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Answering Service Checklist - Hiring an asnwering service? Let our checklist help to ensure you ask all the right questions.

	Services Listings Answering Services Toll-Free/800 Services Medical Answering Urgent Medical Answering Technical Support Customer Service Appointment Booking Funeral Answering Conference Services Order Entry Services Inbound Telemarketing Outbound Telemarketing Resources & Links General Terminology Answer Service Checklist Business Links	Hiring an answering service for your business can be a daunting process, and while it will be more complicated for some there are some questions that we feel are a must to ask before you sign on the dotted line. (1.) Call Timing Do they bill on a "Per Minute" (perhaps even per second) or "Per Call" basis? This will greatly affect your monthly service fees, for more information check out our General Terminology Page. (2.) Phone Numbers Do they provide toll-free access numbers for your customers? Can you forward your existing phone or toll-free number to them? (3.) Years in Service How long has the Answering Service been in business? Can they prove it? (4.) Training How are their staff trained? Is training an ongoing process? Can you review training materials? (5.) Site Tour Can you take a tour of the call center? (6.) Security What security measures are used to ensure the security of your data and confidentialty of your customers? (7.) Information Backups Are data backups made, and if so how regularly are they made and where are they stored? (8.) Disaster Recovery What precautions are in place in case of a disaster, and what is their disaster recovery plan? (9.) Reporting Are reports available on-line? How frequently are reports updated and how quickly can you access reports after they are updated? (10.) Point of Contact Will you be dealing with a single point of contact at the answering service or different people for different things? (11.) Hold Time Are you billed for the time when your customers are waiting for the call to be answered, or while they are on-hold? (12.) References How many active customers does the company have? Can you have references? (13.) Hardware Backups If specialized hardware is used to deliver your services, are backups available? If so, how many backups are available and how long does it take to get replacement hardware if needed? (14.) Billing Errors If an error in billing occurs (such as an over charge) how are such errors corrected? Is a refund issued immediately when the error is located or do you have to wait until the next billing cycle? (15.) Forms of Payment What forms of payment of accepted are accepted and under what terms?