Virtual receptionist services were already enjoying rapid growth before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this global event has displayed how vital it is for companies to modernize health and safety procedures. They also need the right equipment to protect their staff and customers.

When people begin to re-enter physical workplaces, they will naturally have concerns about their safety. But a virtual receptionist service can give them peace of mind. Unfortunately, not all systems have the ability to reduce risks. But, when you know what to look for, you can find the right system for your business.

Read on to find out how the ALICE Receptionist service can help with your health and safety requirements. 

Health and Safety Features During COVID-19

It was impossible to predict the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses around the world. Hopefully, professionals will not have to take the same precautions for much longer. But for now, there is a need for specialized technology to keep workers safe. 

The intelligent ALICE Receptionist system has helped many companies respond quickly to the changing landscape. For offices that remained open, even to a smaller extent, ALICE provided visitors with a safer working environment.

The ALICE Receptionist platform uses a thermal camera for temperature screening and can identify if a person is wearing a face mask. 

The addition of health questionnaires allows companies to establish if a visitor should enter the premises. It is also possible to display health & safety policies and procedures. Outside of health screenings, ALICE can also reduce the number of high-risk visitors by screening them against the US Consolidated Screening List and Customizable Private Screening Lists. 

Importantly, visitors never need to touch the screen. They use motion-activated disposable stylus dispensers to reduce the risk of contamination. Or they can use their mobile device to control the ALICE screen, for a complete touchless experience.

These features are essential for protecting the health of all parties in a building. But they also ensure businesses can prove they are taking steps to protect everyone on their premises. Not only is this beneficial for employee morale, but it also enhances a company’s reputation. 

Features Beyond COVID-19

Of course, the hope is that the COVID-19 pandemic will be over sooner rather than later. If this is the case, you’ll want to be sure your investment in a virtual receptionist system provides a good return on investment. In reality, this type of system was always expected to become common place in the lobby environment.

As technology advances, there will only be more reasons to purchase these intelligent devices.

Visitor Management Services

It can be time-consuming and unnecessary for a receptionist to deal with visitor management duties. They already need to answer the phone, direct calls, and respond to online queries. If they are too busy, they may not keep track of who is checking in and who has left the premises.

This can pose a serious risk to the people in the building, especially in an emergency such as a fire.  Therefore, it can be a great aid to have virtual receptionist software help them throughout their day.

When a visitor arrives, they can enjoy a friendly greeting as they check-in at the kiosk. You can set up an induction program, print visitor badges, and provide important instructions. There is even an employee notification system, so your staff know their client is in the building. 

Virtual Receptionist Security Measures

A virtual office receptionist can also provide many health and safety advantages for staff. The ALICE system can provide records showing that the user reviewed and accepted video instructions, or signed off on office health and safety policies.

Visitor photos can also help verify a guest’s identity. This means employees can go back in the visitor record and find out if someone was in the building at a specific time.

Visitor and Staff Links

There may be occasions when a client comes to your premises but does not need to go an employee’s office. In fact, this may be preferable to avoid the spread of infection. This doesn’t have to be due to COVID-19; it could be that a client has a cold or the flu and doesn’t want to infect others. 

In this scenario, they can use the ALICE Receptionist system to place a voice or video call to the relevant staff member. This means someone who is sick will not be walking throughout your building, possibly infecting many other employees.

Contact ALICE Receptionist Today

ALICE Receptionist is an industry leader in virtual receptionist services. Our full-service visitor management solutions help businesses reduce the risk to the health and safety of visitors as well as employees. With a range of customizable features, you can create the ideal user experience for visitors in a cost-effective manner.

Our software is at the cutting-edge of modern technology, and we take pride in providing our services to multiple industries. We look forward to discussing your requirements and forming a long-term partnership.

For a consultation and a free quote, contact the ALICE Receptionist team today.

Virtual assistant technology and adoption was already a $5.82 billion industry when the pandemic struck in 2020. According to a recent study, it’s expected to grow annually by about 28.5 percent between now and 2028.

Clearly, businesses see the value. In the following article, we’ll be examining the capabilities and the benefits of a virtual receptionist. Let’s begin!

What Can Virtual Receptionists Do?

The specific functions of a virtual receptionist are broad. What a system does depends on what you need. Some use their as a virtual waiting room by detecting visitors and offering basic greetings.

