If you are looking to outsource your call handling to an experienced answering service company, it is essential to consider its pricing. Selecting the best service for your budget should be on top of your list. With the right services, you can ensure a better customer relationship without missing any potential leads. Typically, there are some standard pricing models used by these companies.
You should assess each of them before making a selection. The four main pricing models include:
Pricing on Per-Call Basis:
In this model, billing is based on the number of calls handled by the company for your business. It includes inbound calls, outbound calls, texts, emails, faxes, daily reports, and all other services. When pricing as per call basis, the company does not consider length of a call.
Rather, it includes the total number of actions taken in a particular billing cycle. However, this system has some flaws. Some service providers process the calls under a minute in order to maximize their profits. This system of answering services prices in Miami is suitable for businesses that handle lengthy calls.
Pricing on Per-Minute Basis:
The inbound and outbound calls are billed on an incremental basis in per-minute pricing. A service may bill you in 8-second, 15-second, 30-second, or 1-minute intervals. The time of a call includes time spent on speaking with the caller, transferring calls, putting a call on hold, connecting with an on-call person, and entering details after the call.
For example, an operator may spend one minute speaking with the caller and 45 minutes to document it. In this case, one hour and 45 minutes will be included in the live operator time. These answering services prices in Miami suit most of the businesses irrespective of their call volumes.
Flat-Rate Pricing Model:
Depending on consistency of your call volumes, you can choose flat-rate pricing as a budget breaker. Here, you will pay a base rate for the entire package with no overage pricing. However, it is hard to find a service that offers flat-rate pricing as it should be.
In this model, if your call volumes exceed the threshold of a plan, you will be automatically billed as per the next plan. Hence, it is suitable only for businesses having a similar number of calls every month.
Pricing as per usage:
This pricing system works like a prepaid service. You need to add a certain amount to your account and funds are deducted whenever a call is received by the operator.
In this system, the rates for each minute or call are inversely related to the upfront payment. It implies that your individual transactions will cost less if you add more credit to your account. This system is suitable for businesses having a limited budget.
These are four main pricing models used by answering service companies.
