It’s hurricane season, and a recent article in Time reports that 2018 is likely to be another rough year for extreme weather. The article says that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates there’s a 70% likelihood of 10 to 16 named storms forming this year. Of those, five to nine of the storms will form into hurricanes, with winds of 74 miles per hour or above. One to four of the storms could turn into major hurricanes, reaching above a category 3, with winds at 111 miles per hour or higher.

We certainly saw how powerful the 2017 hurricane season was, with 12 named storms that devastated several areas including Texas, the Caribbean islands, and Puerto Rico. Many other areas were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses, which meant shutting down businesses until staff members could safely return.

Whether it’s a hurricane that damages an office building or fallen power lines that disrupt phone or computer systems, the key to overcoming a disaster and avoiding downtime for your business is to have a plan already in place before the disaster hits.

Regardless of the cause of the disaster, you can’t afford to lose contact with your clients and customers if your office is closed or your phone systems are down. The professional receptionists at an answering service will continue to answer your phones on behalf of your company and inform your customers of your status.

For example, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused many mandatory evacuations in the Southeast, causing business owners to close down and leave the area. Voice Link clients that had to evacuate their homes and businesses forwarded their calls to us and we answered them all. We answered callers’ questions based on the client’s instructions and relayed carefully recorded messages to the designated on-call staff members. The friendly receptionists at Voice Link never missed a call while our clients and their staff members were able to safely evacuate during the storms.

When you have a voice answering service in place, you automatically have a backup system should a disaster force you to close the office for a period of time. A voice answering service will also help you clarify your disaster recovery plan to deliver continuous customer care before, during, and after an unexpected event that would otherwise shut down communications.

Simple Plan Just For Disasters or Office Closing

Even if you don’t have a voice answering service, there’s an option to utilize one in case of a disaster or any other event that causes the office to close. Voice Link offers an easy, basic plan just for this purpose. Companies pay a flat fee of $20.00 for each billing cycle to set up their account and activate our services whenever they need to. It doesn’t even need to be in the event of a disaster, it could simply be that everyone is out of the office for a conference. The business simply forwards their calls to us and we charge them by the number of minutes our receptionists spend on their calls.

These clients are not required to use any of our other call answering or telecommunications services, but they can add those to their plan anytime. With the disaster plan in place, clients can rest assured that their customers will be attended to around the clock. Then, once they’re able to safely return to work, they’re able to catch up more quickly than if they have to make up for hours or days of missed calls.

Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. makes sure that your calls are answered 24/7, even in the case of a disaster. Our team has nearly 30 years of experience in full-service telecommunication solutions and provides live answering services that will exceed your expectations. We offer plans on a monthly basis, for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. Request information online or call us at (866) 758-5628 for a free consultation.