A Virtual Answering Service is, at first glance, rather straightforward. In effect, modern telephony and cloud-based business telephone systems have enabled companies to replicate many of the functions of a full time dedicated receptionist. Even a dedicated team of receptionists at a switchboard can’t scale to the volume of calls that a virtual answering service can. A virtual receptionist can then greet, direct, and manage all inbound call traffic for a business, plus this receptionist doesn’t even need to take a bathroom break! But to truly make a virtual receptionist into a virtual answering service requires added functionality that eclipses the typical needs of a voice on the other end of the line.
Automated Directories, Hunt Groups or Ring Groups, ACD Queues Pro, and a host of other advanced business telephone features all play a role in completing a total virtual answering service. The strategy behind which features to use and how to implement them, though, depends on the size and type of the company that uses them along with the call volume they anticipate receiving.