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dmAnswers - Your 24/7 Live Receptionist
dmAnswers provides you with a live human answering service that is available 24/7
Don't let potential business get away! While callers may be reluctant to leave a message on voicemail or answering machines, our specially trained operators are experts at getting people to talk, ensuring that sales leads are never lost when you're unavailable and giving all callers a very good impression of your company.
[ How does it work? ] [ How much does it cost? ] [ Other Frequently Asked Questions ]
How does dmAnswers work?
dmAnswers is simple but effective. You can use it with any of our dmNumber 0870, 0871, 0845, 0800, 07005 or 0207 non geographic numbers, or indeed with any other number or line that allows you to divert incoming calls to another number. To use dmAnswers, all you have to do is arrange for calls to be diverted to your special dmAnswers telephone number (which you will usually be allocated within 4 hours of signing up for the service) whenever you aren't available to take calls in person. Calls diverted to your dmAnswers telephone number will be answered by skilled professional operators, in your company name. The callers name, contact number and a short message will then be taken and sent to you via email or by SMS - whichever you prefer.
When used in conjunction with our dmNumbers non geographic number options, dmAnswers becomes even more powerful and flexible, as you can arrange for calls to automatically go through to dmAnswers when you are not available to take the call rather than have to manually make changes to your divert options.
How much does dmAnswers cost?
Subscription to the dmANswers service costs just £19.95 + VAT per month. The price includes:
- Having a skilled answering team available 24/7 to answer your calls professionally when you can't
- Your first 15 calls each month answered free
- Immediate call notification by SMS and/or email (depending on your preference)
If the you receive more than 15 calls in any given month on your dmAnswers number, you will be charged £1.25 + VAT per extra call answered.
Billing: Payment is always in advance. When you sign up for dmAnswers, the service charge for the first part month and next two full months is billed to your account immediately. After this you will be billed on the last working day of the month for the next month's service charge. Note that the number of calls answered free in the first part month will be on a pro-rata basis depending on the day of the month you sign up on.
Cancellation: After the first two full months you can cancel dmAnswers at any time. As long as you inform us at least two working days before the start of the next month we can cancel your dmAnswers service at the end of the month.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
We hope these FAQs will clear up any of your questions. If what you need to know about dmAnswers is not covered here, please don't hesitate to contact us.
What is the main advantage of signing up for dmAnswers?
Does dmAnswers complicate my sales process?
Isn’t dmAnswers a little expensive?
Can customers call my dmAnswers number directly?
Can I use dmAnswers with BT 1571 or my mobile phone?
How can I make sure only sales calls go through to dmAnswers?
I run a small business. How can dmAnswers help me when I’m away on holiday?
Do I have any control over the kind of details dmAnswers personnel collect from a caller?
How quickly do I get messages left with dmAnswers?
What other information can I customise when I set up a dmAnswers account?
You will find a dmAnswers link within your dmClub Control Panel after you sign up for any of our dmNumbers non-geographic number options. Simply login to your control panel accounts, click on the link, and follow the instructions.
If you do not yet have a dmNumber, please click here to sign up for one now. You may choose an 07005 number if you wish as these are free of any setup or monthly rental charge (unless you choose a Gold number) and will therefore allow you to signup for the dmAnswers facility by itself.
What is the main advantage of signing up for dmAnswers?
In a nutshell, ensuring that all your incoming calls are answered professionally, whether you are available to take them or not.
When callers phone a business - particularly in normal office hours - they expect their call to be answered in person. Diverting calls to voicemail when you're not available to answer them yourself can give the impression that your business is a small, unprofessional outfit, especially if a caller is using your main business contact number. Not only can this give a poor impression, but (with first-time callers especially) voicemail may be so off-putting that they simply hang-up and try one of your competitors instead - and never you call back.
A poor or automated answering service equals lost business, especially on numbers displayed in competitive advertising and used in first-contact sales. Avoid the risk of losing business with dmAnswers!
Does dmAnswers complicate my sales process?
No one is as expert on your business as you are, and in an ideal world you would always be available to field enquiries. dmAnswers comes to the rescue at those times when you are not available, and ensures that calls are answered professionally anyway.
Instant call notification (including a short message and the caller's details) is sent by email and/or SMS, so you can respond to enquiries the moment you become available. Rather than slowing down or complicating the sales process, dmAnswers can help you to respond quickly to enquiries, while avoiding the risk of losing new leads.
Isn’t dmAnswers a little expensive?
A poor or automated answering service equals lost business, especially on numbers displayed in competitive advertising and used for 'first-contact' sales. For this reason many dmAnswers subscribers prefer to budget dmAnswers as part of their marketing costs rather than their operational costs.
If you have paid for a good ad with your contact number displayed prominently, or if you just use a particular number to field general enquiries, ask yourself whether you can afford not to ensure that callers are answered professionally at all times.
Avoid the risk of losing business with dmAnswers.
