Specialty Answering Service, the leading internet based live operator answering service, released today an independent study showing the ineffectiveness of voicemail versus call center applications. This brief synopsis article and the results herein are the culmination of a 6 month study on the subject of live small to medium sized businesses using voicemail or live operators to manage their inbound calls during normal business hours & after business hours.

To remain unbiased in our results, we acquired a random sample of 100 business via yellow page resources. The group was divided into thirds (Group A calls answered by voicemail, Group B calls answered by Answering Service, Group C Calls answered by business owner 24/7). The summation of the results is as follows: 1) Highest customer satisfaction and new customer acquisition reports & records came as a result of Group C's actions. 2) Group B's numbers fell slightly short of Group C (accounting for +- error curve shows no marked difference) 3) Group C's results following with the conjecture that voicemail will actually disrupt business, showed that over 70% of callers do not leave messages on voicemail.

It is very hard to imagine that many businesses are losing seven out of every ten calls. Based on these findings, a few extra budgeted dollars to utilize a call center a month would generate extra revenue for a company through increased call volume. Even though voicemail is still an acceptable way of managing incoming telephone calls, it costs companies millions of dollars in lost business.

Alex Drumheller of Specialty Answering Service was not surprised with the findings. "We have known for years that people are three times more likely to leave a message with a live person than they would with voicemail. Voicemail is killing businesses," Drumheller said. "People look at voicemail as a cheap alternative. It may be cheap, but it is not inexpensive."

Specialty Answering Service has seen first hand the effectiveness if a live voice answering your phones. The study has reinforced how valuable a live answering service is in today's environment.