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All Hail the Auto Attendant

Why the auto attendant is good for business?

For many businesses, the auto attendant has become an important staple for the organization’s operations. Also referred to as "auto-receptionist", this particular private business exchange (PBX) service is meant to facilitate the effective and accurate transfer of calls to relevant communication extensions without the need for a human receptionist or operator to facilitate the action. While many people think of this answering service as limited to the system of a single branch or office, it must be noted that there have been advances in this technology that improve the call transfer benefits.

Responses to Calls

It’s a given that the auto attendant could transfer any call to the pertinent phone extension, but current answering services of this type could be programmed to respond with personalized greetings on top of the traditional listing of extensions. This makes the business sound more approachable to inbound callers, and reinforces the positive image of the organization.

Out-Of-Office Transfers

The inbound calls would occasionally require response from persons who are currently outside the office space – in which case, the auto attendant phone service could be programmed to forward the call to different numbers through which the persons could be contacted. The programming could include temporary numbers in cases of out-of-town business situations. This way, the businessman or his employees could receive calls from pertinent clients anywhere, anytime.

Create Awareness Campaigns

Current auto attendant software have made this service more intelligent, allowing pertinent information to be recorded and played over the phone lines while the inbound caller is waiting to be transferred. What this means for a business is an opportunity to disseminate information (such as location, answers to frequently-asked questions, and the launch of a new product) to existing customers or clients.

There are other newer and better benefits to using and upgrading the office auto attendant; PBX service providers such as RingCentral can provide and continuously improve this useful technology.