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Why understanding costs is important before outsourcing with BPO Philippines
When purchasing a new service or product, one of the first considerations that come to mind is price. With price comes value. Everyone wants to maximize their value.
While Amazon has spoiled us with the ability to find the cost of almost anything, the cost of business services such as answering phones is harder to grasp.
Determining the cost of an answering service shouldn’t be much different than determining the cost of a pair of shoes. Yet, call centers have muddied the pricing waters.
Telephone pricing plans of business process outsourcing industry in the Philippines
The basic question for when you outsource with us is, “What are the pricing plans?”, “How much do they cost?“
Keep in mind that the prices for answering services can vary quite a bit and depend on many factors.
Transparent pricing isn’t always available. Measuring one company’s offerings against another when you compare prices can be like comparing apples and oranges.
Pricing for answering service plans can be confusing since there is no concrete law or standard for how companies must bill for service, but here are the three ways found throughout the industry:
Per Minute Billing
This is the most common method of charging for answering services. That is why we used per minute pricing to define the average cost of an answering service.
With this style, answering services charge clients for the time they spend on the phone speaking with callers. This is the fairest way of billing, because answering services are compensated for their time just like in many other industries.
Most answering services have three to five different standard plans to choose from that include a block of minutes with a rate charged for any overage time.
Clients choose their plan based on their expected call volume and, depending on the provider, can scale their plan up or down as necessary.
Per Call Billing
Pay-per-call answering service rates are another billing method that shoppers may come across. The service charges clients a given amount based on how many calls they receive.
The rates here can also fluctuate based on call volume.
For instance, a service may opt to advertise a “per call rate” of $1. While it seems straightforward enough, consider that clients are often charged for hang ups and wrong numbers, which can add up rapidly.
It is also difficult for many answering services to provide quality service using per call billing methods, so it isn’t uncommon for their service levels to suffer, which reflects poorly on the businesses they answer for.
Per Unit Billing
Answering services that charge by the unit will sometimes lead you to believe that is their per call rate.
So, if a service advertises a rate of $1, it may sound good, but the bill actually piles up much more quickly than you might think. A “unit” can often be a call, a message delivered, a call transferred, or any number of other integral items to the call handling process.
With per unit billing, don’t expect to be charged only for inbound calls.
Expanded call duration plans of BPO Manila Philippines
Call duration can obviously vary, so the industry mean of 1 minute and 35 seconds per call was used to calculate the average per call price.
Since answering service prices are often dependent upon the plan you choose, here is expanded information to give you a closer average estimate based on your usage.
- Average cost per minute for plans that include 100 minutes or less: $1.33
- Average cost per minute for plans that include 101-499 minutes: $1.13
- Average cost per minute for plans that include 500-1000 minutes: $1.00
- Average cost per minute for plans that include over 1000 minutes: $0.87
Answering services often charge a slightly different rate for any minutes used over the plan allotment. Here are those figures:
$1.13 is the average overage rate. If you break that down, you will find that:
- $1.30 is the average overage rate for low-use plans.
- $1.16 is the average overage rate for medium-use plans.
- $1.05 is the average overage rate for high-use plans.
BPO Companies In The Philippines Offer Pricing Plans For All Sizes Of Corporations
Some people may think that only large corporations hire answering services. They may also assume that businesses that need to rely on 24/7 customer support, such as doctors, hire for the telephone service.
In truth, any business owner who values their customers and relies on the phone to stay in touch with them may benefit from professional answering services.
Businesses large and small, across all industries, are finding that outsourcing companies in the Philippines provide an invaluable service in helping them work smarter rather than harder.
Who does Magellan Solutions offer the pricing plans to?
Small Businesses
Most small businesses are privately owned and often family operated.
Because small businesses tend to have fewer employees, clients may grow accustomed to the company’s representatives, especially the receptionist who handles telephone lines.
To outsource the customer service aspect of a small business may negatively impact the customer–company comfort level.
However, there are small business answering services that will work simultaneously with your company to enhance customer experience. In fact, answering services have taken on the modern-day persona as the virtual assistant.
It is a tough battle, competing with other businesses offering similar or identical services. To level the playing field, consider hiring a virtual assistant. This is a much more practical solution to your telephone answering issues than hiring multiple in-office receptionists.
If you do not wish to completely outsource your customer service you can also establish a backup plan.
You can use telephone answering solutions such as Follow Me Services or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to redirect incoming calls to different numbers if the mainline is unavailable. By doing this not only will your company miss fewer calls but your clientele bank is likely to grow.
Service Businesses
As a member of the services industry, chances are you are always on the go. Back and forth from a client’s house, the office, and even the supply store.
Finding the time to answer the telephone and collect the information being given can become secondary however, that’s what Magellan Solutions is for.
Does not matter whether you are a plumber, an AC repairman, contractor, a doctor or a dentist. You can find an answering service that suits your every need. Because of the constant movement associated with such professions, simple yet detailed messages are essential in simplifying workloads.
Growing businesses
If your business is going through a transition now might be a good time to invest in an answering service.
Because of the unpredictable traits of the growing business, it is almost impossible to estimate what will happen. Especially where call volume is considered.
Even the most organized and detailed company has difficulty predicting call volumes and a company’s call flow is most unstable during transitional periods.
To help protect your business and to stabilize growth, growing businesses should consider hiring from BPO companies in Metro Manila. By doing this should there be a sudden spike in call volume ‘someone will have your back’.
What are the best VOIP software that you can expect from our 2022 plan?
Today you can make calls using FaceTime, Messenger, Google Voice, or dozens of other call apps, and virtual phone systems do the same for your office number.
Virtual phone systems, also known as VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and cloud phones, are simply better options than a landline. They’re less expensive, more flexible, and work on the devices you use most. Instead of stressing over yards of copper wires spooled out to attached office phones to make and receive calls, virtual calls are made using a broadband internet connection.
We did in-depth testing of dozens of virtual phone systems, and here are the five best VoIP solutions.
| App | Best for: | Price |
| Dialpad | Transcribing conversations | $15/mo/user |
| GoToConnect | Custom API and app integrations | $22/mo/user |
| Aircall | Support and sales teams | $30/mo/user |
| 8×8 | An unlimited all-in-one communication system | $12/mo/user |
| OpenPhone | An inexpensive phone system for small teams and startups | $10/mo/user |
Flexible rates only here with outsourcing companies in the Philippines
At Magellan Solutions, we’re one of the few call centers that are able to give you more comprehensive call center features.
We can easily implement complex solutions for your business when scaling your communication solution up or down.
We’re available to answer questions about the many call center services we provide. Leave your information below for a quotation on our telephone answering services!
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Contact us today for more information.
