Answering Service Blog

If you’ve found having to stay up late to answer work calls tiring, you're not alone. You've also likely heard of the solution: an after hours answering service.

Small business owners are used to working late. But burning the candle at both ends will start to take its toll. And for many, even yourself, your business may suffer.

A common question from people looking to hire a US Based Answering Service is “Where are you located?” Yet usually this isn’t the real question on their minds. They have a different concern, often several. But they don’t know how to ask it. Or they fear they might not be politically correct to voice what is on their mind.

This blog was originally published on 3/24/23 and has been updated for relevance.

Setting up call forwarding for the first time may appear intimidating, but fear not! Once you understand how it works, you'll find it surprisingly simple. So... how exactly does it work?

This blog was originally published on 3/1/20 and has been updated for relevance. If you search “answering service” on Google, you’ll likely find more results than you expected. While it’s great having so many options to choose from, it might be hard knowing which to choose.

This blog was originally published on 2/4/2019 and has been updated for relevance. You likely know that hiring a call answering service provides many benefits. And with businesses growing more each day, many turn to answering service companies to help solve their issues. Oftentimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

This blog was originally published on 5/10/22 and has been updated for relevance. If you have an answering service, there’s probably been a point when you’ve wished your bill was cheaper.

The telephone answering service industry does a great job at confusing the heck out of you when it comes to answering service pricing. You think a minute is really just a minute? Nope. It would make sense that a call is just a call too, right? Not even close.

We’re all trying to tighten up expenses during this crazy time and the family at Ambs Call Center is here for you. Learning about ways to streamline your account can dramatically reduce your answering service costs. All without affecting the service level to your customers.

This blog was originally published on 4/25/22 and has been updated on 3/28/24 for relevance. Have you ever looked for the price of a business’ service or product and come up empty? We're so used to shopping on Amazon where the prices of everything are listed. So, when it comes to answering services, why is hiding the service prices the norm? And is it necessary?

When you’re a busy HR Manager at a mid-size to large company, staying on top of employee absences can be a burden.

Patching is essentially call center lingo for transferring a caller to your team. Patching is frequently used by switchboard operators, virtual receptionist and after-hours emergency dispatchers. In the telephone answering service industry, there are two common ways callers can be patched including, warm and cold.

In looking at common answering service rate plans we warned that some answering services charge additional fees beyond the typical base rate and usage charges. Watch out for these ancillary charges. Left unchecked they can turn a reasonable rate into a budget buster. Here are some common monthly reoccurring answering service charges to watch out for:

Doctors answering services have been around for a long time. But that doesn’t mean they’re obsolete. In fact, they may be more important now than ever before. Throughout this time the medical answering service has continued to evolve to meet healthcare providers’ needs and their patients’ expectations. With an emphasis on the personal touch, a patient answering service applies the latest technology to their service offerings so they can provide best-in-class service to their healthcare clients.

This blog was originally published on 6/29/20 and has been updated for relevance.

Toll-free numbers make it easy for people to reach you. Regardless of where they are in the country, this one number will work. There’s no guessing about using an area code or not. And there’s no need to pick from a list of many local numbers to select the right one. If you need a toll free number, you can get your own or your answering service can provide one for you. Here are five tips for successfully using a toll free number with a toll free answering service:

All business owners know how critical customer satisfaction is to their company’s success. But the most successful owners understand how closely customer satisfaction is tied to profitability. That's why it is really important to pick the right answering service. A poor customer experience is often the reason people choose to stop doing business with you. In fact, 71% of U.S. consumers chose to end a business relationship because they were turned off by a bad customer service experience. And lost customers impacted those business’ bottom lines.

Which is better, using a telephone answering service or a virtual assistant? Well, no one can answer that question except for you. In fact, the real question is, “Which style of support is best for you?” To gain some clarity, you must understand the basics of each style and then determine your needs. Which is why you should continue reading this article. You'll learn about answering services, virtual assistants and call centers. Then we'll walk you through some basic questions to determine your needs. By the end, you’ll have a better understanding of how to choose the right service for your business.

Some answering services offer free trials to entice wary businesses to use their service. Their logic is that if you try it you will like it. They pretend their service is so good that they have nothing to risk. In reality, if their service was that good they wouldn’t need to bribe you with a free trial.