The Many Benefits of an Auto-Attendant For Businesses

Regardless of the size of your business, you certainly require a business telephone number. When both your existing and potential clients call your number, you need someone to be available to pick and attend to their inquiries or you could end up losing a lot of potential business. But what do you do when you do not have adequate capital to avail the services of a fully-staffed call center or hire your own in-house receptionist?
 
Well, with an ideal VoIP system, you can take advantage of a feature known as auto-attendant. It is also known as a digital receptionist and it's basically a voice menu that assists callers to navigate through your services by prompting them to press a button that matches a certain service.
 
There are numerous companies out there that utilize auto-attendants which request you to press 1 for general information, 2 for technical service, 3 for customer support, etc. This feature doesn't just screen and direct calls, but it ideally connects the calls to the right extension. This means that your callers just have to press a button in order to get through to the right person. In this read, we are going to cover the benefits of having a VoIP similar to the Office Answers system with an auto-attendant feature:
 
Cost Savings
 
If you have considered hiring a full-time receptionist, then you certainly know how costly it can be, you not only have to pay a competitive full-time salary to get an ideal staff member, but you ideally have to consider things like sick leaves, health insurance, vacation time, and other benefits. You also have to cover the costs of buying equipment as well as training the new staff member. On the other hand, an auto-attendant eliminates the need to hire a full-time receptionist. This can really benefit you, especially if you are running your business on a tight budget. Ideally, the feature starts immediately without any hiccups and bumps on the road.
 
 
Professionalism
 
An auto-attendant is designed to be always ready and professional. There are some types of business etiquette that customers expect of you want to do and maintain their business. The auto-attendant is never takes sick leaves and never has a bad day. Also, you have total control over the message that it relays. You can also choose the voice style that best suits your business. When you have a professional-sounding auto-attendant on your side, and one that fits your budget, very few things can go wrong. Not to mention that you can go an extra mile and tailor your greetings as well as messages based on popular holidays and seasons.
 
 
Consistency
 
Another advantage is that even when you are sleeping, the auto-attendant will be there working for you. If you want your business to grow and expand, you will have to cater to a wide array of customers. For starters, prospects and existing customers need to know that they can count on your services and this is one of the reasons you need to have an auto-attendant. It can do the job for you around the clock, without having to physically be present or even physically manage another individual. Your clients won't be limited by your time zone and you won't either. The auto-attendant ascertains that your customer's inquiries are handled at any time of day or night. This will eventually lead to more business.
 
 
Reduce Bandwidth Use
 
If you manage staff members that work both at the office and remotely, then you certainly use a VoIP system that utilizes network bandwidth in order to route calls to any extensions that are off-site. It does this as all the lines are managed by the VoIP system. However, this tends to take on much of your bandwidth, which can be costly. Fortunately, you can avoid this by having a cloud-based system and an auto-attendant feature.
 
 
Integrate Third-Party Applications Conveniently
 
 
Have you ever considered using a CRM system to manage your client relationships? Well, most companies nowadays do. With a VoIP system that is cloud-based, you can easily get APIs for integrating 3rd party applications like your CRM, thus making your business operations smoother. If you utilize a premise-based system, you'll need to manage the integration plus security on your own, which can take time, that you should be using on other business aspects. A VoIP system that is cloud-based makes access plus integration pretty easy and straightforward through the use of controlled standards that are tested on a regular basis.