How do you take classroom training, soft skills essentials, role play, and employee shadowing, and turn it into magic when new hires pick up their first call? Have faith in the tools and education that your training team provides before an operator puts on a headset? Yes. Trust that you have hired…

In our first post, we covered soft skills training for call center agents to take the guesswork out of teaching call center staff the art of communication. While having a presentation to present is a great tool, there are a number of effective call center training techniques that can be utilized to smoothly…

If you manage a call center, then you know that exceptional customer care is the cornerstone of success in the answering service industry. But whether you're a call center professional, a retail store associate, or a plumbing apprentice, basic customer service principles are applicable across the board. There’s no better time to…

When you call a business and the automated attendant at the call center picks up and asks how they can be of service, did you ever wonder how the computer can understand what you are talking about? You could say anything from, "I need my account balance," to, "I want a refund!" and…

The holidays are a busy time for everyone, but especially so for small business owners. From filling orders and trying to get the last appointments in before the new year, to trying to remember to spend time with friends and family, it can often times be more stressful than merry. Specialty Answering…

If you're relying on someone else to take your messages, you need the information to be correct 100% of the time. Otherwise, you could wind up wasting time playing Sherlock Holmes, or worse, you could wind up getting stuck on the phone with your Nanny instead of calling back Nancy, the woman…

If you are running a small business, chances are that you are often overwhelmed and simply can’t get to every phone call. When you’re not in a position to hire a salaried receptionist, you really only have two options: let calls go to voicemail, or outsource to a live operator receptionist service…

Businesses use answering services for different reasons. Some may use them for basic message taking, while others may use them to field overflow calls when they're expecting a large volume. However you decide to use an answering service, the main goal is to capture and retain customers to ultimately help grow your…

Christmas is right around the corner and SAS is getting in the holiday spirit. We put a live receptionist spin on a holiday classic, and turned turtle doves and partridges into peace of mind and more business. What are you waiting for? Check out SAS's 12 Days of Christmas!

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…