Alternative Office is committed to providing you with the information you need. If after looking through these FAQs, you still have a question; please email us at info@alternativeofficeinc.com.
Why do you need an answering service?
How does Alternative Office, Inc. work?
Who is Alternative Office, Inc.?
What does Alternative Office do?
What is the uptime of the Alternative Office system?
What has been your experience with 1-800 numbers?
How extensive is your training?
Why is my first bill different from the charges described on the Service Agreement?
When is my payment due?
How can I lower my costs?
Why doesn't Alternative Office offer flat-rate service?
Where can I find a Toll-Free number provider?
Why does the Client Service Rep (CSR) tell my callers that "this is the Message Service"?
Who is the person who can help me if a message was incorrect?
When is the best time to fax you updates to my account, or changes to my on-call schedule?
Do you require a long term commitment from your clients for CRM services?
How soon can I start?
Do you answer and make calls in the name of my company?
How do you charge for CRM services?
Can you answer my "Toll-Free" (800) Telephone Number?
If I use your service, are there any long term contracts required?
If I am expecting a truly important call, how can you reach me?
Can you separate "urgent" messages from routine or solicitor calls?
How do I get my messages?
What does Alternative Office do?
We are a web-enabled customer contact call center. We blend phone, e-mail, paging, fax, and voice mail into one Communications Services channel and deliver it to contact center CSRs' through a secure network. We are customer service specialists.
back to top What is the uptime of the Alternative Office system?
Last year we were up and running 99.94% of the time. This is amongst the best of service providers in the world. back to top What has been your experience with 1-800 numbers?
1-800 numbers can be the life blood of your business. They can attract customers in markets who would never call you without these toll-free numbers. They don't cost money
.they attract money. We maintain a block of numbers and can have you connected within minutes.
back to top How extensive is your training?
A new employee is required to take 3 5 weeks of training. Training includes a corporate introduction, manuals and CD ROM education, silent monitoring, and hands on training with our Head CSR. back to top Why is my first bill different from the charges described on the Service Agreement?
The most common reason is that the charges have been pro-rated for the beginning month. You are only billed for the actual portion of the month for which service was provided, not the full calendar month. back to top When is my payment due?
All payment terms are due on 10th and must be received by Alternative Office no later than the 15th of the month to avoid late fees. You can verify the receipt of a payment not received by the closing date by contacting our billing department. Soon you will be able to view and or pay your bill online.
Since our costs are primarily variable costs, we maintain "a tight ship" in regard to our accounts receivable. back to top How can I lower my costs?
There are numerous ways; some of the options are to have your non-emergency messages sent to your e-mail address, faxed, to an Alphanumeric Pager (rather than a Numeric Pager), Voice Mailbox, and use of your Express Message Check-In Line (rather than calling your office line). Since our messaging service charges are billed in per 6 second increments, you pay only for the amount of time our staff is working for you. back to top Why doesn't Alternative Office offer flat-rate service?
Because flat-rate billing is UNFAIR, to everyone involved! It's unfair to YOU the subscriber with low usage, because you're paying for part of the service for high-volume subscribers. It's unfair to Alternative Office because we're expected to shoulder the loss when call volume rises for whatever reason, rather than being compensated for the extra staffing and facilities expenses required to properly manage extraordinarily high traffic. It's unfair to the Caller, who may have to endure unnecessarily long holds or waits to answer, because staffing for busy times is just not cost effective under the flat-rate system. back to top Where can I find a Toll-Free number provider?
Look no further! Alternative Office can do that! And the charges will appear right on your bill with your other services, keeping all of your messaging charges on one convenient invoice. Contact us for more information. back to top Why does the Customer Service Rep (CSR) tell my callers that "this is the Message Service"?
Probably because you have not instructed us against this practice. Some subscribers do NOT want us to identify that the call is being taken by a Call Center. However, this IS something we can do. All you need to do is let us know your preference.
back to top Who is the person who can help me if a message was incorrect?
If you have a question or a concern with the way a call was handled, our Operations Manager is your best contact. She is in direct control of day-to-day operations, and can research the incident. You may also FAX or E-Mail information (to the attention of our Operations Department) detailing the Date, Time of Day, Caller's Name and/or Company Name, and the problem that was experienced with the call. back to top When is the best time to fax you updates to my account, or changes to my on-call schedule?
If at all possible, this should be done before 1 PM. Items received by that time should normally be entered prior to check-out on the same day. Soon you will be able to access your account information online, with changes made in realtime!
back to top Do you require a long term commitment from your clients for CRM services?
NO. However we are dedicated to developing long-term relationships with our clients, and we would like to enter into some form of longer-term agreement. Though this is not required, we feel it would be beneficial to both parties. back to top How soon can I start?
Within a 2 hours for messaging services. For CRM services, generally 1 week, enough time to program our system and to adequately train our CSR's. Several factors can either shorten or lengthen this timetable, such as:
- Our operation's work flow
- Our programmer's work flow
- The timeliness of your project information
- Factors like holidays, vacations, or other events. We are committed to implementing new projects as quickly and as efficiently as possible and we will make every effort to work around any deadlines or timetables that may affect your project.
back to top Do you answer and make calls in the name of my company?
Yes. In most cases, your customers / prospects will not realize that they are speaking to a 3rd party. All calls are handled on behalf of your company and in the manner that you choose. back to top How do you charge for CRM services?
CRM services are most often charged on a "per minute" basis. Thus, our clients pay us $____ per minute for the exact time that we are on-line with their customers, to the nearest second billed in 6 secound increments. We will also charge a one time setup charge and we require our clients to exceed a weekly minimum amount of usage. Because you only pay for the time you use, our services are normally very cost efficient because our clients do not pay for the "dead time" between calls. back to top |
