Disaster Preparedness

From building fires to power outages disasters can bring your business to a stand still.  The best way to handle any disaster is to be prepared before the disaster occurs.  AnswerFirst is uniquely positioned to help you respond, survive and recover when the unexpected happens. Unlike many businesses, our lights will be on during an emergency. We have full battery backup systems plus a diesel generator for long outages. We also have redundant T-1 and PRI telephone circuits to our center which are not reliant on a single vendor.

As part of your contingency plan you can arrange to seamlessly redirect your calls to AnswerFirst.  Let our agents act as your emergency communications go-between.  You can create a disaster readiness strategy with us that works well for your business.  You may choose to have only our center as your disaster center or we can arrange for a redundant solution where another of our centers would be a “backup” for our primary center.  Call us today to discuss the possibilities.

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist and Call Center Solutions

PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  CY: wait...  I: wait...  YCat: wait...  I: wait...  Top: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  C: wait...

Handling your phone calls over the Holidays...

Most businesses are closed for at least part of the typical work week at some point during the Holiday Season.  At AnswerFirst, we are open 24/7 365 days a year so that your business doesn't have to be.  We'll answer your phones and handle your customers inquiries so that you can enjoy time away without sacrificing the level of service that you provide.

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
Answering Service, Virtual Receptionist and Call Center Solutions

PR: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  LD: wait...  I: wait... wait...  Rank: wait...  Traffic: wait...  Price: wait...  CY: wait...  I: wait...  YCat: wait...  I: wait...  Top: wait...  I: wait...  L: wait...  C: wait...

Did You Know?

• 33% of callers will not leave a message in a voice mail.
• 45% of callers will not call back if they receive no answer or a voice mail.
• 75% of all business transactions are not completed on the first call.
• 60% of all incoming calls are less important than the work they interrupt.
• 70% of executive time is spent in meetings, on another call or out of the office.
• 24% of all business communication is time sensitive.

You can't afford to miss another call!

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

Auto-Discounted Answering Service Rates

We offer auto-discounted rates on answering services.  As your usage increases your rate decreases.  It's just one of many account features we offer at AnswerFirst.

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

Client Web Access - Free with every account!

Client Web Access (CWA) is a new an exciting way to integrate your business with our answering service. CWA allows you to use your web browser to log in securely to our web access area to view information regarding your account in real time. Visit our website to learn more or try a free demo today!

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

Answering Service Customer Testimonial

"You guys are great!! You have taken a tremendous amount of work off of us, allowing us to do more things with our business. You have handled our many changes with ease. We absolutely LOVE you! Your agents are professional and courteous and I want to compliment every one of them on their professionalism. You have a great answering service and I am glad we chose you!"

-Cindy with Anchor General

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

What types of call forwarding are available at AnswerFirst?

The most common type is manual call forwarding, you must physically be in your office where the phone is located to either forward or unforward your phone line. Usually you will dial 72# or something similar and then punch in the phone number we provide for you for forwarding. Once you have done that, you will hear the phone start to ring and it will be answered by one of our operators in your account name. That’s it – you have successfully forwarded your phones. You do not have to actually let the operator answer to forward your phone. As soon as it starts ringing, your phones are forwarded. In fact, for most carriers, you can hang up, repeat the same process, and then receive a series of fast busy tones to signify your phones have been successfully forwarded.

There are other types of call forwarding as well, remote call forwarding and busy/no answer call forwarding. Remote call forwarding allows you to forward your office phone from a remote location, such as your cell phone. That can be convenient if you are the person responsible for forwarding the phones when you leave. If you were to forget to forward your office phone when you left for day and remembered after you were halfway home, with manual call forwarding, you would have to drive back to the office to forward the phones. With remote call forwarding, you could simply forward your office phone from your cell phone in the car.

Why Should You Choose AnswerFirst as Your Answering Service??

There are hundreds if not thousands of answering services to choose from... why should you choose AnswerFirst??

Performance

• Our Motivation
  Because all of our billing is in arrears and our clients only pay our $20.00 base rate up-front, we actually have to answer your calls to earn any additional money. This makes us HIGHLY motivated to answer every one in a timely and professional manner.
  
  
• Quick and Professional Response Time
  We do a terrific job of insuring proper agent staffing. We average answering 85% of our calls on the first ring with a live agent and another 10-12% on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th ring with a live agent.
  
  
• Superior Experience
  We never place your callers on hold. Once our agent answers your valuable call, they take the call to conclusion. We never interrupt your call to go answer another clients ringing call.
  
  
• Dispatch Operators
  Every new message an inbound agent takes is sent to our dispatcher queue for delivery. Our highly trained dispatch agents insure every message we send has had a second pair of eyes reviewing it to insure it is a professional message. Dispatch operators are also our most experienced agents and since they only deliver messages, they are very good at it.
  

Reliability

• Equipment & Power
  We have redundant servers for every infrastructure process. With a $30,000.00 diesel generator sitting out back, our entire facility has full power for an extended period of time for any type of power interruption. Full UPS, Lightning and Surge protection systems are also provided for all of our equipment.
  
  
• Infrastructure
  With multiple SIP, Fiber, T-1 and PRI circuits routed from different providers down different routes, you can feel safe we will be there when you need us. With redundant ISP connections, clients who rely on our ability to access the World Wide Web can rest assured we will have access. These are very fast connections with automated roll-over capabilities in the event of an outage.
  
  
• Facility
  Our two story facility was built by us specifically for call center usage. It is fully compliant with Category Five hurricane standards and can withstand all but the most serious of natural disasters. Hurricane shutters, GFI circuits, lightning protection and more was all incorporated in the planning of this facility.

