We often ask our clients why they choose us and the top four reasons are usually:
30% of businesses fail to answer all their calls and lose business as a result. Even with a well staffed reception, most businesses experience some unexpected absences and times when too many calls come in at once. Your virtual receptionist can act as a valuable overflow to ensure that you stand out from your competitors by always answering your calls and not missing a new business call or an important client call. You will impress your callers even more if your receptionist answers your calls whatever time they ring in - 24/7.
Are there times when you are a slave to your mobile? If you switch your mobile off during a client meeting you are able to give your client your undivided attention, but you may not want your other callers to be greeted with an answer-phone / voicemail either. 80% of people will not leave a message and 80% of first time callers won't ever ring back? If you divert your mobile to your Virtual Receptionist, you can be confident that your calls are being answered professionally all of the time, day or night when you are unable to take them yourself.
No. It doesn't matter if you are diverting a business line, home line or even ten mobile lines, we do not charge you any extra. The only costs that you will pay are for the minutes that our receptionists are taking calls on your behalf.
Having a Virtual Receptionist is more likely to save you money. For less than £1 per day, you free up time you may otherwise spend answering unimportant calls (like sales calls). When we send you an email / SMS, you can prioritise your important calls. Many clients realise that they more than make up for this small outlay when they gain business from a client they would otherwise have missed by being unavailable or engaged.
By giving you a unique phone number to divert your calls to, your Virtual Receptionist's computer screen automatically 'pops up' with only your details when a client rings your number.
We give you a simple password protected web page - your 'Account Control Panel' to allow you to type in a few lines about your business that automatically 'pops up' on your Virtual Receptionist's screen when a call of yours comes in. You can even give us daily instructions or ask us to ask your callers a few specific questions. It makes your Virtual Receptionist a 'real' part of your team, by enabling them to sound knowledgeable and professional at all times. No one expects a receptionist to know everything, but they do expect their receptionist to know basic information, give them a warm welcome and take a message.
We do not offer dedicated receptionists for individual client accounts to ensure that everyone is equally able to give you a professional service 24/7. However, we have a relatively small highly professional team of receptionists who are dedicated to providing you with the best service possible. Each receptionist gets to know the individual accounts extremely well, receive ongoing training and updates on a regular basis.
We work in small teams to ensure that by and large the same people Virtual Receptionists always look after your clients so there will always be a familiar team to take your calls. Our clients tell us that when they have used other services, where only 3 or 4 receptionists are trained to take their calls, things can fall apart when all are not available. This cannot happen with us as everyone has access to all of the same information and can take your call equally professionally.
You can divert as many lines as they would like to a single DDI (i.e. mobile, office and home line) providing that the call in answered in one name. If you have more than one company name, this will require two separate DDI's (phone numbers), which will be charged on two separate tariffs.
No, you can divert only when it suits you and you can arrange for calls to be diverted when the line is busy, after a delay or all of the time, whatever suits you best.
We explain that you are not available and ask if we can take a message. If you have given us specific questions, we take the details that you have requested. If however you have instructed us to transfer your calls, we ring you and check whether you want us to put the caller through or take a message. You are always totally in control.
We recommend that an account has no more than 4 contacts. These contacts can be for individuals or can go to specific departments, such as 'sales' or 'accounts'. Too many contacts can be confusing for the receptionist to ascertain where the message should go. Messages can be sent by email and SMS.
Your Virtual Receptionist sends your message automatically and instantly at the end of every call. We cannot guarantee timescales for messages reaching your own inbox, as this depends on your own email supplier.
Travellers often find that they use the SMS facility much more whilst they are away from their computers. Many of our clients also catch up on their messages when they get home via the Internet too.
When you set up your Account Control Panel, you set the default fields that you require our team to complete. Additionally, you are able to enter 4 questions that will also automatically appear on the screens when the call is answered making the service exceptionally personalised. You can change these questions as often as you like, which is especially useful if they are based on specific advertising or promotions.
You can alter how your calls are answered by logging into your Account Control Panel at www.virtualreceptionist.co.uk/login. This will take you to your Account Control Panel. Here you can alter your details, leave instructions for your receptionists and change contact details. Instructions for using your Account Control Panel will be given to you in your Welcome Letter. Alternatively, you can call us on your own line, which brings up your specific screen and we will quite happily discuss or amend any aspect of your account.
Your messages are sent to your individual email address, but they are also stored in your Account Control Panel. You can log into this at www.virtualreceptionist.co.uk/login. Your username and password will be given to you when you sign up for the service.
We are open 24/7, 365 days of the year for all those clients who use our 24/7 tariff. The 24/7 tariff includes bank holidays, but not the other tariffs, so this is worth considering if your business would benefit from being 'open' on bank holidays.
Simply fill in the sign up screens, we will issue you with your unique number within a few minutes, so you can be up and running in no time.
When you sign up we initially take your credit card details and issue you with you free credit and a call spend limit of £10. We always start you off on a pay as you go basis but if you prefer to pay by Direct Debit, please request a form from your account manager. Your credit card will be used to recharge your account, based on your usage patterns.
Provided you have not used all of your free minutes you will owe us nothing. If there is a small balance on your top up, we will refund the balance during the free trial.
After the free trial we only require one month's notice from the next billing date - we do not agree with tying people into long contracts - we don't need to. Once our service has been tried, virtually everyone wonders how they ever managed before.
Absolutely not. The Virtual Receptionist really is as simple as it appears to be. All of the charges are clearly outlined. We also only charge on a per second basis, unlike some other providers, so you genuinely only pay for your exact usage with absolutely no rounding up. It can make a significant difference in costs.
Being an International client does not affect the set-up process if you divert to a UK number. If you require a 'country of origin' number, this may take a little longer to set up.
If you would like to alter any of your billing details, can you please contact us on 0870 7461866 or email us on support@virtualreceptionist.co.uk and we can ensure that these details are ammended for you. If you would like to change any billing, please can you ensure that we have these details at least 10 working days before the invoicing or Direct Debit date otherwise we cannot guarantee payments will be taken from the correct account. Credit card details can be amended via your Account Control Panel.
There is an option for you to have discounted call rates if we begin to take a large volume of calls. Any discounts will be discussed on an individual basis. In order to be eligible for any discounts, call volumes would need to in the range of approximately 1000 calls per month.
A basic Virtual Receptionist call, where we are taking a name, company name, contact telephone number and a brief message will last approximately between 30 seconds and two minutes depending on the caller.
It is normally possible to purchase a number that has been allocated to you. There is a one off £30 release charge. The number is then sent over to the new provider. Once the transfer is complete, you will continue to pay a 1p per minute charge for the life of the number on top of what the new service provider charges.
Yes, we have one of the most cost effective fax to email services in the market. We send you your faxes by email instantly. This costs only £7.50 per month with no limit on the number of faxes you receive.
The Divert codes for most providers are:
"The service provided by the Virtual Receptionist team is excellent. They genuinely act as a member of my own company and are always extremely professional. I doubt there is a better alternative for small companies looking to present a professional and seamless image to their customers. Excellent in every respect."
Simon Cooper - Managing Director, Experiential Learning Centre