In today’s world, having an automated answering service doesn’t cut it. After all, today’s world is full of instant access, instant information, and expectations of instant gratification. If you make people wait for the beep to leave a message, you’re simply encouraging them to do business elsewhere – where they can get the instant service they want.

But obviously, you’re just one person. You can’t physically be available 24/7 to deal with your customers. Luckily, a live answering service can.

Telephone answering services have been around for years – specifically for doctors’ offices. After all, when you’re sick in the middle of the night, you may not have the luxury of waiting around until “normal business hours” to get your questions answered and your concerns alleviated. But now that the world is a lot more “instant”, doctors aren’t the only ones who need an answering service.

So, how does a live answering service work?

Designed to give business owners a breather, a live answering service is run by an independent company. You pay the company a monthly fee, and, in return, this separate company hires all of the employees, trains them, and pays them their salaries and benefits. By working with one of these independent companies, you don’t have to deal with any of the hassles that come with hiring, firing, managing, and paying full-time employees – yet you get all of the benefits of a full staff!

You can think of these services like having a virtual receptionist. No matter what time it is, you will have a live person that answers your phone. Like an in-house employee, you can make sure that your virtual receptionist is trained to properly answer basic questions, and you can instruct your virtual receptionist to patch you into calls directly when specific situations arise.

The only difference between a virtual receptionist and a real one? The virtual one won’t be sitting in your office fielding calls. However, your callers won’t know the difference!

And, a live answering service isn’t just something that comes in handy during the middle of the night. By having one that answers calls 24/7, you don’t have to worry about missing calls when you’re in a meeting, or sending people to an impersonal voice mail when you’re sick in bed. Instead, your customers will be guaranteed to speak to a live person at all hours of the day and night – and that’s something that can make a huge difference in the success of your business!