Should you choose an answering machine or live answering services? It can be a tough question for businesses of any size, but especially for small companies. Small companies will often try to save money by using voice mail or answering machines only. I have tried both with my own businesses and found that I prefer live answering services to the technological route. Let me tell you why I like this better.

Why I Like Live Answering Services
For one thing, in our increasingly technological age, depersonalization and dehumanization is becoming the norm. I do not approve of this. I find that I personally would much rather speak to a live human being than an automated system any day of the week. Automated systems are often confusing, cumbersome, and frequently don't seem to help me out at all. It is extremely frustrating when I just have a simple question or two and I can not get through to an actual person to have it answered in a timely and courteous manner.

A second reason is that I've found that live answering services actually add value to my companies. My customers appreciate it more and I am better able to satisfy their needs. Suffering from chronic overwork and under staffing, I know I've lost business because it took me too long to respond to my customers' messages. With live answering services, they can handle a lot of those responsibilities for me so I can deal with more big picture issues. I get more feedback from happier customers than I ever did before.

I like live answering services because it seems more personal. My customers like it for the same reason. They say they feel more valued and I find I get more repeat business. My customers also say that my overall customer service level is higher and they like that too.