How To Find An Answering Service

There are three main ways to find an answering service, namely searching online, going through the telephone directory and word-of-mouth.

Searching online / Internet An online search will reveal hundreds of answering services offering a number of options, but when searching, remember to check the online Yellow Pages as well. Many services will have their own websites listing their services, rates and areas covered. Finding offshore companies offering the services you are looking for will also be easier online.

Telephone Directory The telephone remains a reliable source for finding providers of any service, answering services being no different. The printed Yellow Pages carry a lot of advertisements from these companies.

Word-of-Mouth If you know a company or freelancers who use a service that you like, by all means ask them about it. Ask around at your professional organizations for recommendations.

Also, read printed and electronic advertisements, you may find the perfect answering service that way. Some high-end services advertise in professional and trade publications.

Regardless of the method used in sourcing an answering service for your business, it is important to know the following:

? Is the answering service staffed by trained personnel? ? How long the service has been operating, this doesn't mean a new company cannot provide good service, but depending on your business, experience may be important. Also, knowing how long they have been in business can be a useful marketing tool ? What other services are offered, for example, sales support

Ultimately, finding a good answering service will depend on the exact services you want, and the price you are willing to pay. Be prepared to go through a number of services to find the perfect fit for your purposes. http://www.answering-service-information.info "} Click here now to find more observations from Miranda.

Telephone - Answering Machines And Services

In this article we're going to discuss one of the most important inventions to compliment the telephone since its creation, the answering machine.

The telephone was invented for the purpose of one person being able to call another person and speak to them. For the person making the call, well, they're the one making it so their role is already completed. But what about the person at the receiving end? They do have to pick the phone up in order for the call to be completed and therein lies the problem with this system. It isn't exactly fool proof. The person on the other end could be in the shower or out of the house altogether and end up missing the call, leaving the person on the calling end frustrated. Can't even leave a message to call them back.

The answering machine to the rescue.

Even though the answering machine is a fairly new invention it actually goes back to something that was created way back in 1898. In that year, a Danish telephone engineer by the name of Valdemar Poulsen patented what he called a telegraphone. This was the first practical machine for magnetic sound recording and reproduction. It was actually able to record telephone conversations. On a wire, it recorded the varying magnetic fields produced by a sound. The magnetized wire was then used to play back the sound.

However it wasn't until 1935 that we got the first automatic answering machine which was invented by Mr. Willy Muller. The first answering machine was laughably huge at three feet tall. It was very popular with Jewish people who were not allowed to answer the phone on the Sabbath.

But the first answering machine sold in the United States was the Ansafone, which was created by inventor Dr. Kazuo Hashimoto for Phonetel. It figures that it would be the Japanese would be the first to come up with our first commercially used answering machine.

The contributions by Phonetel weren't the end of our progress with answering machines, however. Casio actually created what is known as the first commercially viable answering machine in 1971. They created what was called the Telephone Answering Device (TAD) which was the model 400, now seen in the Smithsonian Institute.

Also in 1971 Phonemate gave us its first answering machine which was also the model 400. It worked a little different from Casio's machine in that it weighed 10 pounds and held up to twenty messages on reel to reel tape. It came with an earphone that allowed the user to retrieve messages privately.

The first digital TAD was given to us by the same person who gave us the first Ansafone. He invented it in 1983 and it was given Unites States patent number 4,616,110 and was called Automatic Digital Telephone Answering.

Other enhancements and additions were made to answering machines which now include what is known as voice mail, which was actually created before the digital TAD patent (patent number 4,371,752) but didn't become popular until afterwards. Voicemail was actually invented in 1979 by Gordon Matthews. He sold the first system to 3M company.Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Telephones