Value

• Pay Only For What You Use
  Our rate insures you only have to pay for exactly what you use. Didn’t have any calls this month – pay nothing in addition. We only bill additional if we actually receive calls for you. Don’t get stuck prepaying for a package and paying for unused calls, minutes or units.
  
  
• Value Added Services
  Are other services offering access to your call recordings as soon as a call is finished? Can you run reports about your account activity any time YOU want? Can you export all your critical message data in .csv format for import into your database? Are your messages archived? Can the call center also process inbound e-mails just as they process inbound calls? Can you do all of these things for no additional cost? These are just a few of the many value added services we offer every client at no additional cost.
  
  
• Price Guarantee
  We can offer most any type of rate and usually can match or beat anything our competitors offer.
  
  
• Transparency
  With the ability to access so much your account information in real time through our included Client Web Access web portal, our clients have a unique opportunity to see how we are performing on their account. - It need never be a mystery to you again. Our willingness to be open and frank with this information speaks loudly of our desire to forge long term relationships with our clients.
  

AnswerFirst Launches A YouTube Channel

AnswerFirst is proud to announce the creation of our new YouTube account. We've already added two new videos to the channel and there will be several more videos added as we create them. The main purpose of the channel is to present our clients with video walk-throughs of the Client Web Access area of our website. All of our clients receive free Client Web Access accounts as part of their answering service, messaging services, call center, virtual office, order entry, scheduling and reservations accounts.

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

AnswerFirst Call Center Services

AnswerFirst Call Center Services are the perfect compliment for small or large businesses who find the cost of providing 24/7 live support prohibitive. Each of our CSR representatives has direct access to the Internet allowing access to your on-line problem tracking system, FAQs, knowledge base and account information.

Our Live Operator Call Center Services include answering service, virtual office, call center services, order taking service, voice mail service, appointment scheduling, client care, catalog order entry, reservations, fulfillment, technical support and messaging. Whether your needs are as simple as collecting the necessary personal and product information from your callers or as demanding as sales and support for a nationwide advertising campaign our customer service support representatives can field calls transparently as though they worked directly for your company. No matter what your needs may be, we can help make support available to your customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Whether yours is a professional, blue collar or internet business, AnswerFirst has a rate plan designed for your specific needs. Information gathering, class and seminar reservations, scheduling, catalog order taking, literature fulfillment, inventory control, order entry and credit card processing are all important components in our range of services. Each account is custom tailored and our commitment to providing high quality service at a fair price is why we are one of the fastest growing services in our industry.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

New Sign-Up Now Form

Sign-up for answering service through our website.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

What types of businesses can benefit from the use of an answering service??

At AnswerFirst, our client base is very diverse. Our clients include air conditioning repair services, doctors offices, information technology vendors & support services, law offices, apartment complexes, realtors, distributors, funeral homes, pest control services and more. In fact, regardless of what industry a business is in, there are probably times when a live person isn't available to answer the phone. Perhaps a receptionist calls in sick, everyone in the office might be occupied with other tasks or there may be some need for phone calls to be answered after normal business hours. No matter what the scenario is, we have an affordable rate plan that allows you to use our services when and if you need them. For just $20 a month we are there for you when you need us. You only pay more when and if we actually answer your calls. No matter what industry you are in, if your business has a telephone, you can benefit from the use of our services.

Call (1-800-645-2616) or contact us today for more information.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

Live Answering Services vs. Automated Phone Systems

We've all had the experience of calling a business that uses an automated phone system to answer their calls. Most of us immediately hit “0”, hoping that we can get an actual live person on the phone. It's very frustrating when these systems don't allow you to bypass them to speak to a warm body. And, it's even more frustrating when they don't process voice prompts properly or when your call gets dropped after you repeat, “speak to a representative” more than 2 or 3 times. Have you ever had anyone tell you how much they love automated phone systems? Business owners should be interested in providing good customer service in order to keep their customers happy, retain business and possibly even gain referrals. With these goals in mind, why do so many businesses choose to use these automated phone systems?? Are they really saving money by irritating existing and potential customers??

Live business answering services offer business owners and independent contractors a better option than sending their calls to voice mail or an automated phone system. Answering and messaging services are more affordable then paying a full-time employee to answer your phones but allow you to offer your customers the level of service that a full-time receptionist does. Remote receptionists can take orders, schedule appointments, offer technical support, give callers directions, provide callers with information about your business and more. At AnswerFirst, we offer all of these services and more. Call us today for more information about how we can help provide your customers with excellent customer service while keeping your overhead down.

Expanding Our Range of Services

We recently launched several new websites to present our customers with more detailed information about our specific services. Please follow any of the following links to find out more about the service(s) that interest you:

Answering Services
Lawyers or Attorneys Answering Service
Green Answering Services
Call Center Solutions
Telephone Answering Service
Affordable Answering Services
Discount Answering Service
Cheap Answering Services
Virtual Office Solutions
New York Answering Service
Atlanta Telephone Answering Service
Columbus Answering Service
Business Answering Services

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

Economic Stimulus Package

We are currently offering an Economic Stimulus Package that includes a 10% reduction in our Live Operator per minute rate and a 20% reduction in our Automated Rate. Visit our website for more info: Economic Stimulus Package Answering Service Rates

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions

New AnswerFirst Website Launched July 2, 2009

On Friday, July 2, 2009 we launched a new website at www.answerfirst.com. The new site integrates the usability of our old site with some new functionality and a fresh look. Customers can now sign-up for answering service via our sign-up now page. Our new Services page presents information about all of our services including answering services, virtual office, order entry, customer care, technical support, scheduling & reservations and other call center services. Existing customers can still access their account via our Client Web Access area.

We'll be adding more functionality and features over the next few months so check back often for more updates.

AnswerFirst Communications, Inc.
www.answerfirst.com - Answering Service, Virtual Office and Call Center Solutions