For many businesses, it’s wise – and often necessary – to have an answering service on hand after hours. In the healthcare industry, such a service is mandatory in order to help patients with emergencies and urgent medical questions when their doctor is not holding office hours. Calls are typically handled by live operators at a call center, who take messages and redirect urgent calls as needed by contacting the person in charge or the doctor on call. But live operators aren’t always necessary for this service, and in fact, there are many benefits to having a virtual answering service – some that even top the benefits that come from a live call center.
Speed
A virtual answering service will typically pick up calls much faster than a live call center, and callers won’t have to be placed on multiple holds. Your business or medical practice can customize the system in whatever way you’d like, so that your callers hear a message or menu of your design when they call.
Accuracy
Since your callers will be leaving their own messages, you don’t have to worry about questions or concerns being missed or lost. With a virtual service, you can even request transcripts of messages to ensure that all of the information you receive is correct.
Privacy
When it comes to healthcare, HIPAA is always a top concern. If you’re a healthcare provider, take a moment to think about how your patients might feel about a live answering service. Chances are that some of them feel uncomfortable talking about their personal health problems with a stranger over the phone. Plus, there might be a lack of HIPAA compliance, whether it’s accidental or intentional. Messages might be misplaced, or operators might share patient information. This could spell big fines for your practice.
Cost
Unlike live call center services, which might charge by the message in addition to other rates and fees, a flat rate phone answering service costs just that – a flat rate. You’ll pay a lower monthly rate and mind wind up saving quite a bit when you make the switch.
Peace of Mind
Overall, when you don’t have to worry about potentially lost messages, privacy slip ups, or high costs, the best benefit that a virtual answering service can bestow upon you is peace of mind. With accurate message taking, filtering of emergency and non-urgent messages, and the ability to contact you via the message of your choice, you can rest easy knowing that you’ll never miss a message or receive the wrong information.
Answering services can benefit your business or practice with better message taking accuracy and lower costs. Contact No More Phone Tag today for more information about our virtual solutions.
