Telephone answering service

An associate of mine (who maybe only receives a dozen unmissable calls a day) was frsutarted by the impersonal touch & cost of agencies & so advertised in the local paper. He found someone who worked from home to do this on a 9 - 5 weekdays basis for £10 per week + phone expenses. Just a thought?!
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Louise @ Forty 2 Research

Hi, And how can we contact this person? Elena www.oohlalaa.com
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Elena Souto
Ooh La Laa
Stunning lingerie
http://www.oohlalaa.com

Dear Tom We used a service for an early stage project and maintained it as we grew with Verbatim http://www.verbatim-cc.co.uk We had used other providers before but they made the effort to have very well trained and professional staff, which was important to our operation. You get a dedicated telephone line that is answered in your name 'Mr Longton’s Office' or however you want it answered (can have fax too) and they can speak intelligently to the caller and either take a message which they e-mail, or put the call through to the office, or transfer it to your mobile, anywhere. You can either divert your phone there or use the direct dial (many use it to divert when their line is busy or not answered after a short period.) We actually used them to answer all our calls even when fully staffed as they were very professional and we were a senior team that did not want to employ a receptionist to just sit there – and wanted someone to be able to direct the caller to us whether we were in the office or in New York if important. I think you can agree a deal with them at that budget - call them and test the service, and see. I think they usually do a per-message and fixed fee rate - but we agreed a higher fixed fee rate and no message fees as I dislike surprises. There are also other potential providers on our virtual office page if you don't get on with them - though I can thoroughly recommend them. All the best Regards Innovateur Free Entrepreneur Resources for High Growth Potential Projects http://www.innovateur.co.uk
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Innovateur
Venture Resources for High Growth Potential Projects
http://www.innovateurs.com

Innovateur I have now emailed them. Thank you for your help. I would be interested to know the source for 'forty2'
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Tom Longton

Sorry - didn't mean to be vague! The woman who does this is apparently based in Nottingham & also looks after people's pets & does ironing from home! She apparently has never had the intention of launching herself as a business just up for earning a little extra cash! I was just going down the line of you considering placing an ad in the local paper & maybe finding someone in a similar situation? Then again - maybe we've discovered a gap in the market???!
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Louise @ Forty 2 Research

Have you all forgotten about me, I thought you all knew about me doing tele answering at a fixed rate, anyway, if you need me get in touch info@onlineelite.co.uk

A colleague of mine phoned Verbatim three times. He was cut-off once. Told he'd be phoned back. Made to wait ages but now, after three phonecalls from him and two emails from me.....I still don't know the prices. Oh well.
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Tom Longton

RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!! Would you trust them with your client calls?!!

quote:

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Originally posted by tom longton
A colleague of mine phoned Verbatim three times. He was cut-off once. Told he'd be phoned back. Made to wait ages but now, after three phonecalls from him and two emails from me.....I still don't know the prices. Oh well. Tom Longton

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A client of ours used one in Bristol too, the service was not bad but when they wanted to move on ( having taken on staff) they has loads of trouble. We would favour the smaller private service and recommend Karajane who went to a lot of trouble for us to explain how she ensures continuity of business. I think it is a case of trying and sampling what service works best for you. Lee Schwarz Lime One Ltd www.limeone.com 0870 240 4325
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Lee Schwartz Lime One Ltd www.limeone.com 01244 852550

Dear Tom I am sure that Karajane might well be able to provide the service you need - I didn't know about you Karajane. I am sorry about your experience with Verbatim - sometimes these firms are not so good at selling their own services as they are at managing customers clients' calls - but you do have to test them to see. I can only comment on my experience of using them for a couple of years and that of trusted friends who used them too - indeed they were introduced to us by firnds who used them (I have no association of derive any benefit from them - nor do I speak for them!). As regards disruption Lee, Verbatim only have an office in Newbury - none in Bristol - and only operate in call management, not serviced offices, etc., so there is no problem with them when growing or moving on the basis of their model. The digital technology they use was very important to us in terms of local and international call diversion and e-mail and can be applied from any location. Good luck Tom - test a bunch and then decide - get hold of actual customers from each, and call to find out how well or not the phones are answered - and ask them as well for their opinions - including Verbatim. You will soon root out the poor ones...
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Innovateur
Venture Resources for High Growth Potential Projects
http://www.innovateurs.com

The one in Bristol I am referring to operated call management only, their issue was they continued to bill for a long time after the service was cancelled and were less than professional about their original terms and conditions. They are as far as I know not connected with Verbatim. I think a sample, trial run for free or references from other customers always reduces the chance of problems and most business are happy to provide some sort of sample for you to see. Lee Schwarz Lime One Ltd www.limeone.com 0870 240 4325
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Lee Schwartz Lime One Ltd www.limeone.com 01244 852550

Tom Feel free to give me a ring im sure i can be of help, my company name is alldayPA i think we are just what you are looking for we are a pay as you use service . Mark Duffy alldayPa 08450513890 info@markduffy.alldaypa.com

Hi Tom, I also offer a personal answering service, for a fixed monthly rate, billed on a monthly basis and I have a fax. If this sounds like the sort of thing you are looking for, then please contact me to discuss further. Regards Julie Winner P.A. Professional Secretary/PA winnerpa@ntlworld.com
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Winner P.A.
Professional Secretary/PA
winnerpa@ntlworld.com
www.winnerpasecretary.co.uk
www.networkingbusinesswomen.co.uk

Awaiting a reply from Karajane..... Julie How much is your fixed rate? Thank you
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Tom Longton

Karajane, just tried to email you but it bounced back saying 'Domain unknown'.

Hi there,

Just as an alternative, I am from a company that provides telephone services for small business. You can design and build your own system to siut your requirement.

Might siut the way you operate.

I could give you a free evaluation of your requirements if you like, pm me.

Otherwise good luck!
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Virtual Switchboard Services for small businesses with Press1.co.uk.
Design and build you own unique call management system.

I would also be interested in a fixd price call handling service...currently I use all day PA but they seem to over charge me and I get all sorts of stupid messages (i.e. people wanting to book a taxi when I run an IT company).

I've looked at moneypenny.com and they seem very good but just too expensive. I only get around 20-30 calls a month and so I want a service that is smart enough to be able to answer simple questions about the busienss, filter out unwanted calls and talk to the same person when I ring up to get a catch up. £30-40 a month would be OK for 20-30 calls?

M.