Unless you operate an outsource call center, your business’s purpose is not to provide effective communication; it’s to do something else. Your organization exists to deliver a product or service, and you built your core competencies around that effort. Telephone communication is a secondary issue, perhaps even a distraction from your central business mission. Though you could strive to become an organization with topnotch phone communication skills, a better solution is to simply turn over your telephone to your answering service. With a premier answering service as your communications partner, you can expect these key outcomes: Professional Image: Telephone answering service agents receive extensive training in phone skills, such as telephone etiquette, customer service, effective listening, problem solving, and conflict resolution. Plus they receive ongoing training to keep these skills fresh and to build upon their communication proficiencies. Few companies can match this level of commitment to making a professional impression on each call. Your answering service does. Consistent Response: Your answering service will answer every one of your calls exactly the same way. They won’t deviate one bit from your requested protocol. There will never be a doubt in your callers’ mind that they reached the right number. But answering your calls is just the start. Your answering service will gather the information you need on every call, just as you specify. And as the call ends, you can count on your answering service to conclude each contact in a positive, professional way. Consistency from call to call, day to day, month to month is your answering service’s commitment to call quality. Timely Interaction: Answering services respond to your callers’ needs fast. They answer your ringing phones quickly and give your customers their complete focus. Answering services strategically plan their staff to be working when they expect calls to come in. To be available when you need them, they fine-tune their schedules—often down to fifteen-minute increments—using historical data and sophisticated predictive analysis. Round-the-Clock Coverage: Few businesses can afford to staff their offices 24/7 to respond to customer needs at any hour of the day. Answering services do. They can answer your calls during regular business hours, in the evening, overnight, on weekends, and even on holidays. It’s a huge investment to be available around the clock, but it’s just part of their commitment to providing you with professional communication services. Comprehensive Reporting: Answering services offer an array of customized reporting services to provide you with your caller data in a format and frequency that best fits your needs. This could include an immediate email for each transaction, periodic summary reports, or detailed database files for you to import into your systems for analysis and recordkeeping. Plus answering services keep a recording of each call they take in case you ever need to refer to it. These are five ways an answering service can improve your communication quality. You have so much to gain when you turn your phone lines over to your answering service. Get started today. Janet Livingston is the president of Call Center Sales Pro, a premier sales and marketing service provider for the call center and telephone answering service industry—and who helps businesses and organizations find the perfect answering service. Contact Janet at contactus@callcenter-salespro.com or call 800-901-7706. Peter Lyle DeHaan is a freelance writer from Southwest Michigan.