Can customers call my dmAnswers number directly?
Yes, but it would be completely inadvisable. A dmAnswers number is the number your calls are diverted to when you can't answer them, not the number you give out as your contact number. When you signup for dmAnswers we allocate a dedicated dmAnswers number, to which you can divert calls using any standard divert options. And for operational reasons your dmAnswers number may be changed in the future, so we advise you not to use it in advertising, on your stationary, or give it out publicly in any form.
Can I use dmAnswers with BT 1571 or my mobile phone?
You can divert calls to your dmAnswers service from any other phone number or line which supports a controllable divert destination feature. This means the service can be used with BT's 1571 (automatic call divert) feature, as well as with the flexible call-forwarding features built in as standard to most UK mobile numbers.
How can I make sure only sales calls go through to dmAnswers?
There are 2 main methods.
(1) Use a dedicated contact number in sales advertising, and set up diverts from this number to your dmAnswers service to at times when you are not available.
(2) Combine dmAnswers with the power of dmSwitchboard (the versatile 'virtual switchboard' mode you can configure with any of our dmNumbers). Simply set up a sales department with dmSwichboard, and make sure that the last number tried when a caller is put through is your dmAnswers number.
If I get a call I don’t want to take immediately can I divert it to dmAnswers at the touch of a button?
If you are using dmSwitchboard, the answer is yes - as long as you set up dmSwitchboard so that your dmAnswers number is the 'catch-all' divert destination.
If you are not using dmSwitchboard the answer will depend on whether your telephone service allows you to specify the number that unanswered calls are diverted to.
I run a small business. How can dmAnswers help me when I’m away on holiday?
dmAnswers can help by making sure your calls are answered professionally, even if you're sunbathing on the opposite side of the world. Avoid giving the impression that you've gone AWOL or that you're a small business or sole trader, or that holidays affect your response times. Indeed, with dmAnswers you can avoid giving customers the impression that you are away on holiday at all.
What control do I have over how dmAnswers personnel answer my calls? Can I specify ‘greeting scripts?’ so that they answer just how I want them to?
Other than specifying in which company name calls should be answered, you do not normally have any additional control.
However, it is possible for you to specify a greetings script, but we strongly advise you not to -and extra costs would be involved.
Each caller is unique, meaning that each call is best handled flexibly. dmAnswers operators are experts in answering calls professionally, familiar with dealing with different personalities, and extremely good at getting callers to leave their contact details and a message - even when the caller is reluctant or difficult to deal with.
Since each caller is unique, we recommend that you therefore let our operators answer them with flexibility, as this tends to produce far better results than sticking to a rigid script. Indeed, this is one of the main advantaged of a a real human answering service over voicemail.
Do I have any control over the kind of details dmAnswers personnel collect from a caller?
No. The standard dmAnswers service is designed to do only one thing - answer in a professional manner and get a caller to leave their details - but do it very well. The operator will only collect the callers name, contact number, and a short message, which are then forwarded to you by SMS and/or email.
However, in the future we are planning to introduce optional upgrades which will give you more control over precisely what information we collect from callers.
How quickly do I get messages left with dmAnswers?
Notification of calls (including the callers name, contact number and a short message) is sent as soon as the call is finished, by your choice of SMS, email. You will therefore receive any messages whenever you check your email or check your phone for new SMS text messages. Faults or network congestion, be it on the Internet or with the SMS facility, may cause delays in you receiving your messages, of course.
What information can I customise when I set up a dmAnswers account?
Other than your company name, normally none. If you have specialist needs feel free to contact us for a quote, and we'll do our best to accommodate you.
dmAnswers personnel are told to give callers a time-frame in which they can expect a reply. My workload and availability varies, so can I change this time-frame?
We recommend that you respond to messages as quickly as possible, but give callers the expectation that someone will get back to them in a reasonably short timeframe (like the next day).
If you want to change the expected response time given to callers, please contact us and we will arrange things for you, but a charge will be involved for doing so.
How well informed are dmAnswers operators. Can they be briefed to give out company details or information about the products and services we supply?
dmAnswers is purely a human answering service. The price does not include training operators to give out company details, or talk about your products or services. We're expert at answering calls, but you are the expert on what you offer.
In combination with other powerful dmNumber modes and products, specifically including dmSwitchboard, dmAnswers can form an important plank in your companies impression management strategy. Or, to put it another way, it helps you appear as professional as possible at all times.
You will find a dmAnswers link within your dmClub Control Panel after you sign up for any of our dmNumbers non-geographic number options. Simply login to your control panel accounts, click on the link, and follow the instructions.
If you do not yet have a dmNumber, please click here to sign up for one now. You may choose an 07005 number if you wish as these are free of any setup or monthly rental charge (unless you choose a Gold number) and will therefore allow you to signup for the dmAnswers facility by itself.
Please call us on 0870 950 4101 if you have any questions
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