The auto attendant is a reliable way to ensure all customers get served. It’s consistent, always remembers to say the right thing, and doesn’t fall into a bad mood or get sick.
It can also prevent a company’s employees from being distracted by solicitation calls and focus on more valuable work. So, what does an auto attendant do?
Routing Calls
Auto attendants act as virtual receptionists to route calls to extensions and departments based on caller responses. They can also connect callers to live agents around the clock, which improves customer service and boosts productivity.
You can choose from various professionally-recorded greetings and prompts to give your callers a friendly welcome. Suppose you’re a small or niche business. In that case, you can even record a personal greeting to introduce yourself and your company to callers before the automated voice menu—this will distinguish you from other generic-sounding companies and add warmth to the interaction.
Keep your auto attendant menus streamlined and relevant to ensure your callers get the right information quickly. Having too many options can confuse callers and lead to long hold times. Instead of having a separate option for “pricing” or “support,” put that information in your FAQ section on your website.
Automated Call Recording
An auto attendant system can help you set up and configure call queues that prioritize certain calls based on your business model or industry. For example, if your company offers auto insurance and people call for assistance with a claim, an automated greeting and menu can redirect these calls to the proper team rather than having your employees waste time answering and rerouting calls that don’t relate to their role or expertise.
Auto attendants also allow you to upload professionally recorded greetings that give your company a polished and professional veneer. It helps boost customer satisfaction and reduces confusion if a caller hits the wrong number or calls at the wrong time.
Depending on the keypad response, the auto attendant system can direct a caller to a specific department or employee, play a staff directory, or even provide a live customer service representative. An auto attendant can also advertise business hours, night mode schedules, holidays, etc.
Customer Service
Auto attendants, virtual receptionists, or automated answering services help route incoming business calls to the right department and person without a human operator. They work like a digital, virtual receptionist using a menu of options that callers can navigate by pressing buttons on their phone’s keypad.
An auto attendant can save up time for customer support representatives to handle more sophisticated or critical calls. It can help companies better serve their customers and prospects and reduce the number of unanswered calls.
Moreover, an auto attendant helps protect businesses from unwanted solicitation calls by blocking them from hitting the menu numbers so that the automated system can handle these callers more efficiently. A well-designed auto attendant can also add professionalism to a small business, especially if it’s first launched or has a small staff roster. Auto attendants can be configured to deliver professionally recorded greetings and messages, provide a directory of extensions, play music or other audio clips, and provide additional information, such as your business locations or holiday hours.
On-Hold Messaging
When a caller presses a menu option that places them on hold, the auto attendant can play a custom announcement message you record in an audio file (.WAV,.MP3, or WMA) or typed text you enter into the system. It can provide important information about your company, including contact names and extensions, service options like curbside pickup or online ordering, and even upcoming events.
A well-organized auto attendant greeting will show that your business understands your customers’ needs. It’s also an excellent approach to save time on the phone by listing frequently asked questions, such as your company’s website address or office hours.
With these features, auto attendant systems can perform the role of a receptionist, helping to ease the workload on busy team members and simplifying the customer experience. They can also serve as a public relations tool, letting callers know when there’s something new they need to know, such as updated store hours or policy changes. Auto attendants are also practical tools for preventing unwanted calls from spammers and robocallers, protecting small businesses from the risk of reputational damage and costly fines.
Automated Attendant Messages
Depending on the system’s configuration, an auto attendant can provide a menu of options to route callers to various department members or other resources within your organization. This feature allows you to avoid employing a receptionist and instead focus your team’s time on high-value projects.
With 90% of customers determining their brand loyalty based on customer service, an automated attendant greeting, and menu can do wonders for your business. For instance, it’s essential to include information like the company website URL or office hours in your auto attendant script so callers can self-help if needed.
Then, record a voice prompt with a warm and friendly tone to set you apart from other machine-sounding options. Having the person who reads your script rehearse several times for accuracy and proper pronunciation is also a good idea. Once you have a finished recording, test it by calling your auto attendant to ensure all the options work as intended. Also, jot down any key points you want to mention, as your recording process will go much more smoothly.