Until now, it was common for employees to always answer company calls, but due to staff reductions and office size reductions, the burden of answering calls has increased, and there have been many cases where work has been hindered. You can

In addition, employees’ actions may be restricted due to phone calls, such as “I have to come to work by phone number” or “I have to give up going out because I have an important call”.

In this article, we have clarified the features and explained the differences between “call forwarding service” and “telephone answering/secretary service”, which are considered to reduce the cost of answering telephone calls.

If you’re wondering which one to choose, a forwarding service or an agency service, please use this as a reference.

Features of Call Forwarding Service

A call forwarding service is a service that allows you to answer incoming calls from another phone.

Even if no one is in the office due to teleworking or going out, you can use the call forwarding service to forward the call to your home or mobile phone and answer it wherever you are.

The following three services are provided by telephone line carriers, and can be used by applying to a fixed-line telephone service provider.

• NTT East/West “Voice Warp”
• Softbank “Multi-Function Forwarding Service”
• KDDI Hikari Direct (au) “Call Forwarding Service”

Let’s take a look at the characteristics of these transfer services.

Automatic transfer by system

The call forwarding service is a mechanism that allows incoming calls to be automatically forwarded by setting it up on the system.

When transferring a call with a business phone in the office, manual operations such as putting the call on hold and dialing the transfer destination are required, but the call transfer service basically refers to a system that allows automatic transfer. I’m here.

Can only be forwarded to specified numbers

It is necessary to register the forwarding destination phone number in advance, and the call will be forwarded to one of the specified numbers.

At the moment, it is not possible to respond flexibly, such as changing the forwarding destination according to the situation, or canceling the forwarding if the other party is not available, just like when a person transfers a call .

Transfer conditions can be set

Although you cannot freely change the forwarding destination, there are services that allow you to decide the conditions for forwarding from the forwarding source.

• Unconditional forwarding: Forward all incoming calls unconditionally
• No answer forwarding: Forward when the forwarding phone cannot answer for a certain period of time
• Busy Forwarding: Forward when the forwarding phone is busy
• Schedule transfer: Transfer only on the specified day of the week and time period

Web page and remote operation possible

You can set up the call forwarding service with a push operation from the forwarding landline phone.

However, even though we have introduced a call forwarding service as a countermeasure against going out and telework, it would be preposterous if we had to go to the office to start/stop forwarding or change the forwarding destination.

Many of the call forwarding services can also be set from the web screen. In addition, it often supports “remote control” operated from other phones.

However, depending on the content, there are settings that cannot be performed from the web screen or settings that must be operated on the actual device.

Before you leave the office, it’s a good idea to check what you can and can’t do remotely.

Supports 24-hour transfer

Since it is a system that automatically forwards calls, calls can be forwarded even at night or on holidays if there are no special circumstances such as maintenance.

For jobs that require a 24-hour response, or for employees who take turns working on holidays, it is possible to telework by forwarding calls .

However, if you forget to cancel forwarding, you will continue to receive calls on your cell phone, so be careful.

Monthly basic charge + call charge

The charges for using the call forwarding service consist of a basic monthly charge (fixed) and a call charge (variable).

Call charges for incoming calls are borne by the caller from the caller to the transferee, but communication charges from the transferor to the transferee are borne by the call forwarding service contractor.

If you make a lot of calls, the call time is long, or the transfer destination is far from the company, please remember that the burden of call charges for transfer may increase.

Features of telephone answering and secretarial services

A telephone answering service is a service that not only forwards calls, but also allows you to outsource the response.

Call forwarding services allowed calls to be forwarded to other numbers, but had to be handled by employees of the company.

If you sign a contract with an agency service, the staff of the agency will handle the first response, so there is no need for employees to answer the phone.

In addition to answering telephone calls, a service that handles a wider range of tasks such as scheduling, making appointments for business meetings, and arranging business trips is called “secretary service.”

Incoming calls are forwarded to the center

Unlike staff dispatch, telephone answering is performed at the agent’s office, not at the contractor’s office.

Incoming calls are forwarded to the agency’s center and handled, so there is no need to prepare a desk or computer for the reception staff in your company.

Operator-friendly and highly reliable

The operator of the agency will answer the phone as an employee, so there is no need to worry that the other party will find out that it is outsourcing.

Our operators are professionals who have received training in customer service and answering the phone, so they have a high level of service quality, and you can trust them to handle phone calls as the face of your company.

It is necessary to confirm whether transfer is possible

Calls received by business phones in the company’s office can be forwarded to the person in charge using an extension line, but it is necessary to check whether the call received by the agency can be forwarded as it is .

Depending on the service provider, there is a service that can be handled like an extension, and a service that only calls back, and the fee varies.

Let’s consult when getting an estimate to see if the expected response is possible.

Responsible for taking orders and answering sales calls

The proxy service may not be able to respond to inquiries that require judgment or require a high degree of expertise.

On the other hand, it is suitable for handling phone calls where scenarios can be standardized, such as taking orders over the phone and handling sales calls.

If the time that was previously spent answering sales calls can be used for work, it will lead to increased productivity.

Response time is fixed

Telephone and secretarial services are services handled by the operator, so you can request the service during the business hours of the agent.

Some services are available only during the daytime on weekdays, while others are available at night and on holidays, and depending on the time of day, additional charges may apply.

When selecting a contractor, first check if it is possible to respond to the desired time zone.

The fee structure varies depending on the provider and the contents of the plan.

Pricing plans for agency services can be broadly divided into the following two patterns.

1. Tiered rate plans according to the number of calls
2. Pay-as-you-go per call

In the case of 1, additional charges will be incurred if the number of calls exceeds the number of calls at the time of contract.

Also, extra charges or extra charges may be set for nights and holidays, and charges may change depending on the content of the service, so be sure to obtain an estimate and confirm .

We recommend “Canario”, which allows automatic transfer + name transfer

Summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of call forwarding services and proxy services,

• Call forwarding service is available 24 hours a day, but employees have to respond first
• The agency service can also be entrusted with the primary response, but there may be restrictions such as being unable to forward the call and being called back, or being unable to respond after hours.

Each has its pros and cons, and you may be at a loss as to which one to choose.

Therefore, I would like to recommend the new telephone support service “Canario” that combines the advantages of both.

With “Canario”, AI answers the phone and acts as an intermediary, so there is no need for a primary response or intermediation by the company’s own employees.

Message memos that were created manually can also be automatically converted to text from voice data and sent by email or chat.

If you do not know the person in charge, you can also call the group all at once.

Since we can also handle absentee calls outside business hours, we can reduce the burden on employees and prevent opportunity loss due to missed calls.

Article Summary

• Telephone response service is suitable for promoting telework, but needs to be handled in-house
• Primary correspondence can be outsourced for telephone and secretarial services, but the requirements for correspondence are complicated.

The two services are different in what they can do and what they are good at, so you have to clarify what you want to do and choose the service that suits your purpose.

However, with the latest AI technology, a new service “Canario” that compensates for these shortcomings has appeared.