Telephone answering - how it works

The following is a brief outline of the telephone answering process. We hope it is helpful and please let us know if you have any queries.

First of all, you always control whether or not your calls come to us and you do not need to buy any new equipment.

We'll give you a number at our switch, which is dedicated to your company and you arrange for your calls to come to that number using Call Divert - for example by using BT’s Star Services - or Call Forwarding if you have your own switchboard or ISDN2e. If you have a non-geographic number such as 0845 you can point it at the number we give you at our switch, or you can leave it pointing at the existing number and we answer the diverted calls from that.

There is a subtle difference between the Call Divert and Call Forwarding. The first occurs at your local telephone exchange, whereas Call Forward occurs when the call has actually entered your switchboard/system and is then routed out to an external number.

If you would like to talk to us about the differences between call diversion and call forwarding, please just pick up the phone and dial our freephone number 0800 078 7300. or alternatively just read on.

Call diversion.

You can divert to our telephone answering service:

• all calls
• calls when your line is busy
• calls if no answer after 15 seconds (about 6 rings).
• calls when your line is busy or if there is no answer after 15 seconds 

So you don’t have to remember to activate and cancel the call diversion, we recommend you use the last option – when your line is busy or no answer within 15 seconds – and then just leave it as it covers all eventualities.

If you have a non-geographic number (NGN) – an 0845 phone number for example - you can arrange for calls to it come to us under the same conditions. Alternatively, you can leave it pointed to the existing number and we take the calls you divert from that. You can also use call diversion if you have ISDN2.

Call forwarding.

You can forward:

• all calls
• call when your telephonists or extensions are busy
• calls if no answer within a certain period – you can set this on your switch
• calls when your extensions are busy or if there is no answer after certain period.

Your switch maintainer will advise you on the best configuration to have. We recommend you use the last option as it covers all contingences.

What happens when the call arrives at Verbatim?

When the call arrives at our offices we know who it is for because our telephone system and computers "talk to each other". Our receptionist's computer screen automatically "pops" with the greeting you want us to use and displays details of your company and staff.

We then handle the call as instructed by you - for example one or more of the following:

• take a message and relay it to you by fax, e-mail or text to mobile or all 3, with copies to others.
• connect the call to you.
• take the caller's details in a structured Data Capture Form which you can import into a database.
• take an Order.
• take emergency calls and implement your escalation process - even to the point of getting the Service Director out of bed !
• give callers advice on a helpline.
• take details of callers wanting support - e.g. IT, health and safety or property maintenance.

Free voicemail

As part of our service we also provide you with free voicemail in the event your calls still come to us outside normal hours and you are not using our 24 hour answering service.

• Your voicemail is set up as a bulletin board. Callers are not able to leave a message but they will hear an announcement of your choice which we will record for you; for example - “This is ABC Ltd. Our offices are now closed so please call back between 9am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday”.

• Your voicemail is set up in the conventional way with an announcement of your choice and callers are able to leave a message. We give you your own dedicated coding so you can dial in, from anywhere in the world, to listen to messages left.

• Your voicemail is set up in the usual manner with an announcement of your choice and callers can leave a message which is then sent to you by e-mail as a WAV file.

As from time to time, you may wish to change the announcement we give you the coding so you can dial into our switch whenever you wish to record a new one.

Use the form to Contact us today to find out how call answering services can help your business or call us on Freephone 0800 0787 300.