March 26, 2025
Call answering service providers are notorious for plugging their own products and blindly recommending them to everyone. That’s not Conversational. We want to help you make sure you’ve chosen the right option for your small business–call answering service or not–because if it’s not working for you, it’s not working for us.
Take a look at the call answering service pros and cons for small businesses. These are all factors you should consider as you get closer to making a decision.
Already know you’d like to use a call answering service? Get started now by browsing our call answering plans with the lowest per-minute pricing in the call answering industry.
Call Answering Service Pros
There’s no question about it–call answering services provide a lot of value for small businesses. What we want to help you determine is if an answering service will be a good fit for your business. Here are the pros of using a call answering service.
Pro 1: Never miss a call
When you work with a reputable answering service, you may never miss a business call again. Whether you’re out of the office running errands, busy with work, taking a sick day, or receiving calls after business hours, an answering service can make sure those calls are never missed.
Not missing calls means not missing leads, and we all know how important that is to small businesses. Every call counts!
Pro 2: Appointment management
Keeping up with appointments is a serious hassle for many business owners. If your business regularly books appointments and manages cancellations, a good answering service can handle that for you.
Our remote call answering specialists work one-on-one with your business to take, make, and handle cancelled appointments. We can use the appointment scheduling software you prefer, making the process a cinch to get started.
Pro 3: Customer service improves
When every call is politely answered and handled efficiently, you better believe your customers take notice! Answering services help you complete the customer service experience by making sure there are no major gaps in the service you offer.
Since our call answering specialists never identify themselves as Conversational employees or mention that they’re not in the same location as you, your customers are free to believe that they are actually in your office.
Pro 4: Cheaper than a receptionist
This is an easy one, but important to understand nonetheless: Answering services are a LOT cheaper than hiring a full- or even part-time receptionist to work in-house. Payscale says $30,026 is the average yearly salary for a receptionist in 2016.
Compare that to using Conversational’s call answering service for a year–total cost, $1500! And when you take advantage of our free trial, it’s as low as $1375. It’s clear that answering services are cheaper than a receptionist.
If your business is strapped for cash, you’re better off going with a trusted answering service that offers all the benefits of an in-house receptionist without the cost or need for additional office space.
Call Answering Service Cons
Con 1: Not your employees
While call answering specialists are trained in the art of customer service and answering calls for your business, they aren’t actually employed by you. Depending on your needs, that could be a con for your business, or it could be another tally in the column of call answering service pros.
If your business has extremely complicated products or services and that knowledge is required for your receptionist and staff to deliver a good customer experience, a call answering service may not be right for you. But if you’re simply looking for someone to reliably field your calls, direct customers to the right person for complex matters, and answer general questions about your business, working with call answering service professionals could be a great fit.
Con 2: Where are they?
We’ve been in the call answering business for years, and we’ve heard it all. One question our call answering specialists get occasionally: “Where are you?”
That might sound like a silly or even intrusive question, but it’s a common one in the call answering industry and one that seeks to find out if the person answering the phone is located in North America or elsewhere in the world. We don’t mind answering honestly because our entire staff is located in North America.
Why? Customers in the U.S. don’t want to talk to customer service overseas these days. They get frustrated with companies that outsource their calls to international call centers instead of domestic call centers.
That’s why Conversational only works with North American call answering specialists who speak clear, fluent English and handle every call directly from our domestic office.
Con 3: Follow up problems
What if a customer calls your business, receives help from a call answering specialist, and then needs further assistance the following day? If you’re working with an answering service that doesn’t prioritize your business, it can be very difficult for customers to get back in touch with the person they spoke to just the day before.
That’s why Conversational matches call answering specialists to every business we work with–your specialist will work with you one-on-one for as long as you use our services. That ensures the same friendly voice greets all your callers and that it’s easy for customers to reconnect with “That girl I spoke to on the phone yesterday who was so nice, but I can’t remember her name….” Once again, Conversational turns industry “cons” into call answering service pros.
Who uses call answering services?
The benefits of an answering service are strongest for startups, solopreneurs, and small businesses–anyone without a colossal hiring budget. Here are some examples of the types of businesses that use answering services.
- Companies that take a lot of phone orders
- Businesses that manage daily, weekly, or monthly appointments
- Entrepreneurs, speakers, solopreneurs with busy calendars
- Businesses that receive low, medium, or high call volume
- Growing companies that can’t afford to hire full-time yet
- Entrepreneurs who work from home and don’t have an office
The call answering service pros usually outweigh the cons simply because you will save money, save time and have better handling of your incoming calls.
Finding the right call answering provider for your needs is the next step. We hope you’ll consider us in your search for the best and most cost-effective call answering services available!
