Telephone service

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Telephone service , including telephone service or phone secretary called, is a secretarial services at the client and contractor to connect a Secretariat the call forwarding in the public telephone network use. A distinction can be made between two types of telephone service:

  • Simply accepting calls, i.e. the classic area of ​​responsibility of a call center . Depending on the provider, there is the option of forwarding callers to contact persons , as with a switchboard . During training, the call center staff can also provide information about the company, otherwise the contractor's activities are limited to simply accepting calls in the customer's company name and, if necessary, providing secretarial services such as connecting or taking notes. Services are also common: order acceptance from online shop and catalog providers , ad placement , appointments . In connection with a Hosted Exchange mailbox, it is possible to control the virtual secretariat from the Blackberry .
  • The classic secretarial service, in which commercially trained secretaries, in addition to accepting and transferring calls, monitor and control appointments, record caller data, paperwork, plan and book business trips as well as simple administrative functions for companies and freelancers . The secretarial service largely corresponds to the activity of a receptionist. In the English-speaking world, this activity is also known as " virtual assistance ". Specializations and special services, for example for law firms, advertising agencies and for medical practices, are common.

A telephone service can be carried out by both trained and untrained staff. In the classic call center area, so-called "briefings" are usually used. H. Training courses given to the executing employees to familiarize them with the company's activities. In addition to accepting calls, the call center also offers further services, e.g. B. Use as a service or support hotline is possible.

In the low-cost segment, it is often students who only see the company data in key words on their screen when they call. The task of this call acceptance is not in service or support activities , but in the pure taking of notes or "intercepting" callers on behalf of the customer.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. International Association of Virtual Assistants (IVAA - nonprofit association). Retrieved November 23, 2009.