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Your calls are our business

Phone communication has always been part and parcel of any business, big or small. However, not all companies have the staff and technology required to deliver professional live answering services 24/7/365.

This is where CMS comes in.

With CMS professional call answering services, you have a partner you can rely on to answer, screen, route, and dispatch calls on your behalf.

Our highly trained operators will deliver phone answering services tailored to your business requirements, answering as an extension of your business and ensuring you never miss an important call.

Picture of a woman using her phone to leave a positive review
CMS virtual receptionist wearing headset and smiling at desk

Make every call count

With so many technological innovations in business, marketing, and communications, it’s easy to assume that the days of phone calls are numbered. And this couldn’t be more wrong!

As the following statements prove, phone calls are here to stay as people continue to seek the human touch in their business interactions.

  • More people prefer phone calls when managing customer service matters, especially when in-person communication is not an option.1
  • Most customers choose to call when contacting businesses and have subsequently increased their phone use.2
  • Both customers and businesses favor phone calls over all other mediums of communication.3

Knowing this, you’ll never want to miss a single call again — and CMS is here to ensure every single call is accounted for.

Experience the CMS Difference

Answering Service Solutions Tailored to Your Needs

If it involves your phone calls, we can help! CMS provides live answering services tailored to your needs, from virtual receptionist duties to fully customized call center implementations. So whether you have a simple script to gather information from each caller or a complicated call escalation procedure involving hundreds of variables, we can deliver a professional, accurate, and efficient solution that helps you get more done for a fraction of the cost.

24/7 and After-Hours Answering Service

Being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year gives you the edge you need to improve your customer service track record, expand your client base, and maximize profit.

With our round-the-clock call handling and after-hours answering services, you get all these benefits at no extra cost.

Our professional operators will help foster goodwill among your customers by delivering stellar service outcomes. They’ll also assist in boosting revenue potential by deftly handling sales inquiries and customer queries.

Although our CMS team of operators will be acting as your local call center representatives, you’ll only be paying for calls taken on your account. So even if you’re working on a budget, you’ll find that using CMS for your company’s 24-hour call handling tasks is a remarkably economical option.

Agents in a call center with icons that represent 24 hour service, afterhours service, and weekend availability
Call center dispatcher looking at a map

Call Dispatching & Emergency Answering

Is there still a need for your services outside business hours? If so, how much revenue do you miss out on by not being accessible 24/7? Employing a team of dispatchers at the office can prove quite expensive, as you’ll need to pay them whether they’re receiving service calls or not.

But with CMS call dispatching services, you can increase productivity and enjoy better profit margins by lowering operating costs. Commercial service dispatching with CMS enables your company to be open 24/7/365, always prepared to receive a service call and generate extra cash, rather than losing business opportunities to your competitors.

Whether you have one or 50 on-call technicians, CMS dispatchers will take messages on your behalf and relay them to the right people promptly. This way, your customers can benefit from your speedy reaction time and appreciate how you stand out from the competition.

Virtual Receptionist

Without incurring the expenditures of hiring in-house staff, CMS virtual receptionists give your office the professional, authoritative voice it needs.

At CMS, you only pay for our virtual receptionist services for those times when our virtual assistants work while representing your company.

Our live call center representatives take incoming calls and respond to inquiries as if they were present in your office, acting as an extension of your business. With several virtual receptionists available, you’ll always have someone attending to calls for your business. This frees up your office employees to work on critical tasks crucial to the success of your company and its bottom line.

Virtual receptionist on the phone
Image of a male customer service representative smiling while taking a support call

Customer Service

Since CMS opened its doors in 1967, we’ve had the rare privilege of providing top-notch customer service solutions for businesses wishing to reduce costs successfully without compromising customer satisfaction.

The longevity of your business depends on your ability to retain customers in this fiercely competitive market. Keeping current customers loyal to your brand is more cost-effective than finding new ones.

Our customer support answering service can help you ensure every call gets answered promptly and professionally. CMS agents can support product or service-related questions, billing inquiries, and general customer service needs. Additionally, we can help defuse difficult customer service situations and provide support after-hours or during high call volume periods.

You can keep your consumers happy and loyal to your brand by offering reliable telephone customer service with CMS.

Auto Attendant and IVR

A phone system that answers and directs calls is known as an auto attendant. On the other hand, an interactive voice response (IVR) enables callers to communicate with an automated phone system through speech or by utilizing a touch-tone keypad.

