Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my business need an answering service?
An answering service represents you to your clients and potential clients much more professionally than a machine. Studies show that live operators produce a higher percentage of callers leaving messages and increase your sale volume. You won’t waste your advertising dollars, because every call gets answered no matter what time or day of the week. An answering service is much more cost effective than hiring someone in-house to answer phones around the clock.
What is your service area? I have local and national clients.
Business Extension Service can work with your clients from Seattle, Washington to Portland, Maine. Some of our clients say that our service is preferable to a cell phone because costs are consolidated into one bill.
How do my calls get routed to you?
Calls come to our service in one of two ways. Both begin with a local phone number we issue to you, called a Direct Inbound Dial (DID) line. Most often, calls are forwarded from your business line to the DID line. Operators know instantly that a call is coming in from your office and answer it accordingly. Call forwarding is a feature usually already provided by your telephone service provider. The second option is to have your clients simply dial the DID line directly.
Do you offer live transfer of calls? If so, what is the extra charge for this service?
Yes. There is no extra charge for this service. It is considered an outgoing call and is counted in the monthly call units. Other options include paging (alpha and numeric), voicemail, e-mail and fax.
I’m involved in the medical field. What is your expertise?
Business Extension Service has provided professional telephone answering services for medical and dental practices, naturopaths, mental health professionals, massage therapists, and other medical professionals for over twenty-five years. Our trained operators forward your messages efficiently to your phone (including cell), e-mail, voice mail, pager, or fax. Our expertise includes Web-enabled On-call Scheduling, appointment setting, and front-end voice mail. Business Extension Service is also a fully HIPAA compliant operation. Ask us for references!
Can you provide scheduling and order taking services?
Yes. We offer both scheduling and order-taking services for many of our clients.
Do you offer virtual staffing or virtual receptionist solutions?
Yes, we do offer virtual staffing to many of our clients – but there are limits. We ask that our agents act and sound exactly like they are sitting at the front desk of your “office.” However, sometimes it is necessary for them to “give up the act” and let your clients know that they are an answering service. Generally, this situation happens when your clients ask for directions or for landmarks near your office. We train our operators to use their best judgment and to refer to the information that is set up in your account. The more detailed information that you provide us, the smoother the transaction between your client and our operator.
Do you have any contract requirements (i.e. a 3 month minimum contract)? If so, what are they?
There are no contract minimums other than an uninterrupted first month of service. Our standard business practice is to request written notice of cancellation of service 30 days prior to the last day of service.
Is there anything else that we should know about your services that would aid us in making an informed decision?
Business Extension Service has provided professional telephone answering services since 1972. Our employees are trained, with an average of ten years experience, and truly care about helping you and your clients. We use state of the art equipment, offering you easy tracking and accountability. Most importantly, our management team is responsive to your needs and concerns. Become a Business Extension Service client and enjoy a reliable, professional answering service.
*We are happy to discuss discounts for any combination of our services. Please call 800-628-7470 to speak with Christine Vicino. E-mail is also an option at cv@parkercorporation.com.
