Virtual receptionists have been around for quite some time. People use them as replacements for traditional receptionists all the time these days. Their services are utilised by businesses of all sizes and structures.

Because they are so widespread, most people have a basic understanding of what they can and cannot do. However, several misconceptions about their services still exist, with the most prominent including the following:

Location

There are two misconceptions surrounding the location of virtual receptionists. Some people think that they are all foreign workers situated abroad, probably in Asian countries where the labour is cheap. They assume that some of these companies are so large that it is more cost-effective for them to operate outside the UK.

Other people think that most virtual receptionist services are so small that they operate primarily out of homes and garages. While you will come across cases like this every so often, many of the virtual receptionist services you encounter are situated locally and they have formal offices from which they operate.

Some are definitely too small to rent premises. Some are also peddling their wares in the UK even though their operations are based elsewhere. However, when you contract services such as ours, you can trust that you are getting locally sourced talent.

Cost

People think that money doesn’t matter that much in this business. They think that all virtual receptionists are the same regardless of the financial demands associated with each service provider.

They are not convinced that the higher costs larger corporations incur whenever they contract a virtual receptionist matter in the long run. They presume that they can secure services of a similar quality despite only incurring a fraction of the cost.

You find such assumptions among business owners that are determined to spend the least amount of money possible to secure a virtual receptionist. This thinking is wrong. Money definitely matters.

The industry is saturated with virtual receptionists that are so cheap that they are practically free. However, the cheapest virtual receptionists are also the least effective. Simply put, you get what you pay for.

The best service providers are not necessarily the most expensive. But they are definitely not cheap. Rather, they are competitively priced, providing a service that matches their price tags.

Automation

People that know nothing about virtual receptionists have a tendency to dismiss the industry as a whole because they think that such services are automated. They think that clients interact with machines and recordings rather than actual call agents and this drives them to question whether or not such services are worth the financial burden.

However, high-quality services like ours connect customers to real people. Automation is an emergency tool that is used to place callers in queues. No competent virtual receptionist uses automated mechanisms to engage customers.

Traditional Receptionists

People flock to virtual receptionists because they are more cost-effective than their traditional counterparts. However, some business owners will begrudgingly bear the cost of hiring a traditional receptionist because they think that virtual receptionists are simply not as effective. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

If a service provider does its job, a customer will never know that they are talking to a virtual receptionist. That is the objective of a competent virtual receptionist, to accurately mimic the services of an in-house receptionist.

Of course, if you get a cheap virtual receptionist, you cannot complain if they fail to cater to the needs of your customers to your satisfaction. A decent virtual receptionist will also answer emails, send out reminders, create appointments, etc. Not only are they indistinguishable from a traditional receptionist but they are far superior.

At Planet numbers, we have capable virtual receiptionists who are ready to handle your calls in a professional manner. For further enquiries, please call 08000 886 886 to discuss your requirements with one of our friendly agents.