Talkswitch Small Business Phone Systems News

This can be quite a topic to discuss, with people digging in on each side. We lean more towards the auto attendants are good side. But why? What about that human touch?

Ok, there are several types of callers. One common argument against auto attendants are that they do not serve new customers well. Before we address that, let’s discuss another type of customer that hopefully we all have a lot of, the more the better. That would be the repeat customer! Aren’t they important too? So, I am calling your business, for the 100th time. And, for the 100th time, I want to talk to Joe. And, I call your company, and who don’t I get? Joe of course! I get someone who wants to know who I am, who I work for, who I want to talk to, etc. Well, I don’t want them to ask me all those questions, though I am sure they think that is the personal touch. It sure is, very personal, and I don’t want to answer those questions as it is a waste of time, I just want Joe. So, how does this help me, the caller? It doesn’t, it hassles me, and, I don’t like doing business with you. But, it’s the personal touch! Exactly the problem.

How would an auto attendant help there? I get the auto attendant, I know Joe is 115, I type 115, and, I have Joe. Saves ME (the customer) time.

Ok, that makes sense, but, what about those new callers? They don’t know who they want! That is true. A proper auto attendant provides a few choices (not an endless barrage), and, a 0 option for that personal touch. The few choices can help direct the caller to the correct department at least, better than getting transferred to the wrong department. Quick and painless, serves customers who use the auto attendant and appreciates the well designed choices, and, serves those who do not.

Auto attendants also provide functions not possible without them, including but not limited to getting rid of your expensive dedicated fax lines (in some cases, paying for your phone system within a year!), the ability to do functions remotely like check your voicemail when you are out of the office, it can make a very small company sound quite large and impressive (and avoid people ruling you out as they know you are obviously small from the way the call goes), it can provide answers to common questions, like directions to your company, and much much more. We help our customers make an informed choice.

So, are they always better? Of course not. Think of say a Pizza delivery store. Who the heck wants an auto attendant, you call them, you don’t care who you talk to nor does it matter, you just want that pizza, and now.

Still, auto attendants are useful in many more companies than actually use them. If you ever analyze call flow in companies where they simply ring all phones and whomever gets it first wins, you will find a fair percentage of them spending much of their day answering calls that are not for them, and, looking for people, transferring back and forth, quite simply, wasting a lot of daily time. Small business cannot afford that type of time. So, before you rule out an auto attendant by default, think about it…