1. Does the telephone answering service have well-documented systems and procedures? Ask, “Do you have a written operational procedures manual?” Very few small-to-medium answering services have any procedural documentation! Too often, it’s a hit-or-miss scenario that relies on the memories of a few key employees (and a bad situation when these employees leave the company or, even worse —as happened a lot over the last few years—an international mega-service has purchased the local service and is handling calls elsewhere…).
2. Is customer billing performed monthly or per a 28-day cycle? For answering service ownership, a 28-day billing cycle is a thinly disguised technique used to collect 13 billings per year from the customer rather than 12. There is no other reason to employ a 28-day billing strategy. So, with this protocol in use, the prospective client must ask what other undercover billing methodologies/shortcuts might be employed.
3. Who owns the business? These days, with the market dominated by large foreign-owned mega-services, chances are the ownership is now far from your location
4. Does the service comply with HIPAA Rules and Regulations? Centratel offers Health Care providers message-taking and delivery options such as “Secure Messaging” that meet HITECH Act requirements and prevent unauthorized access to PHI fully complying with HIPAA standards.
5. Are operators or Telephone Service Representatives (TSRs) full-time, career-oriented? Are they covered with living wages and full benefits, including a health insurance plan? If not, there will be staff turnover (the largest cause of slipshod quality).
6. Is there a “no-tolerance” drug policy? Is drug testing mandatory for employment? Then, after that, is there random yet frequent testing? Is there an employment-termination-on-first-violation policy? This is critical.
7. Are all conversations between callers and TSRs recorded and kept on file? For liability reasons, this is a near-necessity for the telephone answering service client.
8. Where exactly are calls being processed? Overseas? Will your callers be dealing with artificial intelligence?
9. What is the overall impression you have of the telephone answering service? Do you sense that all aspects of the operation are readily discussed and that the people who handle the calls are treated by management, as the #1 asset of the operation?
10. Are you offered a free-trial of the service in which actual cost can be estimated and, just as important, you can check the service quality for yourself.
