subject: Pitfalls When Selecting A Telemessaging Service [print this page] Pitfalls When Selecting A Telemessaging Service
When you are looking for a telemessaging service there are certain things that you should keep in mind in order to ensure that you get the service that you need.
Redundancy
Since your telemessaging service will be offsite, the only way you can ensure that they are performing up to your standards is to inspect and audit their calls periodically. This means that you must be sure to choose a service that records its calls and retains them redundantly, in case one copy becomes damaged. By the same token you should be sure that your service is able to respond to situations such as storms and power outages effectively with a disaster recovery plan, partnership with another location, or both. Ensuring that your telemessaging service remains uninterrupted and your data store remains intact are very important to sustain the quality of your call handling and training.
Excessive Hold Time
It is very important that you choose a service that has sufficient operator staff in order to handle your call volume. If you choose an overloaded service, your callers may experience hold times much longer than is acceptable, which will frustrate and upset clients, cause lost sales, and in general have many negative effects that can outweigh the efficiency gains of adding a messaging service to your business.
Insufficient Language Proficiency
If you do business in a place such as Southern Canada or Quebec where many of the local population speak a language other than English as their primary language, you can lose a great deal of calls by failing to offer telemessaging in a friendly language. Even if your in-house staff is bilingual, if your telemessaging staff is not it can do serious damage to your public image and customer relations.
Training
Different messaging services specialize in different fields. For instance, it is not uncommon to see answering services that serve exclusively medical clients. Keep in mind the focus of the service you are considering, because it will affect the training of their staff. If you need your service to be able to handle simple technical support calls before directing them to your in-house staff, you will be better served by a messaging service that primarily works with tech businesses than a general-purpose one.
