Remote and hybrid working has changed how we run our offices
Times are certainly tricky for businesses. With many facing escalating costs and reduced revenues many business owners, leaders and finance directors are continually reviewing how their businesses are run and where the money goes.
One of the most fundamental changes of recent years has been the normalisation and widespread acceptance of increased levels of employee home or remote working, either as a full-time or hybrid arrangement. Some of the main drivers behind this are:
- The COVID-19 pandemic and the need for business to continue during lockdowns.
- Advances in technology makes remote work more practical and efficient.
- A better work-life balance, makes it easier to manage personal and business matters.
- Reducing costs for both employees and employers.
- The ability to attract workers with skills and expertise from a wider geographic area.
- Reducing or eliminating the time and stress associated with commuting.
- Reducing the carbon footprint of businesses in response to climate change.
Remote and hybrid working has reduced the centralisation of many businesses and has created a need to optimise the resources of many office environments. This includes revising permanent seating, introducing hot-desking and reducing the size of offices to more efficiently meet the actual needs of the organisation.
How best to field inbound telephone calls
One business function that many companies should also review is how the organisation fields inbound telephone calls. Many employ receptionists to answer telephone calls and greet visitors. However, with many employees working elsewhere, there may be a reduced need for the role of office receptionist and a better way to make provision for answering inbound calls.
For many companies, signing up for a telephone answering service is an excellent way of optimising the telephone receptionist function. Here are some key reasons why:
- Capacity – A receptionist employed by a company can only deal with one inbound call at a time. Every time two or more calls come in at the same time, a bottleneck is created. Abandoned calls due to being on hold or long ring times might equate to lost business. An answering service has a team of human telephone receptionists on hand to immediately pick up multiple inbound calls to your business that are made simultaneously and field them appropriately.
- Superior technology – A good answering service has superior technology that makes for a great customer experience. Inbound calls originating from known numbers enable instant personalisation by the answering service team. As well as information on known callers, the technology also enables the answering service team to instantly access all the information needed to help answer queries, transfer calls or forward messages.
- Cost – The salary for a receptionist and additional costs including tax, national insurance and statutory sick pay all add up. This is the same cost whether a receptionist fields 10 or 50 calls in a day. Signing up for an answering service means a reasonable fixed cost for a plan and a cost for every call answered. In short, an answering service is financially efficient.
- HR overhead – Every employee, including a receptionist, comes with an HR overhead. Training, appraisals, career development and in some cases grievances, all soak up bandwidth and in some situations may require legal counsel, increasing direct costs.
- Virtual offices – An answering service perfectly complements any company that is considering ditching a centralised office for a no-bricks approach. There simply isn’t the need for a conventional telephone receptionist when you don’t have an office.
- Growth – As a business grows, an answering service scales up effortlessly to meet increased demand. On the other hand, employing more receptionists magnifies the cost and HR overhead outlined above.
Call answering services for the way businesses work today
With Simply66, you get high-efficiency answering services for the way businesses work today. You tell us how you want your calls handled and our team will switch your number over to us (or give you a new one), configure the inbound call ringing and pickup arrangements. Right away, our experienced team of telephone receptionists will start handling calls on your behalf.
The best way to see what Simply66 could do for your business is to sign up for our free 14 day trial.
To find out more simply call us on 03333 4415 66 or email sales@simply66.co.uk
