Question 1

Why should I get a live call answering service?

Accepted Answer

Many callers hang up when their call goes to voicemail, so you can miss out on vital conversations or leads.  Ensuring your calls are answered by a live person, increases customer satisfaction, builds loyalty and improves your opportunity to create a rapport and obtain caller details.

Live call answering also allows you to screen calls, as you can advise your receptionist to transfer or take messages for only those call types you wish to receive.  Once answered, you can see each message as it's taken and prioritise who you will call back first.

Live call answering increases revenue through better customer connections, reduces costs as you're not paying for a full time receptionist and helps you to be more efficient with your time.

Question 2

Where is ReceptionHQ based?

Accepted Answer

ReceptionHQ is based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and is a subsidiary of OfficeHQ, a global virtual reception company headquartered in Australia.

Question 3

Can you prevent me from missing calls?

Accepted Answer

Yes, our receptionist can answer calls you'd usually miss.  You may be on another call or simply unable to answer because you're busy at the time. Our receptionists will take a detailed message and send to you instantly by email or SMS. Many clients who subscribe to our service are surprised when they learn how many calls they'd been missing prior to having their calls answered by ReceptionHQ.

Question 4

How do I forward my calls to ReceptionHQ?

Accepted Answer

Forwarding your business phone calls to ReceptionHQ is easy.  To have our team of virtual receptionists answer your calls, simply:

Decide whether you wish to forward calls immediately to ReceptionHQ (the best solution for most businesses) or have delayed call forwarding.

Identify the call forwarding codes for your telecommunications provider.  Most providers publish these codes on their websites.

Use the codes to enable call forwarding to the local or freephone number you choose to have allocated to you (aka your Assigned DID).

For more information, check out our article Forwarding Inbound Calls to Our Team of Receptionists, which outlines:

Immediate and delayed call forwarding options

Specific instructions for forwarding from providers such as BT, EE, Virgin Media, Vodafone and others.

Question 5

Are you able to answer just some of our calls?

Accepted Answer

Yes. This is referred to as "call overflow".
A lot of companies require their phone calls to be answered only when they are unable to take the call themselves. For example, if you step out of the office for an hour or your in-house receptionist goes to lunch, is on leave or is busy on another call and you have multiple calls coming in at the one time.
You can set your business phone number to divert (to the unique local phone number we allocate your business during the Free Trial setup process) only when the phone rings for more than a specified period (such as after 5 rings) or if your line is busy/engaged.
In such instances our receptionists will then answer the phone as if we were in your office. You're always in control and can relax knowing you will never miss another important call again!

Question 6

Do you offer a 24/7 live call answering service?

Accepted Answer

Yes.  We have receptionists available around-the-clock and 24/7 coverage is included as standard on any ReceptionHQ live call answering plan subscription, without any after-hours surcharges.

Whether your calls come in during UK business hours (9:00am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday) or out-of-hours, there is no extra cost.

If you opt out of after-hours call answering, our receptionists will answer your calls only between 9:00am and 5:30pm on weekdays; outside of these standard business hours, including weekends and bank holidays, calls will then go to voicemail and your voicemail message recordings will be emailed to you free of charge.

Question 7

Are calls answered within the United Kingdom?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ReceptionHQ's team of receptionists based in the United Kingdom answer the majority of calls for our UK clients during standard office hours, with overflow support available from our teams in Australia and the US.

Calls are always answered by our team in the UK whenever possible, however calls overflow to Australia or the US after hours and during unforeseen peaks in call volumes during standard office hours (9:00am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday).

This enables us to provide 24/7 coverage for businesses that need it and ensure calls are always answered as fast as possible, reducing the risk of call abandonment. We know Average Speed of Answer (ASA) is very important to our clients and one of our key differentiators is that we’re able to answer calls in under 15 seconds, on average.

We hold ourselves to a higher standard than most of our competitors and we’re one of the few answering service companies with a global presence, coupled with enterprise-grade call answering software. This combination enables us to provide seamless global call routing capability for your benefit.

Our staffing levels in the UK are always intended to cover the expected call volumes, however on occasions when no local receptionist is available to answer within an acceptable timeframe the call will be routed to an equally skilled receptionist in Australia or the US. Rest assured, these are also highly-trained employees, who are held to the same excellent quality standards. Your calls aren't answered by contractors, nor are they sent to places like India or the Philippines.

Question 8

What sort of clients does ReceptionHQ cater for?

Accepted Answer

Our clients range from small businesses including sole traders through to large enterprises including multinational corporations.

We provide call answering and appointment scheduling services for a variety of industries, including estate agents, lawyers, accountants and healthcare (such as psychologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and dentists).

We support many businesses with mobile workforces, such as those in trades, building and construction or travel and tourism operators. We also assist a variety of start-up businesses, contractors, franchises, retailers and service providers including IT companies and website design or marketing agencies.

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FAQs