If you decide that you need help answering your business phone lines, you might wonder: how much does an answering service cost? Fair enough, let’s talk about it.
You will find that answering service prices vary widely as you shop around. The fairest way to price answering services is by the minute instead of per call. If you pay per call, you will likely waste a lot of money each month on wrong number calls, hang-ups, and robocalls.
Your rate will vary based on your monthly usage and features. The more minutes you expect to use and the more elaborate services you need, the higher your fees will be. However, the more minutes you use, the lower price per minute should be. While some answering companies charge over $1.40 or even $1.45 per minute for answering services, anything around $1.20 is fair. The basic plan for a small business might start at around $75 per month.
Things To Keep In Mind When You Shop
It may be tempting to shop around for the lowest-priced answering service, and you will likely find a few with some surprisingly low rates. Choosing a low-cost answering service might seem like a good idea if you are looking to save some cash, but the damage it can do to your company won’t justify the choice.
Call Volume
Some of the inexpensive answering services cannot always handle fluctuations in call volume. The volume will differ depending on the day of the week, time of day, time zone, upcoming holidays, and many other factors. Keep in mind that you are not the only client, and when calls for your business come in, the phone agents will answer them in the order received. Suppose the answering service you hire is too small and doesn’t have enough employees to accommodate such fluctuations. In that case, your clients will have to wait for a long time for their calls to be answered, resulting in frustration for them and a possible loss of business for you.
Bare Bones Services
When using a bargain answering service, you will not get many features. Instead, you’ll have a system to answer your phones – but not always reliably or courteously. However, a reputable professional answering service will offer a wide range of services, such as appointment scheduling, emergency dispatch, and bilingual answering services.
Quality answering services usually don’t charge extra for email delivery, patch time, text delivery, and call transfers. Instead, they use state-of-the-art software and procedures that seamlessly integrate with your calendar or a scheduling system and are HIPAA-compliant, a must-have if you are running a medical facility.
Technology Requirements
Security and data protection are everything these days, and your business’s success and longevity depend on them. Unfortunately, a low-cost answering service might not have enough resources to invest in the hardware and other necessary technology to provide its clients with the most reliable and secure services. Your call center should have security in place to protect your data, but it should also have backup systems in the event of power outages or other issues.
Get The Most Out Of Your Time And Money
Setting up a new partnership takes time and resources. If you have to establish yourself with a bargain answering service and later switch because of the unsatisfactory results, you will waste those efforts. If you don’t need some features your answering service provides, don’t use them but make sure they are available so you won’t have to look for a different company. For a complete list of packages, features, and prices, please visit the Answering365 website or call 888-588-9800 for a free consultation.
