TELEPHONE APPOINTMENTS

Here are some important information tips about TELEPHONE APPOINTMENTS:

With anything, there is good and bad, and this info page is to help limit the bad.

  • Your appointment is set for a certain time (in most cases).  The person you have the appointment with will call you between the start time and 30 minutes after the start time (in most cases).  
  • BEFORE the start time of your APPOINTMENT and during the 30 minutes you should do the following:
    • Make sure you are in the location WHERE you plan to have the appointment.   You are being billed for the time you are moving to the location you want to have the private call at.  In some cases, it may not matter, but for example, if the time you take to the person from our office is 17 minutes and you take two minutes to get to the place where you want to have the call, it just cost you 1/10 of an hour in billable time.
    • If using a wireless phone, make sure the location you are at your phone works and there is NOT spotty coverage.  This sometimes means driving to a good coverage location.
    • Answer the phone.   Understand that the person calling you may or may not be calling from the office, in fact, they could be calling from a PRIVATE or RESTRICTED number.  
    • What happens if the call goes to voice mail or you miss the call or you try to screen calls?   Again, ANSWER THE PHONE and MAKE SURE THE LOCATION YOU ARE AT YOUR PHONE WORKS AND THERE IS NOT SPOTTY COVERAGE.   You likely will NOT be able to call back for two reasons.  1.  The person calling you, even if the caller ID shows our office number, may not be at the location where the person in our office answering your call back would be able to transfer the call.  2.  It is our practice to move on to the next call to see if they are available sooner.

The best way to treat TELEPHONE APPOINTMENTS is that it is an appointment.   If you had an appointment in our office, you would be sitting in the lobby waiting for your meeting.  This should be no different.   TELEPHONE APPOINTMENTS should not be treated as you are able to go about your day and when the phone rights, then you stop what you are doing, and go to a location to have your meeting.   Yes, this is not the most convenient, but it still saves time over driving to the office for an appointment.    Understand missing an appointment may require rebooking the appointment and you end up getting billed 1/10 of the hour for the call for your appointment.   Depending on how booked the person is, it could take time to get another appointment.

While we understand people “live on their wireless devices”, some tips to consider are:

  • See if WiFi calling is available and if it is right for you.  It sometimes provides better coverage
  • VoceMail.  Make sure your VoiceMail is set up, and there is space to leave a message. 
  • Sometimes the person calling can provide you with information on your VoiceMail so another appointment is not needed.  If you miss a call and get a VoiceMail alert, check the VoiceMail before calling the office as this could save you money.  Imagine if you miss the call, you are billed for that call, and if a message is left, you still receive information you may have been looking for.   If you call back without checking your VoiceMail, and you are lucky enough to be able to talk to the person, you are billed for a second call.

VOICEMAIL UPGRADES:  While not all providers offer this option, for only a few bucks a month, some providers can increase the number of messages your VoiceMail box can accept.   This is a great option for Power Users when it comes to cell phones.