Call Center

Call Center

Our 24-hour call center has been in business since 1980, The Exchange is the largest answering and messaging service in the San Joaquin Valley. Our award winning operators are trained to deliver prompt, professional and competent customer service for all clients.

With our offices in Fresno, California, we are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to answer your calls and deliver your messages. All of our employees live and work in the U.S and we take pride in the fact that none of our call center operations are outsourced to overseas vendors. Our call center technology allows us to customize how calls are answered and handled for each client. When forwarded, calls ring into your account. Your instructions are automatically displayed on our customer service representatives' screens. We see how callers should be greeted and what information to obtain for messages. Additional services and benefits include:

Live Operators

Personalized Greetings

Customized Message Delivery

On-Call Scheduling

Digital Recordings of All Calls

Virtual Receptionist

Paging

Alarm Monitoring

Emergency Dispatching

Voicemail & Transcription

Our Services

Business Answering

Gain a competitive advantage over your competitors with our cost-effective answering solutions that provide the type of high-quality customer service you expect when your clients call. When calls ring in, your specific instructions are automatically displayed on our customer service representatives' screens. We see how callers should be greeted and what information to obtain for messages.

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Medical Answering

We specialize in providing tailored answering services for the medical community. Our operators are standing by to provide after hours support so your patients can receive the standard of care that you expect. Whether you are a solo practitioner, group practice, clinic or large medical care facility, we deliver the most accurate and efficient medical answering services available.

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Towing Dispatch (24/7 Dispatch)

Our dispatchers are experts in handling the various types of calls received in the tow industry. We have experience handling law enforcement and motor club calls and offer a variety of ways for your drivers to communicate with our team.

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FAQs

How can I get messages delivered to me?

You specify how your messages should be delivered. Messages can be delivered in a variety of ways:

FAX (weekly, once a day, twice a day or more frequent, or after every message)
Email (sent to just one email or multiple)
Voicemail
Pager
Cell phone text message
Voice if you call in or ask us to call you
We can contact you or your staff directly in a way that specifically meets your needs, including connecting (or “patching”) the caller directly
Copies of messages are archived for 7 years and can be retrieved upon request

How do On-Call Schedules work and is there an additional cost?

Doctors, property managers, plumbers, criminal defense attorneys, social service workers, and tow truck drivers all get calls after normal business hours. Our on-call scheduling software and protocols makes it easy for clients to share the responsibility for taking calls with colleagues and coworkers.

We maintain on-call schedules for our clients at no extra cost. Schedules can be changed as often as needed to make sure calls get to someone who can help. Our software allows on-call schedules to be entered months in advance. We know how important on-call schedules are so we call our clients when schedules need to be updated.

On-call schedules can be for any duration and can be updated as frequently as needed.

Do you still offer pagers?

Yes, lots of doctors still prefer pagers for many reasons. We can provide you with your choice of digital or alphanumeric pagers. You can "lease" a pager from us or choose to use your own device.

If you lease a pager from us and the pager breaks or has issues, we can transfer your number onto a new replacement pager that we have in stock. There is no additional cost to transfer the number to the new pager.

When you text or page a message, how do you know if a client received the message?

Pagers: Our system confirms we sent messages out and digitally timestamps the message. It does not confirm receipt of messages by the pagers, but our system does confirm the message was successfully delivered to the paging provider. Any number of variables can affect the delivery of messages to the actual pager including dead pager batteries, paging network overloads, and being out of range.

Cell Phones: Our system confirms messages were delivered to the cell phone provider, digitally timestamps the message, and as long as you’re in cell phone range, we can say with a high level of certainty the message should have been received. If for some reason your cell phone is turned off, or out of cell phone service, all of the messages sent will be received when the phone is either turned back on or you come into a range with cell service.

Are you really open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year?

Yes, our Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) answer our clients' calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. Calls are answered with each client's name and personalized greeting. We also have a supervisor on every shift so we can address any concerns you may have as quickly as possible.

How do my calls get to your service?

There are several different ways to set this up, and we’re happy to discuss all the options and determine which best fits your needs.

Clients must place call forwarding on the phone lines they want us to answer. There are three kinds of call forwarding:
- Busy Call Forwarding. If your phone is busy, it automatically forwards to us so we can answer the calls. Your callers will never receive annoying busy signals again.
- No Answer Call Forwarding. If your phone isn't answered after a predetermined number of rings, it automatically forwards to us so we can answer the calls. This is a great solution for small offices because calls are still answered even if the receptionist needs to step away for a few minutes.
- Manual Call Forwarding. You manually activate, and deactivate, call forwarding.

We provide clients with a Direct Inward Dial (DID) number to which their phones should be forwarded. If clients choose manual call forwarding, they dial 72# followed by their assigned DID number. To deactivate call forwarding, they dial 73#.

If clients choose Busy Call Forwarding and No Answer Call Forwarding, they should give the DID number we assign them to their phone company. The phone company will permanently call forward their phones to the DID number we provide. Most clients choose these call forwarding services so their calls are answered even if employees forget to forward their lines.

We can provide either a tollfree number or a local number with the area code you choose. Either of these numbers can then be given to your clients as a way to contact you through our service.

What happens when my calls ring to your service?

