Virtual Receptionist Vs In-House Receptionist
An endless rivalry
For many years, business owners, firms, and professionals have had an age-old debate. However, many firms now seek to outsource their admin work to virtual call centers, instead of hiring a full-time in-house receptionist. The Virtual Receptionist vs. In-House Receptionist conflict remains a hot topic. Yet, after comparing the various points, you will know your best course of action going forward. Find out more.
Virtual Receptionist vs. In-House Receptionist
We have broken down the comparisons into different subsections to make it easier to understand the two types of answering service.
Costs
In-house receptionist wages are major expenses for any firm. In fact, from the beginning, hiring itself is expensive. Creating ad posting ads and interviews may cost you extra money. Furthermore, when you account for taxes, insurance, and bonuses, it becomes worse. In-house receptionists are also entitled to vacation, leave, sick time, and daily breaks. All of these factors increase a firm’s expenses.
Thus, on average, a full-time answering service staff could cost close to $30,000 annually. Also, insurance and health coverage for the staff and their families takes up a few thousand dollars. Turnover costs take up an extra $5,000. Moreover, they will always get paid whether the business is booming or not. Finally, overhead expenses might take up another $1,000. It becomes even worse for firms that need to pay a manager to oversee their receptionist.
A virtual call center, on the other hand, charges for only the services you employ. Also, you do not have to train them or follow a strict hiring process because they are already experts. There is no pay for trips, sick time, insurance, and all other benefits of a full staff. All you need to pay is a service fee rather than a salary. A business call answering service provides more options for your budget. You do not have to worry about downtime or turnover costs.
Presence
An in-house answering service staff always brings a warm smile. Thus, that extra human touch could be a game-changer for many businesses. It strengthens the bond with your walk-in clients too. Still, if a firm has a shortage of staff or the receptionist steps out, missed calls and appointments become a norm. Clients hate to be left on hold and are much more likely to hang up. This leads to poor service quality and loss of clients.
A quality virtual receptionist gives your callers a unique experience that matches an in-house answering service despite the lack of intimate human touch. These people are trained to help callers by being informed about every aspect of the business. More so, there are no long holds or missed calls for callers. Rather, they enjoy a fast response thanks to the many persons in virtual call centers instead of a single receptionist. Also, language is not a problem because virtual call centers often go the extra mile to hire a multi-lingual staff.
If you can run your business at home, then there is no need for in-house answering service. More so, a virtual receptionist assures you a 24/7/365 service, something you would never get with in-house staff. If your business needs to run at odd hours and weekends, you need a virtual call center. Yet, if you need on-site tasks such as filing, then an in-house staff might be a better choice.
Flexibility
Hiring an in-house answering service means you do not have much room to be flexible with work hours, except stated in the contract. However, a virtual receptionist allows you to adjust your usage weekly, monthly, or even daily by your projects. Virtual call centers also provide extra coverage in busy times. They do not just answer calls or forward emails; they also carry out other admin tasks.
Time
Hiring in-house staff is a time-intensive process, and there is no guarantee that they will be productive. A virtual receptionist saves you time, and you do not have to experience any downtime training your staff. You can scale up your business quickly with a skilled virtual receptionist.
While an in-house staff spends more time on calls and queries, a virtual receptionist aims to generate and convert leads wherever possible. They remain professional and highly responsive at all times. You can save your firm more valuable time with a virtual call center.
Burnout
An in-house receptionist is more prone to burnouts because of overtaxing. However, this does not happen with a virtual call center because you are hiring a team. As a result, efficiency is greater with a virtual receptionist. All the same, modern tech software has made it easier to keep in touch with clients all the time.
A virtual receptionist is fully trained to handle human relations well within a team. Therefore, you do not need to overtax your staff or team members when you can simply outsource the job to a team of experts.
Bottom line
Modern advancements in tech have made a virtual receptionist much more valuable than in-house staff. Moreover, they have become the backbone of many firms, allowing them to cut costs and provide better services to clients. If you are looking to save time, money, resources, and stress in general, a virtual receptionist is the better option.
It is worth knowing that a virtual call center is made of an entire team of people with different strengths. This is unlike the “one-man job.” of in-house answering service staff. Virtual receptionists know your company better and provide more support in crucial times. It is important to know that a virtual receptionist is still a real person. Thus, whether you have a committed in-house answering service or you share the duty across staff members, you should consider hiring a virtual call center. Small, in-house businesses, as well as large firms, all benefit from having a virtual receptionist.
