When deciding which telephone answering service provider to choose, particularly when new to telephone answering, or when your business experiences a fluctuating call volume, you may be lured in by the appeal of a pay-as-you-go service. What’s not to love right? Only pay for the calls you actually divert to the service, and don’t pay when you don’t use it. But have you considered the quality of service you’re likely to receive in return for your lack of financial commitment through a pay-as-you-go service?

The unpredictable income from pay-as-you-go customers results in tight budgets for staffing, training and services for the telephone answering provider. Question how pay-as-you-go telephone answering providers can afford to put contingencies in place, ensuring that their phone line problems don’t result in your valuable business calls being dropped. On such tight and unpredictable budgets, question how much money can be routinely invested back into the staff answering your calls? How much money will be assigned to their training, how much time can be invested in getting them ready and familiar with your business and call needs? What is the drive for the call agents to offer quality service to your customers, are any financial incentives being offered in return? Staffing for a pay-as-you-go service is difficult for any provider when running from an uncertain income. Can you be confident that a pay-as-you-go provider will be adequately staffed to handle any unexpected peaks in your call volume?

Really think about the service you want before handing your calls over to a pay-as-you-go provider. Instead, a monthly call subscription will offer a financial commitment to a provider that in return can offer you a reliable, efficient and professional service, and incentivise, train and invest in the call agents entrusted with your calls.