When it comes to managing inbound calls, investing in an outsourced call answering service can be a more cost-effective option than hiring a receptionist while also providing better customer service with a team of remote receptionists to deal with calls, rather than one person who can only answer one call at a time.

Outsourcing such a customer-facing part of your business may seem like a risk, and there’s definitely some truth that there are pros and cons of outsourcing your call answering (and that’s coming from an outsourced call answering service).

However, many of the cons can be avoided by taking the time to properly investigate which call-answering service best suits your business goals and objectives.

So what are the pros and cons of outsourcing your call answering?

Advantages of outsourcing call answering

Cost-effectiveness of outsourcing

The cost-effectiveness of outsourced telephone answering is one of the biggest advantages of this option compared to hiring a full or part-time receptionist.

While a full-time receptionist can cost upwards of £30,000 for someone with experience, a telephone answering service can be half that, even by investing in a fully outsourced switchboard.

And that’s before you even get to the additional costs of hiring staff like training, equipment, tax, insurance and holiday entitlement.

With outsourced call answering, you know how much you’ll be paying based on the level of service you invest in, making your investment more predictable from a cost perspective.

Plus, at Face For Business, we constantly optimise your monthly bill, so you only pay for the calls you use and don’t wind up paying additional fees unnecessarily.

This gives you more to reinvest in other parts of your business.

Access to expert service providers

By outsourcing to a telephone answering service, you’ll have a professional team of experienced call handlers who can deal with your calls more effectively without the need for additional money to train them.

If you’re in a specific industry, you can find a call answering service with receptionists who specifically work in those sectors and know how to handle the kinds of calls those industries deal with.

For example, at Face For Business, we have a number of sector-specific teams who work with clients in sectors like Real Estate, Law, Finance and IT.

Taking advantage of this experience from the moment you invest in telephone answering means your inbound call management will be up-to-speed immediately, rather than spending the first few months training staff.

Focusing on core business operations

Our own research found that answering office phones is a source of anxiety for many employees and that the majority avoid picking up the phone.

One of the reasons is that employees get distracted by calls and are less productive as a result.

Pulling staff away from their core job can have a detrimental impact on their efficiency and productivity, especially if they’re getting stressed at the prospect of talking to someone on the phone.

Instead, your outsourced receptionists can take this task away from your team so they can focus on their own jobs while you get the reassurance that all your calls are being dealt with professionally.

Disadvantages of outsourcing call answering

While there are many benefits to investing in outsourced call answering, it’s dependent on partnering with the right service.

Investing in the wrong telephone answering can have some negative consequences for your business, including…

Potential risks to customer data privacy

It’s essential to know that your chosen telephone answering service understands the importance of data privacy and has the necessary data protection protocols and cybersecurity measures in place.

Remember, as part of your service, your chosen call answering service could be dealing with sensitive customer data, so be sure to question how they keep this information secure to mitigate any potential data leaks.

Quality control

One of the biggest concerns about outsourcing telephone answering is how you’ll manage the quality control of the service.

As a major customer-facing service, telephone answering has the ability to improve your customer service, but can just as easily damage it if calls aren’t dealt with professionally.

So you should see how transparent your call answering service is when it comes to the calls they’re dealing with.

At Face For Business, for example, we automatically send your full call recordings to your customer portal so you can listen back to your calls and hear exactly how we’re dealing with your calls.

Maintaining company culture

This is another big concern that comes with outsourcing a customer-facing part of your business. How can an outsourced service fit with your company culture and ensure that translates into your customer service?

Again this comes down to looking at the answering service you want to partner with and ensuring they match your company values.

How closely will they work with you? How will they communicate with you? How easy is it to access support when you need it?

Do your research to find a telephone answering service that you’ll enjoy working with and who you trust to become the face (or at least the voice) of your customer service. 

Is outsourcing call answering right for your business?

Outsourcing call answering offers the opportunity to reduce costs, access specialised expertise, and focus on core operations.

It also creates challenges around data privacy, quality control, and company culture.

Therefore, it’s crucial to thoroughly evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks, and choose a reputable outsourcing partner to ensure that customers receive exceptional call-answering services while simultaneously optimising operations and achieving objectives.

To see the benefits of outsourced telephone answering, start a 7-day free trial with us.

You’ll get a team of remote receptionists who’ll answer all your inbound calls or simply deal with call overflow during busy times.

You’ll have access to your own customer portal, where you’ll be able to manage your call preferences and listen to your calls to ensure we’re dealing with calls how you want us to.

And you get it all for free for 7-days with no obligation to continue if you’re still not convinced.