Getting Started – Home-Based Answering Service
GETTING STARTED
Business needs for an answering service can vary considerably. A company may need a phone to be answered all day, part of the day, after hours only or 24 hours a day. You can enter this profession at any level you choose. The amount of equipment you’ll need to get going will also fluctuate depending on how much time you want to devote to your home-based answering business.
Most often, businesses only need their phones covered during an “extended” work day, say 8:00 A.M. – 8:00 P.M., with an answering machine taking over the other, less likely 12 hour call period. Twelve hours can be a long day if you’re going it alone, so you may wish to solicit businesses that generally are looking for the phones to be answered from 9 to 5 or 6. This makes it more likely for you to do the job yourself and work it easily into your family’s schedule, too.
Once you identify your work hours, you can begin the task of soliciting businesses to contract with you. Before embarking on this important effort, you should establish a goal of how many companies you want to represent. You can certainly take on more than one company if all you’re doing is answering the phone.
How many businesses you take on will dictate how you set up your service. The easiest and most inexpensive way to begin is to have a separate phone line and phone for each business you contract. You would then mark each individual phone with the company name as an identifier for you when the phones begin to ring.
This is the best route if you’re going to work with ten or fewer businesses. If you intend to take on more than ten firms, then it would be more cost and space effective to lease a switchboard from your local telephone company. A switchboard can accommodate a substantial amount of business activity for you.
Installing separate phone lines should run less than $100 each (possibly higher in some parts of the country). You will also pay basic monthly charges for the phone. This should average about $20 – 25 per month (again, possibly higher in some parts of the country). If you are buying actual telephones, these can be acquired inexpensively at local stores.
Before buying all these phones and contracting with businesses, check with the phone company to see how many extra lines you can obtain. There may be a limit in your residential neighborhood. How many clients you can take on will depend on your number of lines you can install, you might consider opening up an office in a nearby commercial area, where the number of lines you need can be accommodated. However, this is beyond the scope of your home-based answering service.
The amount and type of equipment you obtain will be dictated by your ambition and your budget. It can be as simple as individual phone lines or as complex as computer screens that flash messages or record instructions for you to convey.
The more sophisticated the equipment, the more money you’ll have to spend. Of course, the more business you can handle the greater the financial reward. This is something you’ll have to decide for yourself. If this is a low-volume, extra money kind of work, spend as little as possible and take on only one or two clients. If this is to be your new career, then consider the larger investment to handle a high volume of calls.
The key to your success does not rely solely on the equipment. Your answering business is providing important customer service for a company and as such it’s your voice and congenial manner that is of equal or greater value. If you’re working with small to medium sized businesses, you probably won’t need the latest and greatest phone system to handle the work.
The option to numerous phones was to lease a switchboard from your local phone company. Find a convenient space in your home to set up your work area, and clear a space for the switchboard. Once set up, it’s costly to move, so make your home “office” choice wisely when a switchboard is involved.
The switchboard you’ll get from your local phone company is model no. 557 or TAS-100. This type of switchboard can handle up to 100 incoming lines, but you only need to activate the actual number of lines you need to use. This large number of lines gives you great flexibility in the service you can provide.
Switchboards offer a variety of extras, including room for another operator if your services demand the work of two people, and a secrecy switch to secure the phone lines for your clients.
The switchboard will come with a complete operating manual. Read it carefully! It can help you understand the variety of services you can provide. If training sessions are available through your local phone company, attend them! Knowledge is powerful — and profitable!