What is a virtual office answering service?

When you hire the team at Moneypenny to be your virtual office receptionist, you’ll get a dedicated team of remote operators who can provide excellent service to your customers. And you’ll never miss out on a connection with a potential client: We work 24/7, including on weekends and holidays.  

With the level of personalization and professionalism our team offers, your customers will be convinced that you have people working around the clock to take care of their needs. 

How a virtual office phone service can help your business succeed 

Today, more employees are working remotely than ever before, but where does that leave the customers who need to call your business? Missing a phone call could lose you a customer, and providing subpar service by phone could drive current clients to take a look at your competitors.  

It’s crucial to have someone who can answer the phone for your business with a smile and treat customers like they’re a priority. That’s where virtual receptionists come in. With a phone answering service, your calls can be answered professionally no matter when customers call. Best of all, using a virtual receptionist can both help you provide better service and help you save money! 

What services are included with a virtual office receptionist? 

Virtual office reception services extend far beyond just answering the phone with a smile! A live answering service can handle anything an in-office receptionist can. At Moneypenny, our operators are trained to handle: 

• Answering the phone and taking messages that can be sent to you in whatever format you prefer 

• Scheduling appointments 

• Processing orders 

• Conducting live chats on your website 

• Helping customers with questions about your products or the status of their order 

What are the benefits of using a virtual office phone service? 

No matter what kind of business you have, a virtual office live receptionist can handle all of the tasks you don’t have time for. Other benefits of using a live answering service include: 

• Increased client satisfaction 

• Improved customer service 

• Better time management for you and your team 

• Cost savings 

• Better availability 

• An unmatched level of professionalism 

How does a virtual office with a live receptionist work? 

Setting up a virtual office phone service is easy. When you work with Moneypenny, all you have to do is pick a plan that fits your needs and budget, pick a phone number you’d like to use (or use your own), and use our simple activation wizard to finish setting up your account. Once that’s done, when people call your business, the call will automatically go to your virtual receptionist. 

You’ll also be able to create a script for your receptionist to use when the phone rings, so they can greet people just the way you’d ask an in-office receptionist to do it. People will never know that your virtual receptionist isn’t actually in your office! Your remote operator will be trained to handle customer concerns themselves or transfer the caller to you or one of your employees, depending on your preference. 

Introducing Moneypenny 

If you are serious about creating a professional brand, then Moneypenny's award-winning Phone Answering service is the perfect addition. With excellent reviews on Trustpilot, you can feel reassured that your company is in safe hands. 

There are no lengthy contracts, and you have the option to upgrade to 24-hour cover at any time. Please visit our phone answering service page to find out more. 

While you may be happy to work from home, you may not want your home address shown on your social media pages and website. For this reason, many remote working entrepreneurs opt for a virtual office or virtual office address.Having a virtual office address can also help potential customers to see your business as a more legitimate enterprise. You could run an eCommerce store on a drop-shipping basis, for example. Website visitors who have not heard of your brand before may want to know where the company is located before purchasing. A city center or industrial park address may appear more legitimate than a street or residential address in this scenario.A virtual office does not provide physical office space. However, it does give the option to have a mailing address. Customers and clients can then send letters and packages in the post to the virtual office address for it to then be forwarded to your home address.Maintaining a professional image is very important. While many multinational corporations now offer the option to work from home for many employees, your business can be perceived as less professional if it does not have an office address. When someone visits to your website, for example, they are instantly judging your business.How your website looks and performs are significant factors. Consciously or not, visitors will be looking for social proof such as reviews and testimonials and various other trust signals such as governing body memberships and awards. Another influential trust signal is the clear display of contact details, including a local or toll-free telephone number of an office address.The main advantage of using a virtual office, compared to using a physical brick-and-mortar office, is the cost. Some research suggests that leasing an 800 square foot office in New York, for example, costs an average of $5,000 per month. A virtual office typically costs less than $100 per month.Another significant advantage of a virtual office address is the ability to register your business in local online directories. While you should check the terms and conditions of each directory, it can certainly help to have a listing on Google Maps when you are targeting a specific area.In addition, by working from home, you can not only save a tremendous amount of money on your monthly business expenses, but you can also save time on your morning commute. The amount of time and money you save each month can run into thousands of dollars and dozens of hours.The perfect service to accompany a virtual office is an answering service. A virtual office answering service is also called a virtual receptionist service. With an award-winning provider such as Moneypenny, our clients enjoy all the benefits of an in-house full-time hire at a fraction of the cost.Even if your business is a side-hustle, in addition to your full-time employment, you can create the perception of a large, professional, and legitimate business with a dedicated receptionist answering your calls in your business name. Each receptionist is hand-picked according to their experience and skills with relevant businesses and industries.There are many benefits to using a virtual office answering service or a phone answering service. These include:

• Never missing a business call
• Improved focus & fewer interruptions from calls
• More time to work on the core of your business
• Improved customer service
• Having a dedicated receptionist at a reduced cost
• No sick days or holidays
• No need to recruit or train a new employee
• No need to fill in lengthy paperwork for employees
• Cancel with a month's notice*

*Moneypenny requires one month's notice from the date of your next invoice to cancel.Our research suggests that a huge one in three business calls are missed. This is a real issue for small businesses, and lots of money is being left on the table. Not only that, callers rarely leave answerphone messages and are much more likely to go on to call a direct competitor. In addition, not answering a call from a prospective or existing customer gives a bad impression of your business.Having a dedicated, highly professional receptionist answering your calls exactly as if based in your office can give a significant competitive advantage. A caller will feel valued and important and is likely to have a great impression of your business following the call.Another benefit of a virtual office answering service is that it can reduce interruptions and unwanted calls. Research suggests that interruptions increase error rates and also heighten levels of stress and anxiety. Not only that, but the number of spam phone calls is on the increase.With the Moneypenny Phone Answering app, you can quickly update your status to show that you do not want to be disturbed, and you can focus on the work at hand.With an out-of-hours answering service, you can also focus or enjoy recreational activities without having to listen out for your phone constantly. This can substantially reduce stress and the risk of burnout.If you are serious about creating a professional brand, then Moneypenny's award-winning Phone Answering service is the perfect addition to a virtual office address.With excellent reviews on Trustpilot and Google and testimonials from Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, you can be feel reassured that your company is in safe hands.There are no lengthy contracts and you have the option to upgrade to 24-hour cover at any time. You can enjoy all the benefits of our answering service for free, with no payment details required with a seven-day trial.Please visit our Phone Answering service page to find out more.