Virtual receptionists, also known as remote receptionists, perform many of the same duties as a typical receptionist from the comfort of their own homes. As with in-person reception jobs, virtual receptionists are important for businesses to ensure their customers, clients, or patients are getting the best experience possible.

How Does a Virtual Receptionist Work?

Most people with at least a high school education can become a receptionist. Not every business requires prior reception experience. Required skills typically include organization, communication, friendliness, and phone skills. Virtual receptionist jobs generally do not require extensive training.

Remote receptionists are highly beneficial for businesses to ease the burden on business owners. They can communicate with customers when business owners are too busy, work at any time of day, and improve customer satisfaction rates. This is especially helpful for nights, weekends, and holidays.

Whether you are a business owner thinking about hiring a remote receptionist or someone looking to get into the industry, you may be wondering what type of duties virtual receptionists are typically responsible for. Here are a few tasks virtual receptionists can expect to perform at their jobs.

Answering Phone Calls

Phone calls at virtual receptionist companies typically work through call forwarding. Customers and clients call the business’s number and the call is automatically forwarded to the receptionist. The receptionist then answers the call and best determines the customer’s needs. At this point, they can either resolve the issue, forward the call to a more applicable department, or take a message. Customer phone inquiries for remote receptionists can be anything from scheduling appointments to engaging with potential clients or investors.

For many customers, it is important to talk to an actual person when receiving phone support. With artificial intelligence gaining more popularity, it can be refreshing to hear the voice of a real person. That personal touch goes the extra mile to ensure customers and clients are happy.

Making Outgoing Calls

In addition to answering phone calls, remote receptionists also spend a good portion of their time making phone calls. They may spend the first part of their shift returning voicemails left from the night before or over the weekend. They also may be responsible for making outgoing calls at the request of the business owner.

Phone calls are an important time for virtual receptionists to utilize their communication skills. Because they are representing a business, it is important for receptionists to always have a positive and professional tone. Having traits like patience and empathy will help receptionists to excel in their jobs.

Technical Support

Depending on the business, some virtual receptionists are trained to offer basic technical support. There are pre-written call scripts available for many situations, including troubleshooting. This is helpful for customers who may be confused or have questions regarding a new device or service.

Managing a Calendar

Virtual receptionists can manage a business owner’s calendar in a few different ways. They have the ability to schedule events like appointments or meetings and add them to the calendar. They are also able to change or cancel any events.

Managing Email Accounts

Depending on the business owner’s needs, some virtual receptionists can manage various email accounts. This allows for the business owner to spend time working on other tasks. Remote receptionists can read, monitor, and reply to emails. They can also clean up the inbox by deleting old emails, organizing conversations into folders, managing contacts, unsubscribing from lists, and deleting spam messages.

The relationship between a virtual receptionist and a business owner is mutually beneficial. There are many perks to working as a virtual receptionist. When working remotely, it is easier to have a flexible work schedule according to your own needs. A virtual receptionist gets the added benefit of never having to leave their couch. Plus, who doesn’t want to work in their pajamas?

For an employer, the benefits of hiring a virtual receptionist are plenty. For one, employers will save money on benefits, office supplies, office space, and overall wages. Because most virtual receptionists are hired through a third party, business owners don’t need to worry about paying receptionists for unworked hours. The flexible schedules of remote receptionists are a huge plus as well– customer inquiries can be answered at any time of day. By outsourcing their reception needs, business owners can spend more time and money on their work.

HussaiN

HussaiN is a full-time professional blogger from India. He is passionate about content writing, tech enthusiasts, and computer technologies. Apart from content writing on the internet, he likes reading various tech magazines and several other blogs on the internet. Email ID: [email protected]