Specialty Answering Service Review

Specialty Answering Service (SAS) is our pick as the best overall answering service. It has decades of experience across several industries and multiple flexible pricing plans. SAS is HIPAA-compliant as well; its agents are trained to handle sensitive communications in a secure manner. It's focused on numerous verticals, including the healthcare, legal and finance industries. In addition to answering services, SAS offers inbound and outbound call center services, which is a good option for growing companies and bigger businesses that need help with technical support, market research and dealer location services.

Pricing

SAS offers eight pricing plans. Pricing is based on a certain number of minutes used each month. The monthly subscription packages make SAS a flexible, affordable solution for businesses that have a low call volume and those that have phone lines that are constantly busy. The company offers a 14-day free trial; you don't need to provide a credit card in advance, and there are no obligations once the trial period is up.

Here's more about Specialty Answering Services' eight pricing plans:

• Plan A: $31 per month, plus an overage fee of $1.19 per minute
• Plan B: $117 per month for 100 minutes, plus an overage fee of $1.09 per minute
• Plan C: $199 per month for 220 minutes, in addition to an overage fee of $1.09 per minute
• Plan D: $490 per month for 500 minutes, plus an overage fee of 99 cents per minute
• Plan E: $925 for 1,000 minutes, plus an overage fee of 95 cents per minute
• Plan F: $2,200 for 2,500 minutes, in addition to an overage fee of 89 cents per minute
• Plan G: $4,199 for 5,000 minutes, plus an overage fee of 85 cents per minute
• Plan H: $7,749 for 10,000 minutes, plus an overage fee of 79 cents per minute

Plans are flexible, you're not bound by a long-term contract, and you can change your plan according to your expected call volume, a convenient feature for seasonal businesses.

SAS charges a one-time setup fee of $50, which was average compared to similar fees charged by other answering services we evaluated. However, SAS often waives the setup fee for clients that sign up for service immediately following their free trial.

In the answering service industry, many companies bill in 6-second increments, which means call time is rounded up to the nearest 6-second mark. For example, a call lasting 1 minute and 1 second would be billed as 1.1 minutes, or 1 minute and 6 seconds. Incremental billing inflates usage, reducing the number of remaining minutes allotted to your business each month. SAS bills by the second, meaning call time is never rounded up. You are only billed for the time that agents spend with callers.

Features and Services

SAS is more heavily focused on inbound call services, but it can perform outbound telemarketing as well.

Here's a look at some of the key services the company offers.

Answering Services

• Live answering: Using a script that you provide, SAS agents assist your customers 24/7/365. Your business can utilize SAS during business hours, after hours or for overflow calls only.
  
  
• Message taking: SAS will capture callers' names, contact info, reason for calling and will forward it to a point of contact in your company via email, text message or whichever method of notification you prefer.
  
  
• Order processing: If you operate an e-commerce site, SAS agents can help your customers with questions and their purchases. It has a PCI-compliant portal and network.
  
  
• Lead capture: SAS can capture the details of callers inquiring about a product or service and update your company's CRM accordingly.
  
  
• Appointment scheduling: Agents can set new appointments using a shared calendar. You can view the schedules in real time, in addition to receiving a notification when a new appointment is set.
  
  
• Bilingual support: SAS agents are fluent in both English and Spanish.
  
  
• Client portal: A client portal, which can be accessed through the web or on SAS' mobile application, details account usage in real time, including the number of calls coming in, the duration of each call, the result of each call and more. You can delve further into the statistics to learn who is calling, the common reasons behind calls and where callers are located. Last, you can easily make adjustments to your script, which are then updated in real time for SAS.

Call Center Services

• Help desk: SAS' call center can function as an IT help desk for callers needing assistance troubleshooting software or technical products. If agents aren't able to resolve the issue to the caller's satisfaction, the call is then referred to a point of contact in your company.
  
  
• Sales: SAS can act as an outsourced sales department for inbound calls. Its agents can conduct common sales functions, including upselling and cross-selling.
  
  
• Locate a dealer: If your business uses distributors, agents can help callers find suppliers in their area.
  
  
• Market research: SAS agents can conduct polls and surveys to generate new insights into your target audience.

Specialty Answering Service Pros

SAS is the best overall answering service because of its competitive pricing and extensive features. SAS has decades of experience working with companies in the agriculture, construction, energy, entertainment, financial, healthcare, legal, real estate and retail industries. It complies with HIPAA regulations and trains its agents on how to treat sensitive communications.

Its services can be customized to suit your business. Whether your business is based in a highly specialized field, or you need help with order taking or an urgent response, SAS covers all the bases. Its multiple pricing plans make it a suitable option for businesses small and large, and it can easily scale services to accommodate the needs of a growing company.  

Specialty Answering Service Cons

SAS' per-minute rates for the lower-volume plans cost more compared to the rates charged by other services we evaluated. For small businesses on a tight budget, the rates could be too expensive. For the higher-volume plans, though, SAS' rates are very competitive. For growing, midsized and larger businesses, however, SAS is a cost-effective and feature-rich option.

Customer Service

SAS provided some of the best customer service we encountered. We placed calls to more than a dozen call centers and answering services – the SAS representative we spoke with was very friendly and knowledgeable.

We told the representative in our first call that our hypothetical business was not ready to buy – we were only in the research stage. That did not discourage the representative from spending a great deal of time on the phone with us explaining aspects of SAS' service, such as onboarding, pricing, the typical services SAS provides to businesses and how we could potentially scale with the service.

Despite the representative's obvious enthusiasm for SAS, we never felt pushed to make a buying decision. Following the call, the representative quickly followed up with additional materials and checked in to see if we had any questions, again never pressuring us to sign up. Overall, our customer service experience with SAS was exceptional.

Ready to choose a call center service? Here's a breakdown of our complete coverage:

• Choosing a Call Center Service: A Buyer's Guide
• Best Call Center Services
• Best Overall Call Center Service
• Best Inbound Call Center Service
• Best Outbound Call Center Service
• Best Call Center Services for Low-Volume Businesses
• Best Answering Service Overall
• Best Pay-as-You-Go Answering Service

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