Constantly answering the phones can become extremely time consuming for you and your team; it can be distracting and negatively impact your company’s productivity.

If any of the following statements are true for you, chances are it’s time to hire a professional answering service to handle your calls and messages:

• You have difficulty answering all of your calls.
• You find yourself having to check your voicemail all day long.
• There are times when your voicemail is full.
• Some of your employees are tied up answering the phone.
• Your phone rings for a longtime before somebody can answer it.
• You have trouble delivering the messages to the right people on time.
• You have to make separate calls to a list of people to deliver the same message.
• You are wondering if it would be easier and more cost-effective to hire an answering service than to have a full- or even part-time employee to do it.

With all the choice available today, choosing an answering service can become frustrating and time-consuming. It is important to pick a company you like, but it is even more important to pick a company that your customers will feel comfortable with. A call center’s job is to interact with your callers, so it is necessary that the service you choose is able to relate to them on a professional level.

These are our suggestions to help you choose the best answering service for your company:

• Go with an answering service that specializes in your industry. You have a question about a product and then you call customer service to find out that the call center is located somewhere off-shore and the agent you are talking to is completely unfamiliar with the company and its business? It happens more and more often these days, and it doesn’t make you at all confident that your problem will be solved or that your question will be answered correctly.
• Choose an answering service for your industry. Make sure that the service you hire has experience in your industry, is familiar with issues that could arise and is equipped with the appropriate terminology. These assets can go a long way in building your callers’ and customers’ confidence.
• Make sure it is 24/7. When hiring an answering service, make sure it is always available, and that if someone calls your business in the middle of the night, there will be representatives waiting to answer, take a message, and deliver it to the appropriate location immediately or at the time you indicate.
• Look for dedication and care. The answering service you choose will become extension of your company. Make sure the service you hire is ready to represent you with just as much dedication and care as if you would.

You can activate Call Forwarding whenever you want your calls to be sent to another phone. Once activated, your calls will be sent to the forwarding number you request. To activate your Call Forwarding Service

1. Dial *72
2. Enter the phone number including the area code where you want your calls to be forwarded to (e.g. *72-555-355-3232) and press #
3. You will hear the number you entered ring. When the call is answered, Call Forwarding is activated.
4. If the call is not answered or the line is busy, hang up and call the number again within two minutes. You will hear two short tones telling you that Call Forwarding is activated.

Call Forwarding procedures may vary depending on the company you are using. If you have trouble completing the transfer, please contact your service provider or check the instructions on the website.