An auto attendant eliminates the need for a live operator as it takes your calls and automatically transfers them to the appropriate extension or phone number. An auto attendant can also switch calls and provide callers with general information like your location or business hours.

An automated phone system enables callers to find their target service, team, or location using a menu system (aka phone tree), which helps to prevent dropped or abruptly ended calls. It manages incoming calls like a traditional receptionist, except it never misses a crucial call or keeps a person waiting.

Computerized IVR systems can connect with databases, record information, intelligently route calls, automate procedures, and supplement the usage of human call center workers. As a result, modern IVR systems offer superior customer experiences while assisting businesses in cost reduction, scaling up, and implementing efficiency improvements.

Depending on your business, CMS can tailor a solution that combines a live answering service, auto attendant, and IVR. These services allow you to conduct your business efficiently while keeping costs to a minimum.

Image of a finger pressing the number 0 on a dial pad surrounded by icons that represent a phone tree and touchpad options
Image of a person on their smartphone surrounded by icons for calendar, phone calls, and booking revenue

Appointment Scheduling

Keeping schedules organized is crucial to business, but without a sound system in place, things can quickly turn chaotic.

With CMS appointment scheduling, you can guarantee that your appointment-related phone calls are always handled properly, freeing up your time (and your staff’s) to focus on managing and growing your business.

Our skilled call center representatives make it a breeze to schedule with you by phone. Your patients or clients can call and make an appointment anytime, day or night, according to their schedule. CMS appointment scheduling services integrate with all the leading online calendar systems and business software applications, enabling our agents to interface with the same tools you use to manage your business. 

By adopting a simple, convenient scheduling service available round the clock, you can start building a devoted clientele.

24/7/365

Availability

100%

Customizable

3,000+

Clients

99.99%

Uptime Guarantee

Why Use an Answering Service?

While it’s true that people depend on digital technology a lot when it comes to communication, nothing beats live answering services by CMS if you want to keep your customers, convert leads, grow your client database, and drive business profitability. We can help you:

Save Money

CMS helps you lower your operating costs. You don’t have to buy equipment or hire staff. Only pay for the time our agents spend handling your calls.

Remain Available

Be there for your prospects, customers, and employees with around-the-clock support. Our 24/7 availability keeps your business moving and ensures you never miss an important call.

Improve Service

Improve customer satisfaction by extending your customer service capabilities and delivering friendly human support on every call.

Grow Your Business

Grow and scale your business by capturing every opportunity, reducing distractions, and expanding your capacity.

Customers Expect to Reach You By Phone — CMS Ensures You Are Always Available

Calls are preferred for quick service

There’s nothing like a quick phone call to get a customer service concern resolved or addressed right away, so we totally understand why customers want to speak to a real person.

In fact, 50% of consumers (regardless of age) contact customer service using their telephone.4 They don’t want to waste time on an endless cycle of back and forth through email or messaging.

So, when you make sure there’s somebody professional at the end of the line taking care of your customers, you’re also showing them how much you care and value their time.

Graphic with text that reads "76% of customers prefer to contact customer service agents by phone."
Graphic with text that reads "85% of callers who don't get through to you on the first attempt won't call back and will call your competitors."

Don’t help your competition

Did you know that 61% of customers who are in the middle of the buying cycle call the business they’re interested in?5 Can you afford to lose out on valuable leads or prospective customers if you do? And can you bear the thought of them going to your competition?

At CMS, we know the rewards of consistently answering calls, as well as the consequences of ignoring or not being able to attend to other calls. One phone call can make a world of difference to your business, so we won’t be taking any chances. Neither should you.

Protect your reputation

Ever get that awful feeling when no one seems to be available to answer your calls, especially when there’s no other way to resolve your concern?

When people are made to feel ignored, you lose their loyalty. They start to question the credibility and reputation of your brand, so it’s no big mystery why 68% of customers leave a company because they think it doesn’t care.6

With CMS, you can build up your reputation and keep your customers loyal to your brand no matter what.

Graphic with text that reads "67% of people end a call in frustration when they are unable to reach customer support staff."
Graphic with text that reads "80% of callers transferred to voicemail don't leave messages."

Say goodbye to voicemail

Answering machines may have been a novelty the first time they were introduced. Today, however, voicemails are not only considered productivity killers but are also untrustworthy — that is, people assume nobody ever listens to them and that they’ll never get their problem resolved.

Besides, other than baby boomers and Gen Xers, millennials and members of Generation Z probably make up a portion of your market, so it’s useful to know these younger generations can be averse to voicemails.7

So, better not leave phone calls to chance.

