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FAQ Category: Virtual Receptionist

What information is included in messages?

You can receive all the information you require. In addition to receiving the caller’s name, number and reason for calling via email or SMS, some plans (such as Business Receptionist and Business Assistant) allow receptionists to collect and send you additional information.

You can specify what details you require the receptionists to collect and this can pretty much be anything you need. For example:

Whether it’s urgent
Whether the caller is an existing customer
The caller’s address or suburb
The caller’s email address
The caller’s company name
Whether the caller has a preferred time of day for a callback
Whatever else is important to you

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How can outsourcing call answering benefit my business?

Missing important conversations can be extremely costly for any business. Most customers get frustrated when the phone rings out and hang up if they get through to voicemail, meaning lost leads or sales opportunities that directly impact your bottom line.

By using Vodafone Business Answering’s services, you can have peace of mind that your calls are always answered by a real person … no matter how busy you or your team are regardless of time of day (additional charges apply after hours).

There are many other potential benefits also, depending on which of our business answering plans you choose and whether any of our specialised services are relevant to your business.

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What if multiple calls come in at the same time?

Concurrent calls to your advertised business number can easily be answered by our remote receptionists. This alone can potentially prevent many of your current missed calls.

Being only able to answer one call at a time in-house means many business owners don’t even realise how many calls they’ve been missing.

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How do you know incoming calls are for my business?

Once your account is activated and set up, you simply need to divert your business phone number to the unique number we provide to you. At this stage, you will choose to either forward all calls to us or only calls you’re unable to answer in-house. Then, when someone dials your number and that call is forwarded to us, our technology shows the receptionist your business name, your preferred way for the caller to be greeted and any other instructions or notes related to your account. In all instances, your call is answered as though the receptionist is sitting in your office.

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Are there any contract periods associated with your answering services?

No. All Vodafone Business Answering services are month-to-month, with no lock-in contract.

Cancellation of your service can be made at any time, with the only requirement to provide us with at least three days’ notice prior to your monthly billing date.

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Can I change my answering service plan if needed?

Absolutely. Vodafone Answering Service enables you to freely move up and down on the call volume packages as required or switch to a different service if you find your requirements change. For example:

Upgrading from Business Starter to Business Receptionist if you decide you’d like to start receiving call transfers or you need messages sent to multiple contacts
Downgrading from Business Assistant to Business Receptionist if you no longer want our receptionists to quote fees or assist callers with submitting orders or making payments over the phone

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When an urgent issue arises, we need the call to be escalated – can you help with that?

Yes! Vodafone Business Answering’s escalation service, available as an add-on to any Business Assistant plan, is a foolproof way to ensure the right personnel are notified promptly of any emergency situations (even if it’s the middle of the night).

An escalation call is when a message is sent to your relevant contacts via SMS, email or outbound phone call and continually followed up (using a set procedure based on your company requirements) if there is no response confirming the message has been received.

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Do you offer out-of-hours telephone answering?

Yes. We are available to answer your call any time of the day or night. Vodafone Business Answering services are operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help ensure your business never has to miss a call.

You can choose to have us answer calls only during business hours, only after hours or around the clock 24/7 simply by managing your diversion settings.

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Are calls able to be transferred through to me or my staff?

On any Vodafone Business Answering plan, with the exception of Business Starter, calls are able to be transferred to your mobile and/or landline number any time of the day or night. Your availability can be toggled on or off via our easy-to-use client portal.

Have multiple departments or staff that callers may ask to be put through to? Not a problem! We can have your staff/department list attached to your account so callers can be transferred to the right number.

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After a remote receptionist handles a call, how do I receive my messages?

We will send your messages out with the details of your call via email and/or SMS depending on your preference.

You are limited to a single message recipient on a Business Starter plan, however if you have multiple recipients who should be receiving the same message (eg sales and service departments), we can ensure message delivery to multiple mobile phone numbers and/or email addresses on any Business Receptionist or Business Assistant plan. Alternatively, if you would like messages delivered to specific departments or individuals based on who is requested by your caller, we can have a contact list attached to your service for easy message delivery.

If you often receive calls that require immediate action or urgent attention, our Escalation Management service may be suitable. It integrates a set procedure for notifications to specific staff via SMS/email and/or outbound phone call.

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