27 AUGUST 2009 - New research from Moneypenny, http://www.outsourcedreception.com/, the outsourced reception specialist, shows SMB staff are spending one working week in four dealing with incoming calls. And with the summer holidays seeing most businesses working at reduced strength, employees are spending more time taking calls than focusing on the job in hand.

The findings show a business of 100 people will receive on average 2300 inquiry calls a month, each lasting approximately 70 seconds. This equates to staff spending 67 days a year on the phone dealing with incoming calls, rather than focusing on their main job.   Ed Reeves, co-founder at Moneypenny explains, "Most people find a ringing phone a distraction, something that interrupts their flow of work.

When you add all these distractions up, it equates to a significant amount of time. If a business doesn't have a receptionist, which is the case for many SMBs, this can often see more senior people dealing with administrative enquires when their time could be more productively spent. The summer holidays exaggerate this problem even further. For example, do you really want your account managers dealing with unsolicited sales calls?"

The findings show that an account manager on £40,000 per annum spending five and half days a month dealing with incoming calls will cost a business £11,536 per year, compared to £5,194 if a receptionist on £18,000 were dealing with the same calls. The alternative of hiring a temp to cover the phones during the holidays can cost £2,300 each year, not taking into account the cost of training new temps each time someone goes on holiday.

Francesca Morgan from Oregan Networks comments, "Phone cover during the holidays is always a headache. Using temps just isn't cost effective and means we have to retrain them to our business needs whenever we employ them. As a leading software provider, with a global base of tier-one brand customers, it is important our phones are always answered. As a result, we looked at outsourcing this requirement, so our remaining team members could focus on their own jobs".

Reeves continues, "Answering the phone may seem simple, but many businesses under estimate the impact it has as a cost centre. Companies need to be thinking more strategically about how they handle this function, so resource isn't wasted, callers are given a positive first impression of their business and customer service doesn't fall short of expectations."

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