Why The Best Virtual Receptionist Services Never Outsource Calls

Technology has done a lot to bring the world closer. Today, you can have calls transferred and directed from across different continents, and connect with those in other countries over the phone with minimal to no issues. But, for many virtual receptionist services out there, technological advancement has brought dangerous temptation.

Virtual receptionist services are often presented with the opportunity to delegate the incoming calls they handle on behalf of American businesses to overseas call centers. In theory it sounds like a fantastic idea, as the call centers promise low costs, and can take the pressure of hiring and managing receptionists away from the virtual receptionist services themselves.

While call center offshoring can offer a lot of short term benefits for virtual receptionist companies, it usually ends up coming back to hurt them and their customers in the long run. In this blog post we’ll explain why the best virtual receptionist services only answer calls in-house, and why law offices should avoid virtual receptionist companies that outsource at all costs.

Why Offshore Outsourcing Doesn’t Work

Anytime a phone answering service decides to outsource their calls outside of the United States, they are taking a major risk. While some overseas call centers are really well run, many are highly unregulated, and don’t meet the call answering standards of American law offices.

Here are some problems lawyers may run into when using a phone answering service that outsources overseas:

• Many call center receptionists have not been trained in proper phone etiquette, and will be rude or abrupt with your firm’s callers.
• Receptionists from overseas locations will likely have no knowledge of your firm, and won’t be able to answer any basic questions your callers might have about your services.
• The call center receptionist answering your call will likely be working on behalf of several different types of businesses, and will struggle to give your callers their undivided attention.
• With the call center being thousands of miles away from the phone answering service’s headquarters, technical issues can take much longer to fix.
• At busy call centers there will often be a lot of yelling and people talking simultaneously. Your callers may be turned off by distracting background noises.

You wouldn’t stand for any of these issues if they were happening in front of you in your office, and you shouldn’t stand for them from your phone answering service. Lawyers need to seek out better virtual receptionist care.

Read More: Why Other Virtual Assistant Services Fail To Wow Legal Clients

Law Offices Need More Than Offshore Outsourcing Can Provide

Any business with high customer service standards will suffer when trusting their phone answering to a service that outsources calls, but perhaps none more than law offices. For law offices, the first phone call with a new prospect can truly mean everything, as the calling customer typically has a lot on the line and is looking to be immediately impressed. Your firm needs an experienced voice answering its phones, and needs receptionists it can trust to be highly professional, no matter what legal situation the caller presents to them.

With overseas call center receptionists, there is no guarantee that they’ve even handled legal phone calls before. There is also no guarantee that their receptionists will address your distressed callers with the tone and level of compassion that is necessary to win the trust of legal prospects. If a phone answering service that outsources says they can provide such guarantees, ask them how. How will their managers monitor the performance of call center agents thousands of miles away? The answer is almost always that they can’t, as there is typically a high level of disconnect that the US based company outsourcing their calls has, which makes it difficult for them to correct issues that may arise when handling your calls. Lawyers looking to build consumer trust over the phone can’t risk using such phone answering services.

Truth be told, many American based call centers fail to meet the phone answering standards of law offices as well. Lawyers require a receptionist service that can do more, and that is built to meet their specific needs.

Read More: Why Law Offices Require Professional Answering Services

There’s Only One Answering Service Choice For Attorneys

Since 2013, one phone answering service has been serving the legal community above all others: Answering Legal. Answering Legal is a 24/7 answering service, that only works on behalf of attorneys. We never outsource calls, and our receptionist team always answers calls directly from our one and only call center location in Long Island, New York. Our call center is located in a building right next to our main offices, so monitoring the performance of virtual receptionists and fixing technical issues is incredibly easy. We have our own managers overseeing the call handling process at all hours of the day and night, which allows us to guarantee top quality service.

Our receptionists have all been extensively trained on answering legal phone calls, as well as performing legal intake on all of a firm’s first time callers. By taking your potential clients through our carefully crafted and thought out intake process (which can include customized questions of your choosing), your letting consumers know that your firm is not only professionally run, but ready to get to work on their case right away.

When relying upon call center agents from other countries, you’ll be lucky if they take your caller’s name and message down correctly. Our virtual receptionist team members can always be counted on to record intake information and messages from your clients accurately, and send their message to your smartphone via text and/or email.

Some other things Answering Legal can do, that a company engaged with call center offshoring typically can’t:

• We offer live call transferring, so when new exciting customer opportunities arise, we can give you the option to speak with the customer in real time.
• Our receptionists can book new appointments with your callers directly into your calendar.
• Our team always has bilingual receptionists on duty, allowing your firm to communicate with both English and Spanish speaking callers.

Don’t give other receptionist services the chance to disappoint you. Sign up for a free ten-day trial of Answering Legal today! Getting started is as easy as filling out this form or calling 631-686-9700.