Others, patch calls immediately to the appropriate personnel. As this technology continues to develop, it will effectively reduce the administrative workload to nothing.

How Is ALICE Exceptional?

You can choose from several virtual receptionist platforms, but not all are created equally. The ALICE Receptionist system is engineered to integrate with many popular enterprise system brands like Siemens, Cisco, Slack and Azure.

It’s exceptional in how much it can take off the plates of companies to focus their talent on areas that grow the business. Some of the features include the following:

• Visitor detection and greeting
• Connectivity through tenant and employee directory listings
• Video/audio calls
• Induction documentation and videos
• Employee notifications
• Temperature checks
• Maps
• Forms

With the pandemic of 2020 forcing more contactless administrative tasks, companies expect more from their virtual tools. The ALICE Receptionist offers that along with a slew of additional benefits.

1. Use Your Talent in Better Ways

ALICE gives organizations the ability to do more with their talent. Take the healthcare sector as an example. Registered nurses are highly skilled positions that can be spending their time in better ways than collecting forms and entering data.

The ALICE Receptionist can take this fundamental and mundane task off the plate of these hard-working professionals so they can focus more on patient care. This can also reduce clients’ frustration who don’t have to wait as long to be seen.

2. Better Serve Your Customers

Many of the questions, concerns, and needs that customers have can be handled quickly without human intervention, playing phone tag, or waiting, as mentioned above. A well-organized, robust virtual assistant like ALICE empowers customers to find solutions to their problems more quickly through a few essential question-and-answer exchanges.

When customers can address their issues promptly, their frustration levels go down. When they’re unable to find solutions on their own, they’re more easily able to connect with someone who can help them, thanks to those employees being freed up from the mundane tasks that the virtual program is handling.

3. Handle Scheduling More Easily

Scheduling is another task that doesn’t require much interaction. What used to be possible only with a live greeter or guest interaction can now be done in seconds.

The employee benefit to this is that your talent doesn’t have to take time out of their core tasks for something that requires no specialized training. The client or customer benefit is that they can set up an appointment easily on their own time.

4. Add a Touch of Professionalism

Using the ALICE Receptionist to greet and interact with your clients or customers adds a professional touch to how they see you. Instead of wading into unfamiliar territory with an empty office lobby and a directory, or portal to your website, they’re immediately welcomed and shepherded to the appropriate channels.

This type of immediate care incorporates cutting-edge technology that presents your company as a forward-thinking leader in the business. As a result, more customers have a favorable impression of the services you provide.

5. Makes Customers Feel They Can Always Connect

Whether it’s a virtual check-in or a referral to the FAQ for answers to common questions, customers using ALICE always feel like they can connect. They won’t feel lost or confused with ALICE to guide them.

Constant connectivity gives the impression that you’re always open. This allows your business to work for you outside of “normal hours,” and makes clients or customers feel like you’re available on their terms, 24/7.

6. Problem Solving

Another key benefit of a virtual receptionist is something we’ve already mentioned but is nonetheless deserving of its own space: problem-solving. Your ALICE Receptionist can ascertain what your clients and customers need with a short dialogue.

From there, it can connect them to the right solutions that will quickly handle problems that might be described as “low-hanging fruit.” This clears out your workload, allowing human capital to provide the more specialized care that customers with advanced issues or questions require.

7. Conquer the Wait Times

The healthcare profession is an excellent example of how the ALICE Receptionist can ease frustrations. Medical facilities can get a bad reputation for wait times. No one likes sitting out in the lobby wondering when their name will be called.

It starts to feel more like “if” than “when.” Or at least, that seemed to be the case before reliance on virtual programs came into being.

Today, patients can check-in, as well as fill out appropriate forms, advance of their appointment.

8. Save Money

Installing a kiosk helps your clients and customers become more self-sufficient, while saving you money. It does this by reducing the amount spent on unskilled employees or overtime for skilled employees who would otherwise be forced to do unskilled labor.

Put a Virtual Receptionist to Work for You

Having a receptionist like ALICE comes with too many benefits to ignore. Suppose you’re in technology, healthcare, or any sector where your employees are tasked with too many unskilled jobs that could be handled with a bit of technological intervention. In that case, you should consider it for your company today.

Sign up today or contact ALICE Receptionist with any questions you may have.