What You Need to Look for in Virtual Front-Desk Receptionist Software

“Virtual receptionist software” is a type of software that is slowly becoming more popular as a front desk option. Virtual receptionist software makes remote work possible for receptionists by enabling many of the functions and tasks that they normally do in-person. With work-from-home becoming a popular work arrangement, virtual receptionist software is turning into a potential prospect for businesses that want to make the switch for their front desk.

The challenge with choosing virtual receptionist software is knowing what features to look for. Some organizations may be fine with software that offer basic features like appointment scheduling and visitor management. Others may seek more robust features like live-streaming receptionists and document scanning in their ideal receptionist software.

Whatever features you look for, the most essential aspect you have to consider is how well the virtual receptionist software replicates a physical front desk experience for both your receptionists and visitors.

Enables receptionist tasks

Your receptionist software must allow your receptionists to perform basic tasks as they can in person, including:

• Facilitating the check-in and check-out process
• Responding to customer inquiries
• Scheduling appointments
• Answering calls
• Responding to emails

In a remote setup, receptionists can perform many of these tasks with various apps. However, some tasks require specialized front desk software to perform, such as:

• Administering intake forms
• Scanning documents
• Processing payments

Thus, your receptionist software must enable your front desk team to perform these tasks as if they’re working in person.

Enhances current workflow

Remote front desk work involves a different workflow from in-person front desk work. On a basic level, your receptionist software should be capable of transitioning your front desk’s current workflow into a remote work setup.

This means that the ideal front desk software must be:

• Fast
• Intuitive
• Easy to use

It can be counterproductive if your receptionists struggle with navigating and using the software. Thus, you should look for software that your receptionists can easily and quickly integrate into their workflow.

Multiple-location coverage

Your receptionist software should do more than enable your receptionists to work remotely — it must also let them view and manage multiple front desks simultaneously. These added features can increase the ROI of your receptionists and prevent underutilization. Ideally, you should look for receptionist software that allows you to use the same front desk team for all your locations.

WelcomeWare, for example, allows businesses to manage their front desk operations across multiple areas simultaneously with a single receptionist team.

Reporting dashboard

Since your receptionists work remotely, you need a different way to measure front desk performance. Receptionist software can do this through a reporting dashboard, accessible only to supervisors or managers of your front desk operations.

The dashboard should track the following metrics:

• How many receptionists are active at any given time
• How many times a customer interacts with the platform
• How many times a receptionist answers a customer interaction on cue
• How long each customer interaction takes

If your receptionist software has a reporting dashboard, you’ll be able to track how well your front desk is performing and know what kind of feedback to give to your receptionists.

Flexible with any equipment

Some front desk software providers may also offer complementary hardware. However, the ideal receptionist software must be flexible and usable with any hardware. Some items to consider:

• Your front desk staff should easily access the software with their current home equipment.
• It can be expensive to buy new hardware for your receptionists just to use the software.
• In addition, you may be limited to your current on-site hardware due to budget.

For instance, WelcomeWare’s software is a web-based application, which means it can work on any device with an internet browser.

Virtual receptionist software is only one part of the remote front desk experience. To have a fully virtual front-desk, you also need the hardware and the receptionists. WelcomeWare offers an all-in-one platform that includes software, hardware, and dedicated receptionists to enable your business to have the full virtual medical receptionist front-desk experience.