It's not just about the cheapest cost per call, there are many factors that will make a telephone answering service the cheapest for your business.
If budget is top of your list of considerations, use the following 10 Tips when conducting your research to narrow down the cheapest telephone answering service for you:
1. Do they charge per minute or per call answered? Unless your calls are guaranteed to be very short, a fixed cost per call can be easier to calculate your overheads.
2. Do they charge a set up fee? Often the website won't detail this, you'll need to phone and find out.
3. Are there any other hidden fees? For example deposits or training costs in addition to the set up fee. Again, phone to double check.
4. How much is the first payment? Can you pay for the telephone answering service in arrears, just one month up front or do you have to pay maybe three months? That will help you pick the cheapest initial set up cost. Conversely can you make a saving by buying more months in advance if you know you'll use the service long term? It's always worth asking.
5. Do they charge more for taking additional information? If you need more than just a basic message, check they're happy to do that included in the basic price before committing, it could skew your price comparison considerably.
6. Do they make a profit on call patching? If you have your calls forwarded through to you, check if they make money for every minute you're on the call - you don't want to be rushing your calls for fear of racking up your bill.
7. Can you pay by credit card? Do they charge an extra percentage for that? For new start businesses or entrepreneurs on a budget particularly, this can really aid your cash flow.
8. Can you switch your tariff mid-month? If you're stuck on a comparatively expensive low-user tariff when your advertising campaign kicks off you could end up with a huge bill. Make sure they're flexible enough to let you change when you need to.
9. Do they charge more for additional services? Does the telephone answering service price you're considering include things like personalised out of hours voice mail free of charge?
10. Do they charge every time they answer the phone? A low cost per call is great, but not if you're paying for sales calls, hoax calls and wrong numbers. Double check if these are chargeable or not.
The cheapest telephone answering service at first glance isn't always the most cost effective overall. A quick run through the above Top Ten Tips will help you decide what matters to your business and select the best long term solution for your own needs.
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