What Does a Virtual Receptionist Do?

These days, it’s all remote this, virtual that, work from home, work from anywhere. It can be a lot to keep up with, but the simple fact is that people are doing things differently in the business world. Among the ways things have changed is how companies are handling their inbound phone calls. Many savvy organisations are finding the best solution to filling the role of a traditional receptionist is actually to use a virtual receptionist.

If you want a primer on the basics of what a virtual receptionist is, check out this article. However, if you have graduated to ask the question, “What does a virtual receptionist do” then you are in the right place. Read on to find out more about the role of virtual receptionists.

The Role of a Virtual Receptionist

As someone who handles phone calls and other administrative tasks for your office, but from another location, virtual receptionists really have many of the same responsibilities you’d expect from a traditional in-office receptionist. The truth is, a virtual receptionist is almost exactly like a traditional receptionist. They both answer calls, transfer callers, take messages, capture leads, and schedule appointments.

Unlike traditional receptionists, however, virtual receptionists are available to you anytime.

If you work with a virtual receptionist service provider, your business gains access to 24-hour answering. No longer are your callers limited to traditional business hours, and you don’t have to be burdened by handling calls at all hours just to provide after-hours support. Even better, virtual receptionists are ready to respond to your needs quickly. Going into a meeting? Busy with a client? Need some time to focus? The role of a virtual receptionist is to answer your phone calls and handle them accordingly whenever you want.

Short of coffee runs, virtual receptionists can do pretty much everything a traditional receptionist can do. And in many cases, a live virtual receptionist service can do it for much less. The beauty of it all? Your callers don’t even realise that the virtual receptionist isn’t sitting in your workplace.

In any event, virtual receptionists act as an extension of your business—providing the same professional, personable, on-brand service you’d expect out of a traditional hire.

Virtual Receptionist Responsibilities

When business owners work with virtual receptionist services, one of the most common reasons they do is call handling. However, a good virtual receptionist is responsible for much more than simply picking up the phone. What does a virtual receptionist do? Here are some responsibilities:

1. Custom Call Handling: From prompt and professional live call answering to call screening that saves you time to transferring the types of callers that you want to speak with, a live virtual receptionist is responsible for handling phone calls from hello to goodbye. The great part? You can actually customise the whole process to fit your brand identity and business workflows.
2. Message Taking: If you are unavailable to accept a transfer or prefer your virtual receptionist to handle certain kinds of calls on their own, that’s no problem. In this case, it is the role of a virtual receptionist to take a message, let the caller know you will follow up, and promptly send you the message with all the details you require.
3. Lead Capture & Qualification: With new business being the lifeblood of many companies, a virtual receptionist’s responsibilities often includes the very first step in the sales process. When prospects call your organisation, your virtual receptionist can ask all the right questions to make sure they are the right kind of customer and gather their information so you can convert them into a client.
4. Scheduling Appointments: Your virtual receptionist should go beyond the call. Great virtual receptionists should be capable of scheduling appointments using popular programs like Calendly, Google Calendar, or whatever scheduling application you use.
5. Task Assistant: There are often additional tasks they perform, because, well, you need them to. If you need your virtual receptionist to reach out to a client to gather additional details or give someone a call to remind them of their upcoming appointment, you should be able to consider it done.

Virtual Receptionist Duties

Every job comes with a list of requirements and responsibilities. What is often missing are the intangibles. What else should a virtual receptionist do? How can they go beyond the job to truly boost your business?

• First, your virtual receptionist should make a picture-perfect first impression. People want to be heard, respected, and treated like human beings. It is the duty of a virtual receptionist do just that — treat each caller with the decorum they deserve, appropriate for the situation.
• Second, they should be professionally representing your business. One of the chief roles of a virtual receptionist is to give callers a great first impression of your company. Delivering excellent customer experiences should be what a virtual receptionist does best.
• Next, your virtual receptionist should empower your productivity. Instead of answering calls yourself, you should be able to relinquish some of that responsibility. It will help focus on the work that really matters. Taking and returning calls eats up so much time. What would you do with an extra hour or two in your day?
• Finally, a virtual receptionist should help your business grow. Put together all the duties of a virtual receptionist and it will add up to a super-charged admin sidekick that empowers you and your staff to make your company a success.

Posh Virtual Receptionists Do It Best

Posh has more than 20 years of experience in the call-answering industry, which means we’re more than qualified to handle your specific requirements. And with competitive pricing, 24x7x365 availability, and the ability to integrate with thousands of different applications used by various industries, we’re the perfect partner for your receptionist requirements.

So, if we may be so bold…why not Posh? Now that you know what a virtual receptionist can do for your business. There’s no excuse not to take advantage of our services.

What are you waiting for? Contact us today to start your free no-strings-attached one-week trial. We’ll be waiting for your call.