Outsourced switchboards will change the way you remote work. Here’s why.

I bet like most people you’ve thought about working remotely.

Whether that means working from some tropical beach on an endless holiday or just sorting through a few emails at home in bed – the idea of remote working can be pretty tempting.

But then the reality hits you that if everyone worked at home, how would we ever get things done?

There’d be no meetings, no catch ups by the water cooler, and when customers phoned in they’d get passed from pillar to post, trying to get hold of the right person on their mobile.

Luckily for you, outsourced switchboards could be the answer and, while we can’t promise you’ll be working in your pyjamas by the end of the year, we can promise that with an outsourced switchboard remote working gets a lot easier.

Let’s find out how.

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What is an outsourced switchboard

First things first let’s clear up what at outsourced switchboard actually is.

Switchboards have come a long way from a room full of women with beehive haircuts physically routing calls, making connections by moving wires in and out of sockets.

Today they are highly sophisticated automated systems requiring a large infrastructure and an in-house IT team to manage them.

An outsourced switchboard is simply when you outsource the job of running a switchboard to a specialist, rather than trying to do it in house.

All you have to do is decide on an outsourced switchboard provider, divert your calls to them, and provide them with a list of all the people in your business you might need to route calls to.

The outsourced switchboard provider will do the rest and, if the recipient of the call is unavailable, the switchboard can even take a message.

So what’s the benefit of an outsourced switchboard service?

Working remotely

As we’ve already covered, one of the biggest challenges of remote working is communication and getting calls to the right people if you’re only connected via mobile phones.

With an outsourced switchboard service this is easy.

Rather than just sending incoming calls to whoever is available, with an outsourced switchboard all inbound calls come into a central hub where they’ll be answered by a team of friendly PA’s. (By the way – check out our blog on inbound call handling!)

The PA taking the call will ask the caller what their enquiry is, and then route the call through to the relevant person or the relevant department based on your instructions.

It doesn’t matter whether the recipient is in Bangor or Bangkok, the caller will receive the same fast and efficient experience.

Working flexibly

Another benefit of an outsourced switchboard is it allows you to work flexibly.

It basically means your phonelines are always covered, so you’re free to go into a meeting, switch off your phone to focus on work, or just take the afternoon off to go and ride the log flume at the pleasure beach.

With an outsourced switchboard it doesn’t matter. Any calls will go in to your team of PA’s who will direct the call to another relevant team member or take a message for you to get back to when you’re ready.

It gives you the support you need to work flexibly at all times.

Benefits to the customer

So – an outsourced switchboard means you can kick back on the sofa safe in the knowledge your calls are being answered. Awesome.

But what about the customer? How do they benefit from an outsourced switchboard?

When you use an outsourced switchboard it means your customers can always talk to a real person whenever they phone into your business.

It means they don’t have to deal with voicemails or those annoying “press 1 for customer service” machines.

And, it means that they’ll always get put through to the right department first time so they can get their enquiry resolved as quickly as possible.

An outsourced switchboard is an easy way to provide a great experience for the caller, quickly qualifying their enquiry and routing them to someone who can help – it’s that simple.

Choosing an outsourced switchboard provider

So by now you might be thinking an outsourced switchboard sounds like a good idea. After all it works for you and it works for your customers.

But how do you choose the right outsourced switchboard provider for you?

Well, it will come down to your requirements.

Some companies can provider a cheaper service, but they won’t give you proper scripts and 24/7 cover. On the other hand, there are providers out there who can create completely bespoke packages to meet your needs, and provide round the clock cover.

Ultimately, it’s up to you and the kind of cover you need.

To find out more about our outsourced switchboards, read the virtual receptionist page for basic call transferring, or the outsourced call centre page for completely bespoke packages.