If you’re wondering how an answering service works, you aren’t alone. Most businesses don’t have (or make) the time to consider the great value that telephone answering services can provide.

In order to take advantage of a telephone answering service and its myriad benefits, it’s helpful to know how answering services work.

Call Forwarding

Most fixed and mobile telephone numbers have the ability to forward calls elsewhere using the same telephone number.

Answering services essentially receive these calls through call forwarding, meaning that you don’t have to necessarily change the telephone number you may already be using on your website and printed materials.

How does it Work?

Setting up call forwarding needn’t be a complicated matter.

Quality service providers will provide you with an easy-to-follow step-by-step process of forwarding your business phone number to them so that their PAs can answer and make calls with your number.

Often, you’ll be provided with a unique number, which is used to forward your calls to the PAs working at the answering service. From that point on, callers are redirected to the PA rather than to you.

Customise your Telephone Answering Service

For added convenience and flexibility, look for an call answering service that allows you to customise which calls should be answered by them and which calls you’d rather answer yourself.

Furthermore, you may wish to consider the time of day as well. Perhaps after hours you’d rather take calls personally.

Most answering service providers can grant you this flexibility for greater control over your phone calls.

Who Will Answer My Calls?

After you’ve gone through the process of setting up call forwarding to the answering service, your incoming phone calls will be handled and processed by a team of knowledgeable PAs acting on behalf of you and your business.

A good call answering service employs PAs that aren’t simply human answering machines, but rather as a sort of secretary or receptionist that to most clients will come across as a member of your team.

What Will Happen Afterwards?

Your calls will be handled professionally and confidentially. The PA, depending on which features of the telephone answering service you’d like, is able to relay messages to you, re-route urgent calls directly to you or your staff and address industry- and business-related enquiries.

How does this Benefit My Business?

More than ever before, customers and clients are tiring of templated email responses and automated voice messages. The desire for a personal, human voice that understands the needs of both your business as well as the customer is highly sought after, but you can’t be expected to be at the phone at all times.

Telephone answering services work by enabling you to spend more time engaging in value creation at your business and less time on the phone.

Others will handle it for you!

For any business looking to improve their reputation and reliability, having a human being answer the phone and addressing the customer’s enquiry is a worthy investment into the company’s competitiveness and image.