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How Answering Services Help Educational Institutions Excel

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The administration and admissions offices at colleges and universities are as busy as the school’s libraries during finals week—but not nearly so quiet.

Staff members in these offices field phone calls from students, prospective students, and parents who are seeking information on admissions, courses, or campus tours. Some of these calls can be answered by the staff, while others need to be transferred to other departments. Often, calls come in after-hours, creating a backlog to catch up on the next morning.

Students and parents expect educational institutions to respond to their questions politely, and promptly. Placing callers on hold, or letting their calls go to voicemail, doesn’t reflect professionally on a college or university. But hiring enough in-house receptionists to cover the heavy call volume is costly while relying on staff to manage the calls takes valuable time that could be spent on other important tasks.

This is exactly the challenging situation that is leading more and more educational institutions to discover the benefits of voice answering services. For less than the cost of hiring an in-house receptionist, the professionally trained operators who are knowledgeable about the school they are representing are able to answer all calls, day or night, and on holidays. Answering services free the administrative staff up to focus on their tasks at hand—particularly during the busiest times such as admission deadlines or graduation.

Both small and large colleges or universities can benefit from an answering service. The customer service options are customized to fit each school’s particular needs, such as:

  • Answering roll-over calls that go to the answering service on the third ring, for example, when office staff is busy with other calls.
  • Answering calls after-hours, on weekend, or during holidays.
  • Answering all calls, 24/7, 365 days a week.

Callers talk to a live answering service, which gives them the peace of mind that the school cares about them and wants them to know they’re in good hands. For example,  Voice Link of Columbus, Inc., partnered with a college whose staff was distraught that the average wait time for students who were calling in to check on the status of their application was 45 minutes! The receptionists at Voice Link reduced that time to 11 seconds. Needless to say, staff, students, and parents were much happier with the much-improved services.

The benefits of a call center go way beyond prompt phone answering, though. In addition, an answering service provides:

  • Operators who are able to remotely access the college’s system in order to view a student’s records and inform the student what information is missing.
  • Receptionists who are knowledgeable about frequently asked questions and can assist callers with questions regarding financial aid, admissions, registrar, housing, and bursar.
  • Scheduling for college campus visits.
  • Direct callers to the proper department within the college and the appropriate person they need to speak to.
  • All calls are documented, recorded, and accessible at any time.

Day or night, outsourcing your administrative calls will ensure that your prospective and current students are attended to professionally and promptly, 24/7. Meanwhile, your staff is free to process applications, manage student records, and attend to walk-in visitors.

Your calls are a measure of your student services and reflect on the reputation of your school, not to mention the sanity of your staff. The professional agents at Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. have been rigorously trained on FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations and can provide live answering services that exceed your expectations. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799 for a free consultation.

At Voice Link of Columbus, Inc., we offer month-to-month service agreements to meet the needs of any business regardless of size. Secure HIPAA/HiTech messaging, appointment scheduling, and customized communication solutions save you time and money while optimizing customer care. Our excellent reputation, expert staff, and state-of-the-art technology will exceed your expectations. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799 for a free consultation.

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