An IVR system provides businesses with a virtual auto attendant. A can help business owners be more professional and to stay connected through automatic caller greetings and call routing to proper department or employee, extension, voicemail or phone. It is easy to set up and an affordable feature which does not require any costly hardware, phone or software equipment.
With a virtual phone system, you can work from anywhere and can manage everything online. With this type of phone system, you can create a professional image by adding a separate toll-free or local business phone number to your existing office, home or mobile phone. Your business can make outbound calls from your mobile phones as well which display your business phone number as your caller ID.
Such a system also works with your existing telephones including home, office or cell phone. You can also access virtual phone services through an app for Android or iPhone. Unlike, traditional on-site PBX system, an auto attendant is virtual meaning cloud-based, it completely runs online, there is no requirement for hardware or software or a complex PBX equipment which needs continuous maintenance. Also, you can prefer telephone answering service which is best for small businesses to get a good customer interaction.
With a virtual auto attendant, you can:
• Welcome your callers professionally with a customised recording.
• Customise your greeting.
• Direct your callers to the right employee, department, and information.
You can also customise the however you would like. You will have the option to record your own custom greetings which gives your business a professional touch. If you require something sophisticated with custom music, then you also can use a third-party voice talent in order to record your main greeting.
Impressive professional greeting for customers
With an auto-attendant, you have the ability to sound professional with custom greetings and voice menu options, whenever your customers call your business phone number. Your business can run smoothly after house with special greetings, call forwarding and voicemail.
Never miss a call again and know who is calling
When you know it is a customer call you can answer more professionally. If you cannot attend the call, then you can forward those business calls to a colleague or send the customer to a professional unavailable greeting and business voicemail.
Does your small business even require an auto-attendant?
The answer to this is yes. Even if your business a live receptionist, still it makes sense to get a telephone system with auto-attendant facilities so if your business is closed or is on holiday, your phone system can greet callers professionally and route them to the right phone, voicemail or extension.
Even if you are a bootstrapped start-up, having an auto attendant makes more sense compared to something like Google voice. Most importantly, virtual auto attendance is not costly. And whenever your customers call your business, they will have a better experience and you can probably earn their business (that is all that matters).
Virtual auto-attendants can help alleviate the customers’ frustration by getting them to the right representative at the right time. Also, they can help businesses operate in a more efficient manner by putting the customers in contact with the right department.
This means no more frustrating call transfers for customers if an employee is unable to answer their question. Having an auto-attendant feature can save time for both your business and your customers.
Difference Between A Virtual Receptionist and A Virtual Auto Attendant
Mostly both these terms can be confusing since a is at times referred to as a virtual auto-receptionist. But a virtual receptionist is usually not a telephone system, it is a call centre where a human answer the calls on behalf of your business.
Difference Between an IVR and A Virtual Auto Attendant
Interactive Voice Response is a bit fancier compared to a simple virtual auto attendant. They utilise a sophisticated IVR system which allows their computer to interact with you using voice or a phone’s keypad.
An Interactive Voice Response integrates with a business’s CRM and the billing systems to allow callers to interact with a company’s host phone system in order to get the information about their account, services or bill. Usually, an IVR can be an overkill for small and start-up businesses, however, it all depends on your business needs.
VoIP business provides the best virtual receptionist in the UK. You can get an auto-attendant system for your business easily. First, you will have to pick your business phone number that can be an existing phone number which you already have or a virtual local number or toll-free number.
You will just have to record your main greeting and add the department and employee extensions you would like your calls to forward to. Every extension can be forwarded to any combination of phones or voicemail. It is completely managed online, and the changes take immediate effect. You can easily manage everything by yourself, however, if you need anything you can simply contact the customer services team to get more information.
