Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I get you to answer my calls?
A. For most businesses, this means answering calls placed to your existing office phone number. In this case, your office phone will need to be "forwarded" to the phone number our answering service has assigned to your account. Another scenario involves clients who wish to use the phone number we assign to their account as their main "business line" . In this case, no forwarding is required as callers will be directly dialing the phone number we have assigned to your account.

Q. How can I gauge what my bill will be with time billing?
A. It's pretty simple really - how much work are we doing for you? If you have a simple messaging account - name, phone number, what the message is regarding - you can calculate each call will last 30 - 45 seconds on average. To figure your monthly costs, multiply the number of calls by 30 - 45 seconds.

Q. How do I know your operators won't pad the time by keeping my callers on hold or dragging the conversation out?
A. That is why you hire a professional. First, you are never billed for hold or ring times, only operator time. Second, our operators are professionals, we are a busy call center and our operators are trained from day one to move quickly, efficiently and courteously through calls. Third, all your calls are voice logged and are available for your review.

Q. How will you answer phone calls to my account?
A. Everything about your account will be customized specifically for your needs. This includes the "answer phrase" we will use when answering calls, the information we collect from callers, information you may want us to provide to callers (your address, fax number, etc.) and how we are going to deliver the messages we take for you.

Q. My business is not in the same state as your answering service, does this mean I will incur long distance fees or toll charges when using your service?
A. No. You will never have any long distance fees or toll-charges associated with your account with the exception of international calls. If we have to make a call on your behalf out of country, we would re-bill you for whatever international fees our provider charges us. This is typically based on the country we are calling and whether the call is to a cellular phone or land line. We included a toll-free number for your incoming calls and no long distance is ever charged to any phone number within the continental U.S. Delivering messages via fax, alpha-pager, digital pager, telephone and text messaging will all technically be long distance calls from our service to you, but again, as long as the calls are placed to phone numbers in the continental U.S., no long distance fees ever apply.

Q. Do you charge extra for answering my phones during the holidays?
A. While it is a common practice with most services, we never charge extra for answering your phones during holidays, weekends or nights. Though our operators do receive holiday pay, we do not pass that cost on to you.

Q. When will I receive my bill?
A. We utilize a 28 day billing cycle for two reasons. First, our telephone provider bills us on a 28 day cycle and we also pay our agents exactly twice during a 28 day cycle. Those items represent a significant portion of our expenses, so it is the best billing length for us. You will pay your bill with El Cheapo Answering Service 13 times each year, which in essence means you pay one extra base rate each over the course of 12 months. The usage you have over these 365 days will remain the same regardless of the billing cycle.

Q. Can I pay my bill with my credit card?
A. Yes. You can pay your bill at any time with a credit card. We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. We also offer recurring credit card billing where you keep a credit card on file we charge once every 28 days. We also of course are happy to send you an invoice each month for payment by check as well, though a security deposit is required when paying by check..