In-House Receptionist vs. Virtual Receptionist: Which Suits Your Business Best
Entrepreneurs make critical decisions as part of their daily routine. Such decisions affect their companies’ long-term success, the most important of which are recruiting a team and building a corporate culture.
However, today’s companies can be transformed in no time owing to the modern technological solutions that generally facilitate the process of running a firm. Business owners can decide to expand the team, integrate the latest technology, or get help from third-party companies. A virtual receptionist is just one example of how third-party companies like SupportYourApp may help businesses to scale faster.
Pleasing your modern tech-savvy customers is quite a challenge. Virtual services can, however, prove to be just as good and useful as your in-house team. Many businesses understand the importance of seamlessly blending third-party support with in-house support. The question then becomes, where to start.
Yet when it comes to something like the receptionist service that leaves the first impression of your brand, organizational leaders are still in two minds about which one best serves their business needs.
Keep reading to get a whole picture about the main differences between an in-house receptionist and a virtual receptionist and discover the benefits that they can offer. Because only by learning all the subtleties of both services can you make the best decision for your business.
Terminology Comes First
Before we get started, let’s first define the two concepts. This will allow us to get a clear understanding of how companies can work either with their own team or outsource the service to an outside contractor.
An in-house receptionist is a full-time employee who works in your office and provides administrative support for your company. It’s usually the first person that your customers encounter on their journey with your brand whether through audio (calls or video calls) or text (emails, chat).
A virtual receptionist is a real person performing all the same tasks as an in-house receptionist, but remotely. In other words, it’s a traditional receptionist who isn’t stationed in your organization but managed by an outsourcing company. Therefore, technological infrastructure and support plays a crucial role here.
In-House Receptionist: A Reliable Worker by Your Side
It’s always good to have people in your office that you know well in person and can rely on any time you need. Having an in-house receptionist allows you to have better control of your customer service in general.
Typically, any in-house employee holds great value for the company by taking control over the main internal business processes. The administrative duties of an in-house receptionist include answering calls, scheduling appointments, and managing customer-related issues.
However, in-house receptionists require a monthly payment, healthcare benefits, sick leave, and the ability to work strict hours. You also need to ensure continuous training and provide all the necessary technical equipment and office supplies. So, it’s quite a time- and money-consuming approach to hire and maintain an in-house receptionist, not to mention the possibility of a sudden career change by this employee.
What are the advantages?
- Face-to-face customer communication and support;
- In-house receptionists might know your business better;
- They can handle more than just phone support;
- In-house receptionists are indispensable for offline customer service.
Virtual Receptionist: A Reliable Partner Outside the Office
A virtual receptionist is not much different from an in-house specialist. The only difference is that a virtual receptionist service is a less resource-intensive solution that requires little or no input from you and your internal team.
The virtual receptionist answers calls at any time so that your customer won’t even notice that they’re dealing with a third party. A virtual expert covers a broad spectrum of receptionist duties, including calls and messages management, legal intake, mail forwarding, and appointment planning. While these tasks are being taken care of, you and your team can focus on more complex and important projects.
Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels
What are the advantages?
- 24/7 availability for your business;
- Reduced waiting times for your customers;
- A cost-effective solution;
- Virtual experts can work regardless of the location and time zone;
- They don’t require additional training;
- Your company stays focused on other critical tasks;
- They can quickly learn all the ins and outs of your business.
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Final Thoughts: How to Make the Right Decision?
The need for additional support is inevitable at some point throughout your entrepreneurial journey. That’s when we should grasp the opportunities that technology gives us. One such opportunity is handing over customer service to a virtual team.
Virtual solutions are more effective than managing an in-house team for a couple of crucial reasons: they are much more affordable, flexible, and require almost no effort on your part. Most importantly, none of these benefits diminish the quality and the expertise of the services provided.
As an alternative, companies can always combine both by letting an in-house receptionist work normal business hours and a virtual assistant take the rest of the work.