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Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic remote work is now more popular than ever. As many businesses have shifted to working remotely either entirely or for select workers, it’s lead to a lot of discussion whether or not this is the new norm. Whether or not you’re working remotely now, or are planning to a virtual receptionist is a great addition to your business. Here are five ways that a virtual receptionist can improve your remote workforce.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog on the challenges of working from home, since we are 100% virtual. Now with the covid-19 rapidly spreading throughout our country and more people either being told to work from home or deciding on their own to work from home, we thought we could share some advice and tips on this subject. If you aren’t used to working from home, it can first seem like a vacation from work. You don’t have to have to worry about the commute and sitting in traffic and grabbing your laptop and sitting on the couch seems like it would be enjoyable to do all day. However, there can also be many distractions too. Here we’ve put some tips together on how to be productive especially if you are new working from home. Stick to your daily work schedule. A big obstacle when working from home is work procrastination. The thought of oh let me go do my laundry, or my dishes and then the whole day goes by without getting your work completed. If you are working relatively on your own, then a trick you can use is be your own boss. Set your working hours, set your deadlines and set your breaks. If you are a still working in a team environment, set your meetings and keep to your deadlines of getting your work completed. Designate your own office space, especially if you don’t have an office. If you are going to designate your kitchen table as your space, put your laptop there, put your papers there in a neat pile and work there. If you have a space designated then it’s easier to put in your mind that “you’re going to work”, and then when you are not working move them to a corner or put them somewhere else that way you are not thinking about work during your off hours. Establish boundaries when working from home. When you have other people in your house such a child let them know when you are “in your office” you are working and shouldn’t be interrupted. You may need to put a sign up or announce it to them before starting that way they are not coming in and distracting you. Ensure you have the tools you need. Here is a list of some basic tools anyone would need to work from home. Phone Computer, either a desktop or a laptop Headset External monitors and keyboard – plus a BACK-UP! Webcam Access to company email via the company server Access to phone numbers and email addresses Access to files that you’re currently working on. VPN access to your company servers to be able to access, emails, phone numbers, files etc. These are some basic tools you will need to work from home, and if you are manager make sure to create a checklist of items and have your team make sure they are prepared and have them sign off on it. Also, don’t forget having back ups to things like keyboards, mice, monitors, headsets. If something happens and you are quarantined to your house and your headset stops working, you cannot go out and buy another one, so make sure you have a backup. 5) Schedule team meetings. Having virtual team meetings are great for various reasons, one of them is to make sure everyone is still on track and keeping up with the work they are supposed to be doing. Another is keeping team spirit. Make sure everyone can be seen and heard so here is a reason for the webcams even if someone is working from home and has their pajamas on it doesn’t matter what they look like it’s the interaction with your colleagues. 6) Practice self-care. Make sure you are still washing your hands, keeping your work area and other places disinfected and clean, getting plenty of rest. Remember just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean you have to work 24/7 at home. Try and keep your work time and your personal time separate. As I mentioned earlier put your work stuff away when your working hours are finished for the day, that way you don’t just see it sitting there and think you need to work on it. There are many resources and other articles on working remote from home during this covid-19 virus outbreak, hopefully some of these tips will help you or someone you know that has suddenly been thrust into work from home. I can tell you from our perspective our employees love working from home and it’s made them more productive and happier while working. Please share with us other tips or advice you may have!

