Telephone Answering Service Versus In-house Voice Mail Systems, Round 1

Consumers who reach an automated system rather than a live person say they will do less business with that company (Aspect Index 2007)

I’m scratching my head trying to understand why a business would choose to go with an in-house voice mail system over live answering service. The voice mail system may be the most inexpensive method of leaving and retrieving messages but it has its share of limitations.

My favorite is the garbled voice message at 1:30 in the morning. I have voice mail on my cell phone and I find it frustrating to receive a message from a person who has the wrong number or with a message that baffles my half awake mind. It is impossible to return to REM sleep when the questions of who and why run through my head.

Another point to ponder...do you have a emergency back up plan for this system? In-house voice mail systems are fallible. A telephone answering service is not infallible but we do have redundancy systems and people in place 24/7/365 that will activate plans B, C and D when necessary.

It all comes down to the level of importance you place on receiving your client’s phone call. If you value customer service and want the best for your clients the in-house voice mail system is a mistake. The in-house voice mail system does work in certain situations. Do yourself a favor and do your due diligence to find out if it is the right fit for your business before signing on the dotted line.

Stay tuned for Telephone Answering Service Versus In-House Voice Mail Systems, Round 2.