Telephone Answering Service Considerations

1. Telephone Answering Service Considerations TAS Considerations Our goal of this document is to provide you with insight that we hope will allow you to make an informed decision when choosing your Telephone Answering Service (TAS). A discussion of the various billing methods used by TAS companies is covered first. Then, other service and company considerations are discussed. We have included a TAS consideration comparison worksheets that we hope you find useful in your research. 2013 Dexcomm All Rights Reserved

2. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Jamey Hopper President Because service considerations and billing methods are closely related, a discussion of various billing methods used by TAS companies is covered first. Other service and company considerations are then covered. There are many variations within each of the individual categories. Two companies quoting the exact same price and the same pricing structure may end up billing the customer vastly different amounts for the same time period and traffic usage. This is due to different TAS equipment tracking minutes or calls in different fashions or even different TAS offices with the same equipment using different methods to calculate minutes. For example, one office with a very low per minute rate includes ring time and non- working hold time in its time calculation. Another issue is that some TAS companies bill on a 28 day cycle resulting in 13 invoices a year, while some bill monthly resulting in 12 invoices per year. The most significant issue with the different methods from a TAS perspective is the training that is given to the operators. With a flat rate, message count or service unit billing method it is to the TAS advantage to have the call end quickly. The incentive is to take a limited amount of information and terminate the call. With time-billing the incentive is to be thorough with the information taken from the caller. Clearly either system can be taken to extremes by the individual TAS. The largest component of TAS expenses is employee salary and benefits. There is an incentive for the TAS to reduce the amount of time an operator spends on a call. Some of the billing methods encourage a setup where the customer would realize a reduction in TAS billing by automating systems or by the customer taking on certain service steps such inputting on call information rather than having the TAS perform this function. Voice mail on the front end of any variable rate system (that is, all except flat rate) will also generally reduce customer billing. 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

3. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Billing Methods Flat Rate | Message Count | Service Units | Dedicated Operator | Time Usage | Other ANSWERING COMMUNICATION SERVICES Flat Rate Message Count Service Units Pro Pro Pro Allows for budgeting as the Ideal for business who may only A client with limited people on amount of the monthly bill is need someone to collect a call and every message sent to known in advance. name and number and no other their smartphone would be ide- information. ally suited for this system. Con Usually a higher rate per billing Con Con cycle as this method carries Most of these services count Generally each point of contact more risk for the TAS. every call as a message, includ- is a unit. That is, each call, ing hang ups, wrong numbers, page, fax or email, text mes- Brief etc. The customer service rep- sage, each customer check-in, This method is usually associ- resentatives will simply make a etc. ated with small or poor service message ticket for lady hung TAS offices. Flat rates generally up or man will call back as Brief do not allow the TAS to cover the complete message. This style of billing is ideally suit- their variable expenses, which ed for simple service accounts. are primarily operator related, Brief so customers may unexpectedly Was used throughout the indus- find their account in the hands try in the days of handwritten of an unfamiliar provider as the messages. flat rate TAS either goes out of business or is bought by a larger Used much less now with the service. The rate must be ad- availability of sophisticated justed periodically as call traffic scripted messaging software. changes. 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

4. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Billing Methods Flat Rate | Message Count | Service Units | Dedicated Operator | Time Usage | Other Dedicated Operator Time Usage Other Charges Hourly Pro Pro Brief Dedicated operators usually The training focuses on thor- Many TAS offices will include ad- become more skilled when han- oughness in message taking, ditional fees. Some examples dling only one type of call. rather than brevity. This can include: lead to more complete mes- Holiday surcharges, email Con sages, and also to higher billing delivery, fax delivery, message Difficulty in matching call traffic due to longer time of operator storage, caller ID, monthly to number of operators staffed. involvement on a call. reports, email response, voice Can become expensive for the client as occupancy rate of mail, yearly line charge, pag- dedicated operators is lower Con ing or alpha dispatch, SMS text than pooled operators: however, Generally the billing clock is on delivery, web access, monthly when there are too few dedicat- when an agent is actively work- maintenance, etc. ed operators their occupancy rate can become so high as to ing on a call. lead to errors and burnout. Brief Brief Used by the vast majority of TAS Operators are dedicated to one offices, especially in the pre- client only. mium service level group. Frequently requires a hybrid system with some dedicated operators and some overflow to a general operator pool (for example for overnight and mid- day call traffic). 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

5. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Service Considerations Staffing | Occupancy | Distribution | QA | Dispatch | Training | HIPAA | Systems Staffing Ratios Staffing too low will lead to long ring times and poor service levels. Staffing too high can lead to poor service due to operator boredom as well as high prices. Occupancy Rates The ideal occupancy rate for our industry is between 55% and 65%; higher than that level will lead to mistakes and burnout. Extremely high occupancy rates do not allow time for coaching, training, quality & performance reviews. Distribution and Routing Some use a general distribution system in which any call can be routed to any operator. Some services use sophisticated call routing systems. A sophisticated skills based routing system will direct calls for a particular customer to an operator, or a group of operators, trained in handling that specific account or account type. Quality Assurance (QA) Systems Most TAS companies grade calls regularly. Some offices have sophisticated QA systems, insuring consistent grading and statistically significant results. Many TAS offices have extensive call logging systems and store the text and voice recorded messages for various periods of time. 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

6. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Service Considerations Staffing | Occupancy | Distribution | QA | Dispatch | Training | HIPAA | Systems Take and Dispatch System Some TAS companies have the operator taking the call also dispatch the call. This has the advantage of having the operator able to answer a question should there be information requested that might be difficult to include in a message (like the demeanor of the caller). A take and dispatch system has the advantage of a single operator gaining experience with message delivery, knowing where the different company employees are at each time, knowing how they like to be reached and being able to review the message and correct any mistakes or unclear aspects of the message itself. Training Program All TAS offices have some form of training. Some companies train on the operations floor, some train in a remote training office. Some companies have ongoing training, specific customer training, customer type training.examples: training for home health customers, funeral home customers, physicians or any other industry type HIPAA Protocols Many TAS offices are hiring consultants and enacting extensive HIPAA provisions. Some TAS offices are less aggressive, while some are doing nothing at all. System and Software Capabilities Some TAS vendors provide complex scripting software allowing for extensive customized messaging for individual offices. Other systems provide alternative messaging systems such as inbound and outbound faxing, voice mail, email & SMS text message, linkage with database applications (for example the ability to provide clock in and clock out services with a voice mail system) and allow real time backup capability. 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

7. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Associations Awards Certifications Award of Excellence Joining and actively participat- ATSI & CAM-X offer Award of ATSI and CAM-X offer various ing in the various associations Excellence programs. These levels of certification. generally results in TAS com- are essentially mystery shopper panies with better systems and programs where a shopper will Site Certification is designed to procedures. Most of the as- call a TAS and grade the opera- insure 99.9% up time of the TAS. sociations focus on educational tor on up to 28 different criteria Site Certification also examines: programs for their members, for each call. A TAS averaging compliance with labor laws, including the topics mentioned over 80% on the ten calls grad- EEOC guidelines, policy manu- in the section above. ed during a six month period will als, insurance coverage, etc. win the Award of Excellence. Industry Association of Teleservices International (ATSI) Canadian Call Management Association (CAM-X) Regional Southern Telemessaging Western States Great Lakes Others Groups National Amtelco Equipment Owners (NAEO) Startel National Users Group (SNUG) Others 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

8. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Company ConsiderationsAssociations | Awards | Certifications | Preparedness | IT Management Staffing | Ownership Preparedness IT Management Ownership In addition to Site Certification Some TAS offices have full time Some TAS companies are owner some companies have taken in house IT staff while others operated, some are owned by large steps to insure continu- engage outside contractors for IT large companies. ing operation in the event of a support disaster. Some of the large companies hire professional managers Some TAS companies have to run an office; some of the detailed Disaster Plans and ex- owners of small services are at- tensive backup systems, includ- tentive but untrained in many as- ing redundant switches, servers, pects of business management. telephony and Internet providers, etc. No model would appear to be perfect in all circumstances, but it is something that should be examined carefully. 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

9. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Billing Compairsons Flat Rate | Message Count | Service Units | Dedicated Operator | Time Usage Billing TAS #2 TAS #3 TAS #4 Consideration Flat Rate Not available at this time Message Count n/a Service Units n/a Dedicated n/a Operator Pricing structure is based Time Usage on the time used on your account. Optional customer selected Other Charges features Billing Cycle MonthlyHoliday Surcharge No holiday surcharge 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

10. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Service Compairsons Staffing | Occupancy | Distribution | QA | Dispatch | Training | HIPAA | Systems Service TAS #2 TAS #3 TAS #4 Consideration Staffing Ratios Monitored weekly Occupancy Monitored hourly Rates Distribution and More than 10 levels of Routing operator distribution Our QA department reviews thousands of calls every Quality month scoring each call on Assurance (QA) more than 30 criteria which Systems are regualry reviewed with staff and management Take and Yes Dispatch System Once hired, new employees participate in extensive class- room based training under the Training Program supervision of a dedicated and experienced training department HIPAA Protocols Yes System and Monitored on site by our Software dedicated IT team Capabilities 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

11. Telephone Answering Service Considerations Company Compairsons Associations | Awards | Certifications | Preparedness | IT System Mgmt | Ownership Company TAS #2 TAS #3 TAS #4 Consideration ATSI, CAM-X, NAEO, Southern Teleservices Association, National Federation of Inde- pendent Business, BBB (Baton Rouge, LA and Lafayette, LA), Associations Louisiana Association of Busi- ness and Industry, Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, Partners1 Trade Organization, Trust Acadiana, Crescent City ATSI Award of Excellence 2004-2012, CAM-X Award of Awards Excellence 2008-2012, LSU Top 100 Fastest Growing Tiger Businesses 2011-2012 ATSI 24/7 Gold Site Certifica- Certifications tion, ATSI Customer Service Representative Certification Equipped with a super fuel tank, generators, and dedicated on-site server Preparedness rooms and on and complete fully-redundant, real-time on- and off-site backup systems Three full-time employees that IT System include a Systems Engineer, Management Systems Developer and an Ap- plication Analyst Ownership Owner operated 518 Patin Rd. Carencro, LA 70520 (337) 236-8300 dexcomm.com

12. Telephone Answering Service Considerations The first step in developing an effective business relationship is to understand your needs, goals and strategies. An answering service is an extension of your business, dont allow just anyone to represent Your Voice. When you are ready to form a winning partnership, our staff is ready to answer any questions about our services and pricing. CORPORATE SALES wWw 518 Patin Rd 877.339.2666 dexcomm.com Carencro, LA 70520 337.296.0254 @dexcomm 337.236.8300

Telephone Answering Service Considerations

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