Partner up with CMS and see your loyal customer base grow like never before!

Live Answering Services for Every Industry

We have experience in every industry. From solo law offices to multi-national industrial companies, local plumbing companies to regional healthcare systems, we provide custom answering services to all types of businesses. Browse industry solutions

Small business owner working at her desk with boxes and inventory in the background

Small Business Virtual Answering Service

Small businesses face unique challenges that make them truly hectic environments.

With limited resources, you’ll be attempting to accomplish everything on a budget. You and your employees will be wearing several hats and may get burned out in the process.

While running a small business could be an exciting venture, the daily pressures you face can make the quality of your customer service suffer as a result. But with CMS small business answering services, you can look forward to the professional handling of call center and telephone answering demands.

With the help of our team, every call made to your company will be handled by a live person, thanks to your round-the-clock call center. By partnering with CMS, you and your team won’t need to rely on voicemail, miss crucial phone calls, or multitask by trying to work and answer calls simultaneously.

You’ll be happy to know our phone answering services can be easily adapted to fit your business goals, budget, and requirements. 

With CMS, you can have a virtual receptionist to answer your calls during or after business hours and patch through valuable referrals. You may also choose a 24/7 operation if you need to outsource customer service, an answering service to handle appointment scheduling, or e-commerce order entry.

Even if you’re working on a budget, you can create a positive first impression and provide competent customer service with professional small business answering services by CMS. With CMS, you only have to pay for the time our team spends taking your calls, even if we provide services around the clock.

Learn more:

Physician sitting at his desk looking at his phone

Medical Answering Service

Are you a doctor or medical practice office manager who’s tired of answering services that can’t seem to handle the bare minimum? At CMS, we manage calls the way you want them to be handled every single time by scripting your account and executing your specific instructions.

Every choice our team will make will be based on your service requirements, not on guesswork or assumptions. That means there won’t be any more missed important messages, data entry mistakes, or being awakened in the middle of the night for a call you don’t handle after hours.

We take calls after hours and relay urgent calls to on-call providers while also respecting healthcare provider privacy and attending to the needs of your patients.

Discover the HIPAA-compliant 24/7 medical answering service that top healthcare providers rely on here at CMS.

Property Management Answering Service

One of the key objectives of property management answering services is to ensure resident or tenant satisfaction. Therefore, aside from effective call handling, the prompt dispatch of the required services is also essential.

CMS’s customer service-focused call center solutions for property managers are created to lighten their current service load while delivering personalized call center experiences that make tenants happy.

You’ll also be glad to note that our services are a cost-effective solution for your company because you simply pay for the time our team spends on handling your calls.

Our call center services for property management can be tailored to meet your requirements, so you can easily provide directions or instructions regarding various scenarios, such as how we respond to calls, the questions we ask, and the data we supply and compile on your behalf.

We have the capabilities to fulfill the demands of your property management company. Our services include message-taking during business hours, after-hours maintenance calls, and daytime overflow. Our professional team can also handle office reception and property database integration tasks.

IT network engineers troubleshooting in a data center

IT Answering Service

No matter the business, information technology plays a key role in process efficiency and data security.

Whether it’s a minor IT problem or a major issue, when IT-related issues arise, customers can get frustrated easily. They get even more upset and anxious when they are unable to speak with a live person.

If you want calls to be handled with utmost care and minor issues managed professionally, you can depend on CMS IT answering services, much like your external IT department.

We’ll take care of consumer inquiries and repair requests while you continue to work on higher-level tasks. We’ll handle a range of tasks, including the creation of work tickets, staffing your 24-hour helpdesk, Tier 1 troubleshooting, on-call help, escalations, and more.

With our team and without necessarily adding more people, CMS makes sure that your company is able to deliver excellent customer service in less time and at a lower cost.

Integrate Your Existing Systems

We can integrate our answering service with the tools you use daily, making your life easier by streamlining workflows and keeping data synced across applications.

Image of some of the top software applications that CMS integrates with, including Slack, Paycor, ADP, Salesforce, Zendesk, Autotask, Halo PSA, Kronos, Zoho, and Workday

Benefits of Working with a Call Answering Service

There are many benefits of working with a US-based live answering service like CMS, including: 

  • Delivering 24/7/365 support to be competitive.
  • Reducing costs — customize solutions and pay only for the service you use.
  • Improving customer satisfaction by providing timely responses and assistance.
  • Increasing productivity by freeing time for you and your personnel to focus on other business-critical tasks.
  • Receiving the right calls based on your specifications — no more time wasted on non-urgent calls that can be addressed during business hours.

