Anyone know a cheap telephone answering service?

JohnBiggs

I don't want to leave my potential customers talking to a machine.

These answering services give the impression that you have a 24/7 receptionist who can answer basic questions. (Availability, Pricing, and take messages)

Thanks.
John

xris

JohnBiggs wrote:

I don't want to leave my potential customers talking to a machine...

Interesting idea, John. I haven't heard of anyone using a real, live answering service in well over 20 years! I'd be real interested in knowing what it costs and how well it works out for you... Here's hoping the operator doesn't end up being in India:ivar

JohnBiggs

rosa.herb441 wrote:

To:John Brigg,

I am highly recommending xxxxxxxxxxxxx answering service. I do personally use a live answering service. They have been exceptional for the past three years. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx answering service has been my answering service and their operators are very professional and helpful. At first I was a bit skeptic before. But hiring this company to answer for me, my customers are happy with the customer service that they are receiving.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx answering service are 24/7, efficient, knowledgeable professional and friendly Live Operators that can execute any business transaction calls, great and small. You will not miss any important calls for they can retrieve your message by any means such as your cell phone or main office, email you and fax back as soon as possible.

Here are the following info from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx company:

Telephone # xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Local Tel: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I hope that will help you in search of an answering service that is time consuming and professional.

Thanks,

Herb Rosa

Thanks Herb. But it sounds like you work there... I mean 1 post and all...

EDIT: Removed details from the quote.

SamirD

For a previous business, I used virtualpbx.com. It's basically a complete hosted virtual pbx system that allows you to do hold queues, route calls to other numbers, have auto-attendants, voice mail, etc. But it's CHEAP for what you get. We were paying about $30/month. I plan to use them again soon for a new business startup.

cmason

An option, if you think a good voicemail system will suit your needs is to try out GrandCentral. It is a Google property, and free. Basically you get a phone number from GrandCentral, and you can redirect calls to whatever number you want: cell, office, home etc. This does not offer live answering, but you can set up lots of different messages.

I use it when I dont want to give out my home number, and have set it up to allow family to call my house without incurring long distance charges.

Anyway, its an option, but probably not exactly what you were looking for.

Turkish Homes and Villas

Affordable solution
Hello, I have just been looking for the same thing myself that's how I stumbled on your blog, I have found a very affordable solution at
http://csnotepad.co.uk/html/telephone_answering_service.html they offer a pay as you go service from about £20 per month for a personal answering service and there is no long contract, you also get a freephone number for your customers free of charge which is a great plus they are uk based and hopefully only employ people who speak perfect English, i will let you know I am signing up Monday, this service is ideal for small businesses which have a low call volume.

photographz

I'd say the best way to find one might be referals-check with Dr's offices in your area, as they are the ones most likely to use them. I know some security companies also offer answering services, which makes sense because they have to have staff there no matter what to handle calls if they do occur. The only issue I can forsee would be having a phone system in place that would be able to transfer the call to them when you want it to (say between 8pm and 7am or whatever).

JohnBiggs

Thanks everyone. It seems to me my thread is just spam bait. I'm not saying any post in particular is spam, but I think this should be closed/locked to keep it from attracting more.

I have grandcentral and that has been great because of price but not ideal.

Richard

JohnBiggs wrote:

Thanks everyone. It seems to me my thread is just spam bait. I'm not saying any post in particular is spam, but I think this should be closed/locked to keep it from attracting more.

I have grandcentral and that has been great because of price but not ideal.

I tend to agree, but I think most people know that a first post recommending a product or service is likely to be marketing based (aka spam). The service may be OK, but we have no reason to trust the poster.

msf

cmason wrote:

An option, if you think a good voicemail system will suit your needs is to try out GrandCentral. It is a Google property, and free. Basically you get a phone number from GrandCentral, and you can redirect calls to whatever number you want: cell, office, home etc. This does not offer live answering, but you can set up lots of different messages.

I use it when I dont want to give out my home number, and have set it up to allow family to call my house without incurring long distance charges.

Anyway, its an option, but probably not exactly what you were looking for.

Isnt GrandCentral very hard to get into now? You need an invite.

If anyone here has an invite available, I would love to get one. I call Canada all the time, and it would save me some money.

For the time being I got a net10 phone for voice mail. I can access the account from any phone, if I dont have my cell with me. $15 a month, less if you can find a deal.

JohnBiggs

msf wrote:

Isnt GrandCentral very hard to get into now? You need an invite.

If anyone here has an invite available, I would love to get one. I call Canada all the time, and it would save me some money.

Grand Central is dead and they are strongly urging users to switch to google voice. Either way invites have been off for a while in both systems as far as I can see. I used to have invites a year ago.

There are plenty of cheap ways to call canada. I used to have broadvoice which used to be really cheap (it's gone up since). However you can find other services that still may be cheap. Skype also works.

Truth is, to me, grand central is more about controlling incoming calls than making calls.

msf

JohnBiggs wrote:

Grand Central is dead and they are strongly urging users to switch to google voice. Either way invites have been off for a while in both systems as far as I can see. I used to have invites a year ago.

There are plenty of cheap ways to call canada. I used to have broadvoice which used to be really cheap (it's gone up since). However you can find other services that still may be cheap. Skype also works.

Truth is, to me, grand central is more about controlling incoming calls than making calls.

That would work if we had high speed. Were still waiting for them to hook it up down this street.

For now we buy phone cards from dollar tree for $1 that gives 30 minutes to Canada roughly. Its the cheapest method weve found so far. Verizon does have an unlimited calling plan, but its an extra $15, which we dont spend in a month so not worth it.