There are many businesses around the country offering specialist call handling services. These companies offer a flexible, professional service which can improve your sales and customer satisfaction while lowering your costs, reducing your workforce and offering a service which can respond to peaks in demand. All business owners, managers and freelancers know there are times when you need to be away from the phone. With a call handling service you could have no more missed calls, someone there to answer the phone at all times and the line capacity to take more than one call at once.

If you are out of the office, in the consulting room or focused on a task and need the space to concentrate then the security of knowing professional call handlers are ready to receive your calls can remove the stress created by trying to juggle your workload. The people taking calls will be trained to provide good customer service, an ability to deal diplomatically with unhappy customers and the skills to take the necessary information needed to pass on to you should you need to deal with the request further. Good listening and communication skills are developed by the experienced call handlers who are well trained, managing many calls every day for a range of clients. Very few businesses have the scale and type of operation to justify a pool of specialist call handlers, but by using a call handling service you have access to specialist staff for all types of business.

The call handling service will work with you to establish the information their call handlers require to answer the majority of requests. This €script' can be developed over time to reflect the common enquiries dealt with by the service. Services can be located nearby, with call handling companies available around the country, or more geographically remotely dependent on your company's specific needs. The information the call handlers receive can be supplied in chunks to you, at convenient times, making it easier to manage and respond to business requests. A call handling service is also more flexible, with an ability to deal with sudden fluctuations in demand following promotional activity or media coverage.

There are many cost benefits from using a call handling service. Without the need for personal assistants or secretarial staff there is the opportunity to cut the payroll and reduce head count or free up existing staff to work more flexibly. There is also less training required for your own staff who may not have skills in telephone based customer services. If you anticipate the need for additional call handling there is no need to go through the costly process of recruiting temporary staff as the call handling service can simply allocate more capacity to you. The services offered are also often available in flexible packages, including discounts for longer term contracts, pay as you go services and prepaid bundle packages.