How to Cut Operational Costs With Virtual Receptionist Software

Receptionists are the first line of support when it comes to servicing your customers. But when your office staff is forced to juggle unpredictable call volume with endless task lists, long wait times and missed business opportunities can become the norm.

Virtual receptionist software relieves the burden of day-to-day phone management by fielding incoming calls and resolving basic customer requests, from scheduling appointments to providing account information. 

Virtual receptionists can provide front-line support and route more complex questions to a real human when necessary. In this blog, we’ll discuss how virtual receptionist software can help you cut operational costs and share some of the most affordable software on the market today. 

Benefits of a Virtual Receptionist Software

Here are just a few benefits of implementing an affordable virtual receptionist software:

• Positive Customer Experience

Your office staff is busy enough as it is. When call volume spikes, receptionists often struggle to keep up, resulting in long wait times and frustrated customers. With virtual receptionist software, every customer can connect with your business and get their questions answered. 

• Flexibility

Virtual receptionists are available 24/7 to field important calls from customers even when your staff is unavailable. You can also tailor virtual receptionist software to understand information about your specific company and industry and simulate an actual conversation. 

• Fewer Distractions

With automated software handling basic requests, your staff can focus their time and energy on serving visitors and checking projects off their to-do list. 

4 Ways Virtual Receptionist Software Can Help You Cut Costs

Virtual receptionist software can drastically cut down on capital and operational costs associated with running your business. 

1. Eliminate Employee Compensation & Liability Expenses

Instead of adding more receptionists to your payroll to keep up with caller demand, keep your compensation, employee benefits and liability costs down with virtual receptionist software. 

2. Provide 24/7 Support

Virtual receptionists are available 24/7, 365 days a year. Without the constraints of Monday-Friday office hours, you’ll be able to gather critical information and service more customers when it’s most convenient for them. 

3. Reduce the Cost of Employee Training

Training your office staff requires a significant upfront investment, including certifications, courses and costly equipment. A virtual receptionist software is designed to be user-friendly and easy to manage. Training your receptionist on a single software will cut down on the valuable hours required for traditional employee training. 

4. Avoid the Cost of Downtime

Some virtual receptionist software is cloud-based and available 24/7. You won’t have to worry about missing vital calls or business opportunities in the event your phone lines or network go down. 

The Best and Most Affordable Virtual Receptionist Software

1. Numa

Not all incoming calls require a live receptionist. Numa helps field incoming calls by giving callers the option to text your business. It automatically responds to common questions and leverages artificial intelligence to act as an extension of your receptionist. 

Numa is geared toward small and medium-sized businesses that are looking to alleviate their receptionists’ workload and rescue more calls. 

Key Features:

• 24/7 Service: Numa’s text message answering service is working 24/7. No need to fret about paying your receptionist overtime – Numa has you covered. 
• AI Text Service: Numa texts back callers and automatically responds to common questions, allowing you to serve more customers in less time. Numa also transcribes voicemails, so receptionists can filter quickly through spam calls and focus their time on serving customers.
• Multilingual: You can customize Numa to cater to multiple languages. 
• Budget-Friendly: Starting at $50 per month, Numa is one of the most affordable virtual receptionist solutions on the market. 

2. AnswerConnect

AnswerConnect is a U.S.-based virtual customer service and receptionist network. It requires a one-time setup cost and charges a per-minute fee based on call volume. 

Key Features:

• Green Business: AnswerConnect's employees work from home, which means their workers don't need to drive to work and add to carbon emissions.
• 24/7 Service: AnswerConnect is available 24/7.
• U.S.-based: Service representatives working with AnswerConnect are all based within the U.S., making communication easy.

3. eVoice

eVoice is a virtual business phone service based in the U.S. Pricing ranges from $12.99/month for 300 minutes and two extensions to $79.99/month for 4,000 minutes and 15 extensions. 

Key Features: 

• Auto Attendant: Professionally greet customers and route them to the proper extension.
• Toll-Free and Local Numbers: Establish your presence as a local business or use a toll-free number to make it easy for customers to reach you. 
• Call Routing: Set up call routing to specific numbers and voicemails to ensure messages always reach the right people. 

4. Ruby Receptionist

Ruby Receptionist uses live people to provide virtual receptionist services. Ruby can function as an extension of your in-house team or provide full-time call answering services depending on your needs. 

Key Features:

• Live Virtual Receptionists: Ruby uses live calling instead of AI.
• Ruby-Hosted Phone Number: You can choose to use an existing phone number or leverage a custom Ruby-hosted number.
• Real-Time Updates: Ruby Receptionist sends live updates and notifications to your email or mobile device to keep you up to speed on your messages.
• Weekend Coverage: Ruby has call coverage from 5 AM-9 PM Monday through Friday and 6 AM-6 PM on weekends. 

Help More Customers With Numa

Instead of forcing your receptionist to step away from clients to answer the phone, put your trust in virtual receptionist software. 

Numa is a reliable and affordable virtual receptionist option that directs callers to text messaging and assists with appointment booking. 

Here's how it works:

1. When customers call your business, Numa gives them the option to receive a text message when you don't answer the phone. 
2. Once the caller engages, Numa texts the customer and can answer questions about your business or send links to your online calendar so clients can book or cancel appointments.

With Numa, you can text-enable your business landline in minutes, gain visibility into text conversations and book more appointments. Numa can easily route messages to the correct person or department, giving your receptionist the time to communicate with urgent customers and answer more complicated questions. 

The best part? You can set up Numa in 15 minutes or less. It’s easy to get your staff up to speed at a fraction of the cost of hiring a new receptionist. 

Ready to slash operational costs and streamline customer calls? Schedule your free demo with Numa today.