This is an additional post in a series of hosted VoIP feature spotlights. An automated attendant is one of the great features delivered by most hosted VoIP service providers. It can be deployed in a number of ways, depending upon what suites your business the best.
An automated attendant can be deployed at the beginning of a call flow, so that the callers self direct where they would like to be routed, or after ringing to a receptionist or a group of phones. You can customize the attendant options for what works best for your business. For example, you can choose common departments to which to route callers, such as sales and customer service. These departments can have ring groups established and programmed so that multiple people can have the opportunity to handle the calls. You can also provide an opportunity to leave a message, dial by extension, or include a dial by name directory.
You can customize the recordings and options in your auto attendant, and have a different attendant, options, and ring pattern for after hours. You can set up different routing patterns and attendants for certain times of the day as well. Finally, good hosted phone service providers can also pre-program a holiday schedule for you with customized messages and routing for those holidays.
There’s a tremendous amount of flexibility with this feature. Make sure you are working with a provider that will assist and consult with you on the best adaptation for your business. Additionally, check out our previous post on best practices of setting up an auto attendant.
About the author: Mark Greim is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at sipVine, a provider of a variety of digital phone solutions and services. Mark has extensive experience working for start-up or entrepreneurial organizations and a passion for affordable, reliable, and purposeful technology solutions in those environments.