As the outbreak of Covid-19 becomes a worldwide issue, we here at ACC are wanting to do our part in making sure companies stay informed and connected. Virtual Receptionist Services like ACC can help minimize the disruption to business operations during times of uncertainty and keep your business up and running since we are an extension of your business. In fact, we have already received quite a bit of feedback from our existing customers as far as what they are doing internally to keep their staff safe and what to do if it becomes worse. Those who have already contacted us let us know they may be going to partial hours or closing extra days of the week to limit possible exposure with their staff. This helps ACC to anticipate additional call volumes and to staff appropriately. As a virtual call center whose agents work from home, this certainly minimizes our risk to the Covid-19. However, we have also taken steps to keep our employees updated and informed with some important steps that we got from the World Health Organization website on advice for taking basic protective measures against the new coronavirus. Stay aware of the latest information. The World Health Organization website is making sure they have all the latest updates and information on this virus so make sure you check there.Wash your hands frequently. Washing your hands with soap and water or even an alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands, and make sure you are washing frequently and thoroughly. Maintain at least 3 feet of distance between you and someone who is coughing and sneezing. When someone coughs or sneezes, they spray droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain the virus. If you are too close you could breathe those droplets in including the Covid-19 virus if they have it. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Think about how many things you touch during the day, and then think about what could on your hands and then you touch your eyes, or put your fingers in your mouth, if you have been contaminated that virus can enter your body and make you sick. If you are sick stay home. If you are sick and certainly running a fever or just don’t feel well in general. Stay home, that way you are not risking spreading the virus to anyone else. If you develop a high fever, cough and difficulty breathing you should seek medical attention right away. We here at ACC hope that you all stay safe and healthy and if you would like more information on our virtual receptionist services please contact us at: 800-756-6872 .

Running a business regardless of what industry it is challenging and rewarding, and managing your daily operations is a full-time job itself! While everyone in business wants the phone to constantly be ringing with new business leads and having your existing clientele adding on business, it can be a real struggle to handle all these tasks and answer the phones. Most business owners are finding that using a virtual receptionist service like American Communications Centers not only helps with not missing any calls, but they can also use this type of service to handle other office tasks that an onsite receptionist does, but only virtually. Virtual Receptionists are just that, virtual. They are fully trained and can handle just about any task that an on-site receptionist can handle and for even less than having a person sit in your office!

There are a variety of reasons that a homeowner needs a tree removal company. There may be a tree on their property that is dying or one that is a safety hazard for when storms roll around, but there are also many reasons a Tree Service Company could use a Virtual Receptionist Company, especially one that understands how important great customer service is. When you are out on the job it’s difficult for you to run your business. If the phone rings while you are working, do you stop and answer it, or do you hope they leave a voicemail so you can call them back? This is a real issue because you need to finish the job, but you also need to make sure you are capturing those calls for more jobs, but not to worry we at American Communications have you covered! So, let’s see how our Virtual Receptionist Service can help your business so you can keep to the tasks at hand and still grow your business.

While it is a necessary evil, cleaning our home is most definitely not the most enjoyable thing to do, and a cleaning company knows this better than anyone! As most experts in this field will tell you, think of all the free time you would have if you had someone else to take care of that chore for you! This also rings true for the cleaning companies we service with our Virtual Receptionist Service. We understand what it’s like to run a business where you are having to schedule appointments for your clients, make sure your employees are at work and on time, make sure your invoices are sent out right and on time, so just think of how much time it would save if you had someone that was able to help with those chores! We at American Communications say, “A missed call, is a missed opportunity” People like talking with people and want to feel assured that they will be taken care of when they call. So, here are some ways our Virtual Receptionist Service can help your cleaning company.

If you are a pest control company then you understand that springs and summer are a busy time of year for you. That is not to say you aren’t busy during fall and winter though. However, spring will be here before we know it and that means all the bugs will be back around and people will want to make sure that they are not intruding on their houses. Therefore, it’s important for your phones to need to be answered in a professional and timely manner. When your current customers or potential customers are calling you to want to have the confidence that your business is in good hands to instill that confidence that they will be taken care of properly. We at American Communications say “A missed call, is a missed opportunity” If you are unable to answer your phones because you are out in the field, or because you can only take one call at a time, and it goes to voicemail you are potentially missing out on business. People like to talk with people and feel assured that they will be taken care of when they call. If someone gets a voicemail it is more likely they will just hang up and call the next company in line. So, let’s see how our Virtual Receptionist Service can help your business capture more leads for you and take care of your existing clientele.

A virtual assistant service can be very useful for your online business in addition to cutting costs, it can improve service. While you may be asking yourself “How can my online business possibly be improved by this when all my customers have to do is pick the item they want to purchase, add it to their cart and pay for it?” let’s delve into this deeper.