Whether you’re in an area that’s susceptible to hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, snow storms or tornadoes, etc, you want to make sure that your clients and employees can still connect with your business no matter what.
If you’re in an industry that can be utilized before, during or after an event, (board-up services, hauling/moving, electrical, plumbing, construction, first responders, funeral services, etc.), do you have a backup plan ready to help field the surge of calls that you may receive?
Have you set up a plan for your employees in case of a major disaster such as Hurricane Harvey or a more common event such as a power outage or a snow storm? Do you have a centralized phone number that they may call to report their status as well as to learn the status of the company’s location and operating hours?
A professional business telephone receptionist can help with both! Here are three important questions to ask your current or potential answering service to ensure that they’re well prepared to answer your calls in case of an emergency or not.
Questions to ask your current or potential 24 hour live answering service to ensure that they’re well prepared for emergencies
- Where are their call centers located?
Ex: If you’re on the East Coast and your area frequently experiences major snow storms you may want to consider a service that’s on the West Coast so that they are away from the same issues.
- Does your prospective answering service/call center have their own business continuity plan in place to ensure that your calls will be answered in case of an incident?
- Do they have backup providers for their phone and internet services?
- Do they have remote agent capabilities in case their call center locations are under distress?
- Are their message storage methods secure?
- Are they a 24/7 answering service with someone available 24/7 to assist you in making account updates to ensure that your callers will have the most up to date information during an incident?
Ex: If you need to advise your answering service that they need to text you all service requests instead of emailing them to you, how quickly can they make that change?
Our hearts are with those who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey. Click here to see ways that you can help or text HARVEY to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
Northern California 24/7 answering service / call center
Headquartered in Berkeley, CA, Direct Line Tele Response is nationally recognized as one of the premier service providers in the Answering Service and Call Center industry. We provide solutions for inbound call taking, messaging, urgent dispatch and other answering services that are available 24/7/365. To speak with a representative today, call (888) 365-2424 or use our online contact form.
