Want to test your knowledge on the answering service industry? See if you can answer all 10 questions correctly. If you're feeling real lucky, test your knowledge with our telephone trivia quiz next! 1. When was the first call center created?    Show Me the Answer!  The answer is B. 1957 1930 1957 1985…

Closing your business while you're on vacation? Don't want to come back to a tidal wave of voicemails? We've created a 6 step guide on how to quickly activate an answering service while you're walking out the door. 1. Set up Your Greeting Answering services can greet your callers in any number…

If you're not familiar with the lingo, on-call (also spelled oncall or on call) refers to a system or protocol for contacting an employee or group of employees who are available, if necessary, for work and/or communication after business hours. Answering services use on-call systems to deliver messages to specific employees. If…

When recalls happen, set up a recall hotline with an answering service to supercharge your customer service. Recalls can affect any company, from auto dealerships, to electronic shops, to grocery stores (lettuce remind you of the romaine recall that most recently made headlines), so you should formulate a plan in advance to prepare…

If you're in the market for a live answering service, or any business service for that matter, it's only natural to want the best. After all, it's your business's reputation on the line each time your customers interact with anyone representing your business. So what determines if an answering service can be…

Remember the Jerry Lewis Telethon? If you're under 30, you probably think I just made that name up - but I didn't. The Jerry Lewis Telethon was an annual television event, hosted by Jerry Lewis, that raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Celebrities would pop in to say hi, people would…

Whether you've just started using an answering service, or you've had one for years, you should be aware of the 5 most common mistakes businesses make that will result in an outsourcing epic fail. 1. Your Procedures are Too Complicated Every company wants their customers to be happy, and a factor in…

At Specialty Answering Service, we often get asked many questions regarding the ins and outs of how answering services work, what they do, and how much they cost - among other things. We thought it would be a great idea to consolidate our most frequently asked questions to help out readers like…

We've all been there. By "there," I mean the void between calling a business to get help and being stuck on hold. For an eternity. Then having the phone just hang up. Like, really, that just happened? Yeah, it did. Bottom line: holds stink. Whether you're trying to make an appointment with…

How you answer the phone in your office versus how your answering service answers may not always be the same. While it's important that both you and your answering service are on the same page, what works in your office may not always work in a call center environment. For example, you…