Can Your Business Benefit From An Auto Attendant?
Businesses small and large have embraced VoIP for its affordability, reliability, its wealth of features and its ability to unify far-flung employees across varied communication platforms. But both VoIP users and VoIP resellers often neglect to consider a crucial aspect of a VoIP platform: auto attendants.
Virtual Auto Attendants Save on Labor Costs
As discussed in the article “Why Every VoIP Reseller Should Spotlight Virtual Auto Attendants,” it costs money to hire representatives and operators. Outsourcing to foreign call centers is an option that many companies have taken – often to the dismay of customers who find service lacking and communication difficult (not to mention the political consequences that can come with shipping jobs overseas). With a virtual auto attendant, on the other hand, companies can do away with operators altogether, or at least dramatically downsize.
Virtual Auto Attendants Can Boost Customer Service
By acting as a virtual customer service representative, auto attendants can make your callers’ experience simpler, easier and more streamlined, compared to a series of holds and transfers. An auto attendant routes incoming communication based on the nature of the call.
The caller supplies basic information about why they are calling, and the auto attendant sends the call to the right department (technical support, billing, etc.), then to the right group within the department, then to the right extension. A human being must be available at the end of the journey, but the process of guiding the caller to the right place can be handled by a machine instead of an employee who collects a check.
Auto Attendants Don’t Have Bad Days
Auto attendants can bolster your brand by instilling a sense of continuity and consistency. Human operators have bad days, first days on the job, last days and everything in between. Auto attendants provide a level and predictable customer experience. This way, brand loyalists know exactly what they are going to get when they call your business.
Even longtime VoIP users and sellers are often not aware of the potential benefits of auto attendants. From saving money on labor costs to improving customer service to providing consistency in user experience to shortening wait times, auto attendants can improve communication throughout the business. Unlike call centers, auto attendants are infinitely scaleable. More importantly, they project to your customers a sense of brand identity that lets them know what to expect when they call.
