By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
Though some people have a wait-and-see attitude toward the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most hold polarized views, either loving it or hating it. Many business owners and managers, including telephone answering services, are wary.
They see the ACA as one more item pressuring their business’s viability and threatening their future.
While this may be true, there is another facet of the ACA that’s good news for the TAS industry. The fact that many businesses are struggling to deal with the cost implications of the ACA signals opportunities for companies that provide outsourced services.
This includes telephone answering services.
As companies strategize how to deal with the ACA by not hiring new employees, asking existing ones to do more, increasing hours of current staff, and tapping part-time workers, pressure builds within their organization. Eventually, something has to give.
TASs are in a great position to relieve some of that pressure for these companies: taking overflow calls during the day; covering the phones during vacations, absences, and even breaks; and handling after-hours calls.
In addition, TASs can also process email and respond to social media interactions for companies with overworked and stretched staff.
Although telephone answering services must deal with the ACA just like everyone else, they are also in a position to help other companies deal with some of the pain the ACA causes.
Learn more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s book, How to Start a Telephone Answering Service.
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of TAS Trader, covering the telephone answering service industry. Check out his books How to Start a Telephone Answering Service and Sticky Customer Service.