Our answering service system allows us to customize how calls are answered and handled for each client. When forwarded, calls ring in and your instructions are automatically displayed on our Customer Service Representatives' screens. Our Customer Service Representatives see how callers should be greeted and what information to obtain for messages. Message forms are pre-formatted according to your specifications to ensure the delivery of complete information.

Is your service and technology reliable?

We house an inventory of backup parts for all computer systems. This allows us to repair and maintain our systems with minimal downtime. We also have a 40 KW natural gas generator so operations continue despite power failures.

Our in-house technicians maintain our computer and telecommunications systems. Our software vendors are also able to dial into our system remotely to diagnose and fix any problems that arise. We take every precaution because our goal is reliable service with minimal interruptions.

We also have multiple internet connections that automatically fail over if a provider ever goes down.

What type of reports do you have?

We track absolutely everything. We can generate reports that show ring, hold, and talk times. We record all calls and we even have screen shots of our operator screens as they’re handling your calls. The reports show the days and times when calls arrived and the numbers to which they were delivered. These statistics help our clients plan their workloads and help us schedule manpower.

What if I need a toll free 800 number?

We maintain an inventory of nationwide toll-free phone numbers for our clients' use. Toll-free numbers have a low monthly service charge and nominal per-minute usage fee.

Toll-free numbers allow callers to reach our clients without long distance charges.

What type of voicemail services do you offer?

We offer an integrated voicemail system with many powerful features and options including:

Voicemail transcription. Our Customer Service Representatives can listen to your voicemail messages when they arrive, transcribe them, and send them as an abbreviated text message to your cell phone, wireless device, or email. Clients know immediately who called and why. With a single stroke, they can return the call immediately. Or, they can listen to the entire voicemail message before calling back.
Call Cascading. Our voicemail can be configured to call a series of numbers, such as work, cell, and home, until messages are actually delivered. This insures that clients never miss important calls.
Follow Me Feature. Before callers can leave a voicemail message, our system will try to reach them on their work, cell, or home numbers. If calls are answered, callers are transferred through without ever realizing they reached voicemail first. If calls are not answered, callers are given the option of leaving voicemail messages.
Message Distribution. Voicemail messages can be forwarded to multiple voicemail boxes. Clients can record messages and quickly distribute them to groups of employees, customers, or others who subscribe to our voicemail system.
Voicemail "trees." Our voicemail system supports a single voicemail box or complex voicemail trees. It can facilitate business in multiple languages.... "For English, press 1, for Spanish press 2." Or, it can be configured to capture survey responses or a variety of other information.
Operator assisted voicemail. Everyone hates voicemail purgatory. Our system allows callers to exit to reach a human who can help them.

Our voicemail system is easy to use and inexpensive to set up.

Why should I use your service?

People call because they want to talk to a human, not a machine. We make it possible.
People want the phone to be answered within the first couple of rings. We make it happen.
People want answers to their problems. We go the extra mile to help.
People don't want to be left on hold. We continuously monitor our performance and strive to improve.
People want to be treated courteously and professionally. We make it a priority.

What if I have a problem with my service?

We don't want our clients to suffer in silence. If our service doesn't meet their expectations, we encourage them to let us know. All problems are investigated in a timely manner. We will then follow-up and let clients know what we find. We don't make excuses if the mistakes are ours. Instead, we take steps to prevent future occurrences. Please call us to report problems or use this convenient online form (anonymous reports are not accepted).

Testimonials

The Exchange has provided great support to our organization from fielding member calls, to taking on and implementing projects to improve the operations of our organization.

Nanda Nandkishore, CBI, CBB
Acacia Group, Inc.

The Exchange has been invaluable to our Society. They have truly taken us to a level which we could not have achieved on our own.

Michelle Cochran, MD, DFAPA
Nashville Center for Hope & Healing

Communication is easy. They assisted us with our staff transition, which was seamless and constantly recommend ways in which our organization can save money.

Cheryl Young, MS, R.T.(T)
Program Director at National University

The Exchange has allowed our non-profit to operate more efficiently and effectively, reducing the workload for our volunteer members and expanding our ability to impact the community at reduced cost.

Micaela Banach
Noonan Lance Boyer & Banach

The Exchange is a tremendous asset to our organization and continues to prove that year after year.

Hanu Damerla, MD
LA County Department of Mental Health

The Exchange has been the essential element in reducing, simplifying and stabilizing the finances required for the day to day management of our organization.

Sydney T Wright, MD
Psychiatrist

From the time we started working with The Exchange we have seen growth in our membership, increased attendance at our annual meetings, and the implementation of a quarterly newsletter.

Jane Gagliardi, MD
Duke University School of Medicine

The Exchange has been pivotal to our organization's growth and success. I cannot say enough good things about them.

Kimberly Cress, MD
Greenbrook TMS Therapy

Over the past 6 years the Exchange has changed the face and the energy of our Society. The professionalism of their staff has brought our organization into the 21st Century!

Zena Potash, MD
Psychiatrist

I wholeheartedly recommend the Exchange.

Neal Rockwood
Rockwood & Noziska

The Exchange is extremely reliable, accountable and proactive in serving the vast needs of our organization.

Amy Cole, MBA, CBB, CBI, M&AMI
ABI Business Sales Mergers & Acquisitions