Normally, when a call is received we try to answer it as soon as possible. However, sometimes certain circumstances may arise and prevent us from attending them at that precise moment or even within a reasonable period of time. The best thing for these cases is to set up an answering machine. If you want to know what it is and how can it benefit your company, you are in the right place.
What is an answering machine?
At the end of the 19th century, specifically in 1898, a recording equipment was invented. It was nothing similar to what we know today as an answering machine, so we cannot even say that it deserved to be called like that. This device had magnetic fields in which sound was recorded, but in any case could record telephone conversations. Subsequently, numerous modifications were made until in 1983 what we know today as a telephone answering machine was created.
The history of this device is much more complex than what we say, but defining what it is about is much easier. We have a mechanism based on a voice menu used to answer calls automatically. Perhaps in this last word we can find the difference with other devices. This means that it is not necessary for the people that make a call to go through a receptionist or physical operator, but are directly redirected to an extension where they are allowed to leave their message so that the receiver can listen to it when it is available. Sometimes this system is also known as a voicemail or even a digital receptionist.
There are many ways to set up an answering machine, such as simply playing a message, without the option to record after the signal. However, all this will depend on the treatment we want to give our calls.
Having an answering machine provides us with very useful functions. In addition, it is a very economical option for any company, since costs are saved and efficiency is increased, by helping the operator to simplify the procedure followed by the incoming call.
What can an answering machine bring to your business?
This type of device not only offers advantages from a personal point of view, but is very useful for a company. In addition to the efficiency and cost reduction we mentioned earlier, an answering machine in your business can:
Improve your waiting queues and customer service
In our post about music on hold in waiting queues, we told you that one of the options to improve it and that your clients do not hang up before being able to talk to them was to include voice messages and background music or redirect them directly to a voicemail. Well, with this last option, even if the call cannot be received at that moment, the client will not have the feeling that he has made it in vain and that he has not been able to express his problem.
It may be obvious, but it is also fundamental. The way you treat your customers can be greatly increased with a voicemail. One of the main reasons, in addition to being one of their most notable advantages, is that answering machines for companies offer a way to reduce the time that users wait until they are attended.
Personalized attention according to the needs of your company
The normal thing is that when the user contacts your company, he wants to speak with an agent or with a specific extension. A client who calls to make a claim is not the same as one who calls to hire your services. In these cases, it is very useful to have an answering machine, since if the receiver is not available at that time, a dialing option can be given to the consumer to connect directly with the voicemail of the department with which he wants to communicate to leave a message, providing personalized attention.
Configure messages for exceptional circumstances
Something that is very useful in digital receptionists is preparing voice messages for when customers call outside of your business hours, on a holiday, or even on your company’s vacation period.
What are the advantages of an answering machine in the virtual PBX?
We have already told you what an answering machine is and what advantages it brings to your business. Now is the time to know what advantages a virtual PBX like the one that Fonvirtual can offer you.
On the one hand, the answering machines of conventional PBX usually offer just the possibility of listening to messages by calling a voicemail from a telephone. However, in our virtual PBX it is possible to access them either from a telephone or from a panel, since when working with the WebRTC system, everything is in the cloud, allowing access from anywhere and any device that has a connection to the Internet.
On the other hand, it is possible to set up our digital receptionist so that the message that clients leave is sent to the email that we define, allowing a great saving of time if we take into account that it is not necessary to access the voicemail to listen to it.
Finally, it is necessary to highlight that it is possible to activate and deactivate the answering machine as many times as we want, all this by accessing the panel yourself from any browser, without having to contact a technician to do so.