A Professional Answering Service that Gets Your Business

Today’s highly competitive business landscape requires owners to make strategic decisions to ensure their brand remains relevant for years to come.

Every business needs to provide a top-notch customer experience, especially in customer service, tech support, general inquiries, shipping, and sales.

Customer calls need quick responses and efficient solutions. If your business doesn’t meet these needs, your customers may look to your competition.

However, you don’t need to lose customers even when working on a budget.

With CMS’s telephone answering service, you’ll benefit in the following ways:

Customized and Personalized Solutions

Working with CMS means having the professional representation you need to make a good impression on prospects and customers.

Whether you need help with 24/7 support, call dispatching, customer service,  appointment scheduling, or everything at once, CMS can tailor a solution that fits your purpose and budget.

Consider CMS as an extension of your office where everything can be personalized, from the scripting and instructions we use to patch calls, take messages, and notify you of calls to the number of people representing your business through voice calls.

Useful Tools & Technology

Call analytics and web-based dashboards help you stay on top of everything happening with your calls. You can even use on-call scheduling software to manage your on-call schedule anytime.

We can also enable seamless integrations with your business software or your CRM, so you can perform tasks like call data management and analysis using your tools.

Trusted Company Since 1967

CMS has been around since 1967 — over five decades of industry experience and expertise.

It’s no wonder we’re one of the most respected answering services in the United States and have been providing thousands of companies with virtual answering services and more.

Answering Service FAQs

How much does an answering service cost?

At CMS, the total cost of the phone answering service a business chooses depends on the specific service and staff it needs. Ultimately, however, our clients only pay for the exact services delivered on their behalf. We have plans starting at just $50 a month.

Is your live answering service near me?

CMS has offices in Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nevada. However, this doesn’t mean our services are limited to these two areas. We can deliver the phone answering services your company requires wherever you’re located.

What’s the difference between a phone answering service and a call center?

In a live answering service, messages are taken and sent on behalf of a business by a third-party entity. Communication is also initiated by the customer.

A call center uses elaborate scripts and software to perform similar tasks, including qualifying leads, taking phone orders, and responding to frequently asked questions while also handling additional forms of communication. Call centers handle both incoming and outgoing calls.

CMS offers both basic telephone answering services and comprehensive call center solutions. Contact sales today to discuss your needs and get help finding the right solution for your business.

How does a phone answering service work?

A phone answering service is a service that allows businesses to outsource their telephone answering needs to a third party. These services typically use call forwarding of local or toll-free numbers, such as 1-800 numbers, to handle incoming calls. The customer, generally a business, forwards their calls to the answering service whenever they need help answering. The calls are answered by a live operator or automated system, and the operator can handle various tasks such as taking messages, scheduling appointments or providing basic information to the caller.

One of the main advantages of using a phone answering service is that it allows businesses to have a 24/7 answering service, even if they are closed or unable to answer the phone themselves. This can be especially useful for small businesses that may not have the resources to staff a receptionist around the clock. It can also benefit larger businesses that want to ensure their customers can always reach someone, regardless of the time of day. Enterprise phone answering services provide scalability and flexibility, enabling large businesses to quickly handle more call volume or deploy specialized call-handling solutions without the costs associated with in-house call center operations.

A phone answering service functions like an extension of your business. Whether you opt for after-hours or 24/7 call handling services or something else, providers like CMS work as your representative, handling communication coursed through their services.

How do I set up an answering service?

If you’re in the market for a call answering service, you can contact CMS.

Once you’ve decided which phone answering service/s you want, we can set up everything for you.

Sources

  1. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/how-companies-can-improve-phone-call-pickup-rates-2021-1
  2. https://phmg.com/blog/research-reveals-telephone-remains-customers-preferred-method-of-contact/
  3. https://www.mactech.com/2022/03/03/research-reveals-consumers-and-businesses-prefer-voice-calls-to-text-or-email/
  4. https://d1eipm3vz40hy0.cloudfront.net/pdf/cxtrends/cx-trends-2020-full-report.pdf
  5. https://hbr.org/2017/07/your-customers-still-want-to-talk-to-a-human-being
  6. https://ecommco.com/blog/68-percent-believe-you-dont-care.html
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/millennials-shy-away-from-voice-mail.html