may not be the best for your business. What happens when you miss a call? Is your voicemail professional sounding or is it an informal voicemail? What if you haven’t had time to clear your voicemail box and the caller can’t leave a message?

The fact is, missed calls to your cell phone means missed opportunities for your business. That’s why many virtual reception service providers offer call answering services.

There’s a couple options available to you if you’re interested in a call answering service:

• Automated Reception 

Also known as auto answering, this service allows you to to field calls using a prerecorded or automated directory.

You can set this service up through a land-line, a VoIP phone, or your cell phone. With automated reception, callers are directed to an automated “receptionist”, providing callers with an option to dial an extension or leave a message. Most auto answering services will convert voicemail messages to text and forward them to your email.

Auto reception allows you to stay on top of inbound calls and greet clients and associates with professional answering

• Live Reception

A step up from automated answering, a live reception can offer more comprehensive phone-answering services. With live reception, callers are greeted by an actual person, who will then forward your call or take a message.

Many live reception providers also offer other virtual reception services. You can have the receptionist answer frequently asked questions or even handle your appointment scheduling.

Virtual reception costs

You may be wondering now what the cost benefits are for these types of services. How is it any cheaper than just hiring an in-house receptionist? Well, there’s the physicality aspect of it, for starters.

Without the need of providing actual space for a receptionist, you can remove the need for expanding office space.

Also, with a full-time receptionist, you’re paying the person to be there for a whole day, even if the phones aren’t ringing.

Virtual reception services provide piece-of-mind that your inbound calls are being handled in a professional, efficient manner. What’s more, virtual reception providers structure price plans according to how much you will require.

For instance, our virtual reception services are structured around several different plans. Each plan has a certain allotment of answering minutes every month. This is great, because you can pay for the service you need and not worry about excess.

Resources

If you’d like to find out more about virtual reception services for your business, get in touch!

We feature comprehensive virtual office and reception services as well as shared office space and conference rooms in downtown Tampa.