What is an Auto Attendant?
If you wonder what an auto attendant is, read about how it works and why you should use one. An auto attendant is like a virtual switchboard, allowing customers to navigate the department they need quickly. It can save you labour costs by blocking spam calls and allowing customers to navigate to the correct department in minutes rather than hours. Listed below are some of the benefits of an auto attendant for your business.
For further information and pricing on phone systems, click here.
UK VoIP Providers |
Company |
Price |
Free Trial |
Customer Rating |
Who is it Best For |
|
£19 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.7 |
Small businesses with big growth plans
|
|
£9 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.6 |
Small businesses looking for a cheap and easy solution
|
|
£12 per user, per month (billed annually)
|
✓ |
4.4 |
Telesales teams and small businesses with high turnover
|
|
£6 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.4 |
|
|
£10 per user, per month |
✓ |
4.3 |
Companies that need to communicate remotely
|
|
£7.99 per user, per month (billed annually)
|
✓ |
4 |
Small businesses with varied departments
|
|
£14.99 per user, per month
|
X |
3.9 |
Small companies that are based online
|
What is an Auto Attendant: A Virtual Switchboard
You’ve probably heard of auto attendants if you have a business phone system. This telephone system can save you time and money by removing the need to speak with a live agent. An auto attendant can provide basic information about your business, including hours of operation, policies, and service options. Additionally, an auto-attendant can handle certain transactions on your behalf, such as taking an order.
- If you’re unsure what an auto attendant is, consider some things before installing one.
- An auto attendant lets you set options for callers.
- You can configure it to use the sales department, support department, or a specific employee.
- You can also have it set to work as a switchboard, allowing your callers to talk to a live agent after business hours.
- The auto attendant can also handle missed calls that might otherwise go to an unreachable employee.
- Even the most attentive staff can have off days, be distracted, or have a bad day
- . An auto attendant can take over the workload and ensure your customers are always heard.
- Auto attendants route inbound calls intelligently. Instead of letting a caller go to voicemail, auto attendants present a simple menu of options to reach sales, support, or service.
- You can customise your auto attendant to route calls based on your business hours and your customers’ needs.
- You can even have a professional voice recording to make your business seem more significant than it is.
- A virtual receptionist can answer customer questions, reduce workload, and enhance customer satisfaction.
- An auto attendant is an excellent tool for companies, as they help organisations optimise voice-based communication.
- They direct callers to employees, departments, or specific teams. They can even provide personalised greetings to callers.
Auto attendants can also help organisations manage call queues by utilising a virtual switchboard and creating a search-by-name company directory. These features can be easily added to an automated attendant and make life in minutes.
What is an Auto Attendant: It Can Block Spam Calls
Having an auto-attendant for your business will reduce the time your employees have to spend answering bogus phone calls and spam. While you can still direct customers to specific representatives, many people find it frustrating to be diverted to voicemail. Auto attendants block spam calls, streamline your call routing, and provide helpful options to your callers. Your business can save time and money by avoiding these problems by blocking spam calls.
If you want to filter spam calls on your auto attendant, you can set a filtering rule for each phone number. For example, you may want more restrictive rules for spam calls for your CEO’s phone line, while you might want a more flexible filter for your mainline. Once you’ve set up your filtering rules, you can review call logs to see which blocked numbers. By monitoring blocked calls, you can tweak your rules as necessary.
Automated voice mail is another way to filter spam calls. While many consumers expect to wait five minutes before speaking with a customer, auto attendants can let customers know how long they’ll have to wait. By ensuring that the caller will not receive annoying robocalls, auto attendants help you increase your customer base. It’s not hard to install one. When evaluating your options, consider the features of each type of auto attendant.
What is an Auto Attendant: Benefits
- It helps reduce your staff’s workload by routing incoming calls for you, for starters.
- You can create multiple options for your auto attendant that route callers to the right employees.
- You can even connect the callers using your dial pad. This way, you can block most robocalls, and spam calls that a human being may otherwise answer.
- You can set up multiple options and route calls to the correct departments if you’re a business owner.
What is an Auto Attendant: Time-Saving
In retail outlets, the use of auto attendants is widespread. A caller may need to reach a particular department to obtain a product or service, and an auto-attendant will help them navigate quickly and efficiently. Doctors’ offices use auto attendants to direct calls to specific staff members, such as nurses or office staff. Credit unions in local markets often integrate auto-attendants with an IVR system to let callers quickly navigate the departments they need.
An auto attendant’s script should include the company’s business needs, including a welcome message and a thank you for calling. The script should also explain the call flow, offer options, and rank each option in importance. When creating your script, try to include notes and prompts from previous customers. This way, you can avoid mistakes during recording. And if possible, have several scripts, one for each type of customer.
While using auto attendants, remember that callers might not understand every word of your script, mainly if it contains unfamiliar terms. Auto-attendants should include five or fewer options, as more options may confuse callers confused and frustrated. You may also want to use nested auto attendants to provide more options. But remember that auto attendants should only include terminology that callers will understand. Avoid using internal terminology, and don’t update the script frequently.
Using an auto-attendant is also advantageous because it can handle missed calls made after business hours. A human staff member can have an off day, be distracted, or even have a bad day. Even the best employees may have harmful interactions with customers. In such cases, an auto-attendant will quickly transfer callers to the correct department. A positive customer experience is crucial in retaining customers. Another benefit of an auto attendant is that it represents a business in the same way. The caller won’t have to wait for an agent to answer their questions.
Moreover, it can ensure that customers get the information they need without waiting for hours. Ultimately, it will save you time and money. This is especially useful for large organisations where multiple departments need to attend.
What is an Auto Attendant: Cost-Effective
An auto attendant is a valuable way to reduce labour costs, especially if you have many phone lines to manage. An auto attendant can answer multiple phone calls simultaneously, allowing you to focus on other tasks and increase worker productivity. These services can also help you stay in touch with your customers round-the-clock. Despite their many benefits, however, there are a few things you need to know before you make the switch.
First, auto attendants are a great way to cut costs, as their services are typically free. They eliminate the burden of directing calls to the correct employees and ensure that they answer them promptly.
Moreover, they allow you to spend more time on other tasks, such as answering customers’ questions or functioning as a switchboard operator. Additionally, auto attendants help you cut labour costs because they eliminate the need for additional workers to answer calls. Second, an auto-attendant will save time. Since time is of the essence, small businesses have limited resources. As a result, employees wear multiple hats, so administrative tasks can take up valuable time for other activities.
Automated attendants free up employee time for critical growth initiatives by eliminating these administrative tasks. They will also ensure that the right calls are made, and customer complaints are addressed quickly. In short, auto attendants save businesses on labour costs and improve employee productivity. Auto attendants save on labour costs by freeing up receptionists. Most auto attendants come with a dial-by-name directory and a general voice mailbox.
The latter allows you to call any employee in your company directory by typing the first few letters on the keypad. The primary call answering functionality may be all you need in small businesses. There are many benefits to an auto attendant. They improve your customer experience.
What is an Auto Attendant – Click here to see more of the best-rated phone systems for 2022
Other Useful links about phone systems
All You Need to Know About XO Communications
5 Services Offered by Voxox
Zoom Review
Remember to Compare Your Business Costs is here to help your business every step of the way, from business advice or saving you time and money on your business purchases such as:
Ally Cox is a dedicated Copywriter and Blogger for CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk. In under two years, the platform achieved the esteemed accolade of ‘Website of the Year’. Since its award-winning debut, Ally has been instrumental in fostering organic growth for the website, expanding its offerings to encompass comparisons across a diverse range of over 20 products to help serve all your business needs.