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.
