Support - FAQ
AnswerPlus Communications is committed to providing
you with the information you need, and if you are
looking for information about AnswerPlus, you've come to
the right place. If after looking through these FAQs,
you still have a question; please email us at
info@answerplus.com.
What does AnswerPlus Communications do?
We are a web-enabled customer contact call centre. We
blend phone, e-mail, chat, fax, and voice mail into one
Communications Services Internet channel and deliver it
to contact center CSRs’ through a secure network. We are
customer service specialists.
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What is the uptime of the AnswerPlus Communications
system?
Last year we were up and running 99.994% of the time.
This is amongst the best of service providers in the
world.
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What has been your experience with 1-800 numbers?
1-800 numbers can be the life blood of your business.
They can attract customers in markets who would never
call you without these toll-free numbers. They don’t
cost money….they attract money. We maintain a bank of
numbers and can have you connected within minutes.
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How extensive is your training?
A new employee is required to take 4 – 8 weeks of
training. Training includes a corporate introduction,
manuals and CD ROM education, silent monitoring, and
hands on training with a specialist.
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Why is my first bill different from the charges
described on the Service Agreement?
The most common reason is that the charges have been
pro-rated for the beginning month. You are only billed
for the actual portion of the month for which service
was provided, not the full calendar month. If your
account is billed quarterly, semiannually or annually, a
similar pro-rated adjustment is applied by our billing
system, to get your account in sync with the billing
cycle.
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When is my payment due?
All payment terms are due on receipt and must be
received by AnswerPlus Communications no later than the
25th of the month.. Any payments received after that
time will not be reflected on the next monthly invoice.
You can verify the receipt of a payment not received by
the closing date by contacting our billing department.
Since our costs are primarily variable costs, we
maintain "a tight ship" in regard to our accounts
receivable.
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How can I lower my costs?
There are numerous ways; some of the options are to have
your non-emergency messages sent to your e-mail address,
faxed, to an Alphanumeric Pager (rather than a Numeric
Pager), Voice Mailbox, and use of your Express Message
Check-In Line (rather than calling your office line).
Since our messaging service charges are billed in per
second increments, you pay only for the amount of time
our staff is working for you.
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Why doesn't AnswerPlus Communications offer flat-rate
service so that my bill will be the same every month?
Because flat-rate billing is UNFAIR, to everyone
involved! It's unfair to YOU the subscriber with low
usage, because you're paying for part of the service for
high-volume subscribers.
It's unfair to AnswerPlus because we're expected to
shoulder the loss when call volume rises for whatever
reason, rather than being compensated for the extra
staffing and facilities expenses required to properly
manage extraordinarily high traffic.
It's unfair to the Caller, who may have to endure
unnecessarily long holds or waits to answer, because
staffing for busy times is just not cost effective under
the flat-rate system.
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Where can I find a Toll-Free number provider?
Look no further! AnswerPlus Communications can do that!
And the charges will appear right on your bill with your
other services, keeping all of your messaging charges on
one convenient invoice. Contact us for more information.
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Why does the Client Service Rep (CSR) tell my callers
that "this is the Message Service"?
Probably because you have not instructed us against this
practice. Some subscribers do NOT want us to identify
that the call is being taken by a Call Centre. However,
this IS something we can do. All you need to do is
contact us.
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Who is the person who can help me if a message was
incorrect?
If you have a question or a concern with the way a call
was handled, one of our Seniors or our Operations
Manager is your best contact. They're in direct control
of day-to-day operations, and can research the incident.
You may also FAX information (to the attention of our
Operations Department) detailing the Date, Time of Day,
Caller's Name and/or Company Name, and the problem that
was experienced with the call.
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When is the best time to fax you updates to my account,
or changes to my on-call schedule?
If at all possible, this should be done before 3 PM.
Items received by that time should normally be entered
prior to check-out on the same day.
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Do you require a long term commitment from your clients
for CRM services?
Yes. We are dedicated to developing long-term
relationships with our clients, and we would like to
enter into some form of longer-term agreement. We do
believe that the success of the relationship is
contingent upon the ongoing success of all of the
stakeholders, and that a win-win relationship is
appropriate.
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How soon can I start?
Within a day for messaging services. For CRM services,
generally 1-2 weeks, enough time to program our system
and to adequately train our CSR's. Several factors can
either shorten or lengthen this timetable, such as:
- Our operation's work flow
- Our programmer's work flow
- The timeliness of your project information
- Factors like holidays, vacations, or other events. We
are committed to implementing new projects as quickly
and as efficiently as possible and we will make every
effort to work around any deadlines or timetables that
may affect your project.
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Do you answer and make calls in the name of my company?
Yes. In most cases, your customers / prospects will not
realize that they are speaking to a 3rd party. All calls
are handled on behalf of your company and in the manner
that you choose.
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How do you charge for CRM services?
CRM services are most often charged on a "per minute"
basis. Thus, our clients pay us $____ per minute for the
exact time that we are on-line with their customers, to
the nearest second. We will also charge a one time setup
charge and we require our clients to exceed a weekly
minimum amount of usage. Because you only pay for the
time you use, our services are normally very cost
efficient because our clients do not pay for the "dead
time" between calls.
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Can you answer my "Toll-Free" (800) Telephone Number?
Yes. If you prefer, you can route the calls on an
existing toll-free number to our call center. This can
be accomplished by changing the routing with your
existing carrier or by porting the number over to our
telecommunications provider.
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How do you charge for your outbound telemarketing
services?
Our outbound services are almost always contracted on a
"Per Hour" basis. This means that our clients pay $_____
per hour for every hour of outbound calling performed by
our Customer Service Representatives (CSR's). Management
& Supervisory time is built into the rate that you pay
for the actual CSR's. In addition, Computer Programming
and Project Development Fees are usually charged during
the development of any new project to cover our startup
costs.
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Do you provide the scripts for telemarketing?
Generally we do not "provide" the scripts. We consider
script development to be a combined effort with each of
our clients. If you do not have a developed script, we
will assist in creating a script from your company
information and through conference calls or face to face
meetings. Our services are truly customized to fit our
clients - therefore, we need to rely on our clients to
assist in this process.
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Do you provide the call list for telemarketing?
Not normally. Since our services are completely
customized, our clients control who we call, and
therefore, they normally provide us with the list.
However, we can assist in this process by providing
information on reputable list companies, upon request.
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Contact us if you have any questions.
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