Since the dawn of the answering service, every new technology was predicted to be the death of the industry. From the answering machine, to call forwarding, to voice mail, each was predicted to bring the industry to it’s knees. Yet, the impact has been quite the opposite. The same predictions of the fall of the mighty answering service industry have applied to internet technology. Yet, instead of becoming the beginning of the end of answering services it has opened a whole new world of opportunities. The internet is used in almost every facet of running an answering service.
It has changed the way that the industry communicates with it’s clients, potential clients as well as the way that the service communicates amongst itself. The internet has opened a world of opportunities and expanded the variety of services that a call center can provide. The internet has also provided the answering service with a whole new revenue stream, while it has helped reduce major costs such as phone bills, long distance service and equipment costs.
The first way that the internet has changed the answering service industry is through sales. Companies are no longer relying on yellow page advertising to attract customers. Most businesses rely heavily on search engine and placement marketing to attract potential customers. Because of this, the potential customer is more technically savvy and the whole sales process changes, integrating email and interactive marketing tools to aid in the potential sale. Sites such as superpages.com have replaced the outdated yellow pages as guides, but the internet in general has opened eyes as well as potential markets for answering service companies.
The internet has also replaced the need for expensive equipment and software needed to provide upscale services, such as order taking and appointment setting. The need has been replaced by simple and inexpensive web site integration. Here the answering service can actually take orders, set appointments and provide information by being directly linked to the customers web site. Internet usage has actually increased the need for live customer service as opposed to diminishing it’s usefulness.
Customer communication has changed dramatically as well. Answering service’s have more options in reaching it’s clients at a much reduced costs. Email messaging, text messaging and online posts are a byproduct of the answering service industry adapting and progressing with internet technology. The exciting aspect of this change is that the future of the industry is endless. As more and more people use the internet the scope and depth of the services offered will continue to change and develop, making this a most exciting time in the answering service industry.
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#1 by nickoname on July 18th, 2009
All answers are true. Except I don't know about #2.
#2 by a c on July 18th, 2009
With internet, people write emails instead of snail mails. This includes season's greetings. So less snail mails.
On the other hand, more people buy things online through eBay, etc. So more packages and snail mails.
#3 by jam j on July 19th, 2009
my guess is they are talking about file sharing, chatting, surfing, instant messages ,voice over ip and other similar services.
#4 by Unknown Questioner on July 20th, 2009
There are many ISP's that categorically state that they do not log user activity. That does not mean the data is unavailable, but it is harder to access. Most ISP's only keep records for so long, due to space limitations, anyway. If you accessed "IloveAlQuaeda.org" or "Illegalunderagegirls.net" & the Feds show up with a subpoena, they will get your data at most ISP's. There are proxy sites you can use to muddy your internet trail. Google "proxies" for more info. Don't pay for an anonymous proxy or service, there are too many free ones out there. Check the links.
#5 by Harlan B on July 20th, 2009
VOIP is the best ever. It hooks into your regular telephone so you can't tell a difference! The only thing is when dialing you have to dial the area code (atleast for Vonage that's what I use). When you get voicemails you can also opt to receive email notification which lets you listen to the message. You pay no long distance to US and Canada (they have different plans too). VOIP is definately not too new to consider. As long as you have your high speed internet connection you have phone service and no long distance bill.
#6 by yo-yo on July 21st, 2009
They do have satellite internet options however its hard to tell if it would be available to broadcast to the offshore Atlantic. Roughly service is around $65 / month and the speed is rather lacking for the money then you have equipment to purchase. Check out: http://www.hughesnet.com and see if its a viable option for you. Its the only option I can think of to be honest.
#7 by jonathan k on July 21st, 2009
frankenstein monster?? It is not nearly as complicated as all that.
AOL means you have dial-up. Dump it & get DSL, from whoever your phone company is in that area. Cable is a possibility but generally twice the price of DSL. You'll be thrilled with the increased speed & new things you can do with broadband that are impossible with dialup. Dialup is a model T, obsolete & archaic.
There's all kinds of deals for 1st timers that are about the same price as AOL, even cheaper sometimes. AOL is $24 a month? Here in Cal, you can get AT&T Yahoo DSL for $16-18 a month for a year, then it's $25 a month.