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Virtual receptionists specialize in creating meaningful connections with callers. But how do they make those connections happen? What tools do they use to streamline and elevate customer communication?
Let’s take a look at what virtual receptionists do every day (24/7/365) for the businesses they serve—and how they do it.
Every organization that outsources customer communication has its own call handling needs and preferences. Some are looking for part-time or backup support. Others opt to have virtual receptionists answer all their calls.
When you use virtual receptionists for full-time answering, a team of trained professionals is available to connect with callers whenever your business is open. This could mean 24/7/365, or the hours a full-time employee may work, for example, 9am–5pm. Learn more about full-time answering.
However, not every organization needs a full-time customer communication solution. Some already have in-house customer service teams, while others see seasonal fluctuations in call volume. That’s where part-time answering comes in. Part-time answering gives you flexibility and options—such as after-hours, on holidays, or during meetings. Learn more about part-time answering.
Virtual receptionists are also able to provide backup answering, sometimes referred to as delayed call forwarding or conditional call forwarding. This type of call forwarding differs from full-time and part-time answering in that calls come to you first, then to the virtual receptionist service if a condition is met—for example, after a certain number of rings, or if your line is busy. Learn more about backup answering.
Whenever an individual or company needs them, virtual receptionists are available to act as the frontline of a business and ensure callers receive a consistent, personalized experience every time they call. But that’s not all. Virtual receptionists can also help take the pressure off business owners and their teams by handling both basic and growth-boosting tasks.
These include:
Think virtual receptionists just answer the phone? Think again! Some virtual receptionist solutions are also available to deliver the same unforgettable experiences to your website visitors as well—through live chat.
Live chat is a web-based form of communication that allows companies to engage with their online site visitors—enabling real-time interactions, increasing sales conversion, and building loyalty and satisfaction.
If you’ve ever visited a website and been greeted by a pop-up box encouraging you to “chat now” with a support agent, you’ve seen a company’s live chat tool in action.
Chat isn’t just for customer support. It can be an essential part of a company’s customer engagement strategy—the way the business connects with, markets services, and sells solutions to customers.
Using virtual receptionists to respond to website visitors via live chat enables a business to:
Ruby is a leading provider of virtual receptionist services for small businesses. We’ve been active in the industry since 2003 and have established many of the standards businesses expect from virtual receptionists.
At Ruby, receptionists are the friendly, professional, personal voices who create stellar first impressions and provide unreal service on behalf of our customers. A typical receptionist handles hundreds of interactions per day, connecting callers to the appropriate contacts or providing clear, concise details in line with customers’ guidelines and instructions. Applying their extensive training and communication skills, receptionists ensure each caller feels heard while creating connections that give businesses opportunities to grow and thrive.
At a high level, our team’s capabilities include:
Ruby’s virtual receptionists are trained to represent any business seamlessly within seconds. Our proprietary technology goes a long way toward making this possible. When a receptionist picks up the phone or answers a chat, their workstation’s screen displays key details about the organization or individual they’re representing. Details include:
Our receptionists have every detail they need to answer with confidence, make the other person feel taken care of, and handle the interaction in line with the business’s instructions.
Ruby also has senior receptionists, who do everything receptionists do while supporting and guiding new hires through their first 90 days. Additionally, our coaches and service managers ensure quality, efficiency, high morale, team cohesion, and strategic alignment.
This is just a brief overview of how virtual receptionists work. For more insights, download Ruby’s guide: What is a virtual receptionist?
What virtual receptionists do has changed throughout the years—and will likely continue to change for years to come. To fully understand the role of a virtual receptionist, it’s important to know the origins of the job and the industry, and how both have evolved over the past few decades.
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