The Specialty Answering Service Blog

Here at Specialty Answering Service, phones are our livelihood. We believe having a live receptionist answering your calls does more than elevate a business - it becomes inseparable from great customer service. This idea carries over to film and television where iconic phones become part of the story. Whether it's Batman's Batphone…

Over the last decade, technology has evolved at an alarming rate. From face recognition in our smart phones to cars that drive themselves, it's amazing how much technology is a part of our everyday lives. While I think we can all agree that robots are awesome, businesses should not be so quick…

Way back in the day, before automatic call distribution technologies evolved, calls used to be manually routed by operators working massive switchboards – so gigantor and with so many lines that many switchboard supervisors had to wear roller skates to get around faster! Sadly, the days of roller skating supervisors are long…

When you make the decision to start using a call center, either 24/7 or just as overflow support, the goal, of course, is that your callers will never experience hold times, or at least significantly less hold times than they experience when your front desk is overwhelmed. The problem is that most…

The first major snowfall has hit the northeast, and you know what that means. Mother Nature has made the incredible leap from summer to winter, barely skimming fall on her way. For regions of the country that are already frosty and expecting more of the same as the season rolls on, local…

The holiday season is here, which means businesses near and far are prepping for the inevitable rise in customer communication. If you’re using an answering service to help with phone orders, or you're hiring seasonal order takers in-house, we’ve created a spreadsheet to help you evaluate each transaction.  The form includes what questions…

Having a bullet-proof on-call scheduling system is a crucial part of many service industry businesses with 24/7 availability. For example, medical practices need to be available around the clock for urgent health issues, HVAC and plumbing companies need to be available in the event of plumbing or heating emergencies, towing companies need…

Halloween may be over, but the spook-tivities still live on in the answering service world. While answering services are great at helping businesses handle customer communication, if services aren't properly tuned, there are times when they can do more harm than good. Since Halloween isn't over until we say it is, we…

Halloween is upon us, and you know what that means – masterfully carved pumpkins, pillow cases filled with sugary loot, creepy costumes, the night of the living dead, and the day of...the horrible receptionist. What’s more terrifying than not having a live person answering your phone when you need one? Having an…

If you use an answering service, then you're probably familiar with call forwarding and how it works. However, if you've never used one before or are new to outsourcing - surprise - you're going to need to know how to call forward. Since call forwarding is essential to using an answering service,…