Using Messaging Service For The United States - 1365 Words

For many of us towers we have had the bright idea of trying to cover those low volume hours with a messaging service. Some of us have even had the bright idea of trying to find someone that could help take calls all the time. The luckier ones didn t let that ship sail too far before jumping and swimming back to safety. Everyone has a different reason why their attempt failed and many have tried. Can you blame them? Most towmen are small business owners without the volume needed to staff 24/7 so that one call at 3am always wakes up the most valuable person to the business: the towman. The messaging service road has led most to failure not because of the lack of potential on either side but because of the abundance of all the wrong†¦show more content†¦Even the basic terms like dispatching evoke different understandings between the parties at hand. Most towers understand that dispatching is not a one step process and in reality there are at least four parts to managing a custo mer s service request: the sales pitch/job estimation, call management (keeping up with the truck, customer payment), following up and garnishing customer service feedback and sometimes even lot management. Industry outsiders see dispatching as a one step process: take the information send it out and move on. When the tow man asks a messaging service what their hold times are they will usually get a straight forward answer; but what about ring times. Long ring times and long hold times are the first big step toward bad customer service. Some bill for ring times but don t tell you this, they ll also bill you patch throughs which literally cost nothing with modern equipment. It is almost impossible for most towmen to run their business and spend the time needed to make a wise decision on this matter. Throw billing tricks and the technical jargon of telephony in the mix and it s a feat if the towman makes it any distance down this road. These jargon barriers are the foundation of misunderstandings about what is really offered by a messaging service. To a messaging service provider dispatching is a synonym for message taking but to the tower dispatching is a sales process. You cannot expect a third party to