Should I Hire a Virtual Receptionist?

Ever wonder if your business would benefit from hiring a virtual receptionist to answer your business's incoming calls? A Courteous Communications, a leader in the business answering service industry, wants to give you the tools to make an educated decision as to whether your business is ready for a virtual receptionist. 

Ask yourself these questions and find out if your business needs to step up and meet the needs of your past, current and prospective customers:

1. Are you a small business? Yes +5 points,  No +2 points
2. Do you have a voicemail system? Yes +3 points,  No +3 points
3. Is your time in the office erratic? (Eg. One day you’re in the office all day; the next, you’re out, the day after the next, you’re in the office in the morning, out of it early afternoon and back again in the late hours?) Yes +5 points,  No +3 points
4. Have you ever missed an incoming phone call from a customer because you were busy with something else? Yes +5 points, No +0 points
5. Do you think your business would benefit from having your appointments scheduled and your calendar organized for you? Yes +5 points, No +1 point, Maybe +3 points
6. Do you find your work gets distracted by the phone? Always +5 points, Sometimes +3 points, No +0 points
7. Have you ever lost business because you were unable to pick up the phone at that moment in time? Yes +5 points, No +2 points
8. Do you have a staff or employee who can answer the phone for you? Yes +2 points No +5 points (If answer is Yes, proceed to No. 9; if No, proceed to No. 10)
9. Do you find it difficult training your employees to use proper phone etiquette? Yes +3 points No +0 points.
10. Do you have the budget to hire an employee to answer calls? Yes +3 points, No +5 points

How’d You Score?

• If your score is 22-40 points, you should think about a virtual receptionist service.
• If you score more than 40 points, your business would seriously benefit from the services of a virtual receptionist.

Click here to learn more about your score and to find out if your business would benefit from hiring a virtual receptionist. 

The Worst Telecommunications Disaster in US Telephone Industry History

What Happened Today in History?

A Courteous Communications Presents May 8, 1988

Did you know that on May 8, 1988 a fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office broke out and triggered  a network outage; once considered the worst telecommunications disaster in U.S. telephone industry history.

So what did this fire mean to the telecommunication industry in 1988? A Courteous Communications, a leader in the business answering service industry, has done the research for all inquiring minds. 

The Hinsdale Central Office of the Illinois Bell telephone company was one of the largest switching systems in the state; processing more than 3.5 million calls each day and serving 38,000 customers (including numerous businesses, hospitals, and Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports).

Around 4:00 pm on Mother's Day (May 8, 1988), reports starting surfacing of power failures and the building's fire alarms began to sound; smoke bellowed from the structure. Adam Groves reports, "Firefighters initially attacked the flames with dry chemical extinguishers, but this technique proved ineffective. Furthermore, the uninterruptible electrical power systems that supplied the circuits in the fire area exposed the firefighters to electrical shock whenever they used water. As the lack of telephone service prevented the fire department from contacting Commonwealth Edison for assistance, the  firefighters had to shut off the power manually by disconnecting all of the building’s fuses. It was nearly two hours before the power to the fire area was completely shut off and firefighters could safely attack and contain the blaze."

The fire wasn't the only danger afoot. Toxic fumes emitted by the burning fiber optic equipment inside the facility led to the evacuation of more than 300 civilians living within a five-block radius of the telephone office.

Restoring service to the airports, hospitals and emergency services was top priority and as such, it was reported that more than 40,000 local phone lines had to wait nearly two weeks before their services were restored!

What would you do without a phone for nearly two weeks? Read the New York Times story on the worst telecommunications disaster here.

A Courteous Communications was originally founded in 1986 and over the span of 25+ years of service, we have risen to the top of the business telephone answering service industry. We are very proud to share that our equipment has never gone down in the 9,839 days of operation. 

To learn more about our telephone answering services and to learn why we are the best telephone answering company, visit our page here.