Answering Services

1st Formations is proud to offer professional answering services in partnership with our sister company, Bizik, a leading business support provider in the UK. Bizik offer telephone answering, managed live chat and dedicated business telephone numbers to clients.

Telephone Answering

£29.99 per month Buy Now

Bespoke Telephone Answering

Rely on Bizik's friendly UK-based receptionists to handle your calls promptly and professionally. A dedicated team will be assigned to represent your business and follow your call handling instructions, as if part of your in-house team.

What's included?

As part of this package you get a free Business Telephone Number and 20 receptionist minutes per month. Any additional minutes are charged at £1.50 per minute.

Dedicated team of experts

Bizik recruits experienced UK-based receptionists who will answer your customer calls promptly and professionally. Its careful hiring and training programme ensures the team is familiar with your business and equipped to provide outstanding service.

Professional call handling

During your onboarding, Bizik will collect your bespoke call-handling instructions and company information so their receptionists can use their experience and knowledge to handle your calls. Bizik trains its receptionists to sound like part of your team, ensuring natural, authentic conversations that perfectly represent your brand.

Diary management

With diary management, you can free up your time and stay on top of your schedule. Bizik's leading technology allows them to integrate with your calendar so the team can schedule appointments and manage your diary. You'll also receive real-time updates, so you know where you're expected to be and when. 

Online account management

Bizik's Telephone Answering Online Portal lets you manage your team's availability and call forwarding instructions anytime, anywhere in the world. Additionally, you'll get access to helpful tools like a reporting dashboard, message history - and much more.

Business Telephone Number

£9.99 per month Buy Now

Enhance your professional image

Make your business appear bigger and more established with a dedicated Bizik Business Telephone Number. Bizik offers unique London or regional telephone numbers and calls will be forwarded to your number of choice.

The Business Telephone Number Service costs £9.99 +VAT per month.

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Managed Live Chat

£54.99 per month Buy Now

Convert more leads into loyal customers

Capture more leads with Bizik's Managed Live Chat. Bizik will provide you with customisable Live Chat software that integrates with your website and a team of professional, UK-based agents to handle your chats on behalf of your business.

What's included?

As part of this package, you get 15 chats per month. Any additional chats are charged at £3.70 per chat.

Friendly, UK-based agents

Working as an extension of your team, Bizik's UK-based live chat experts are ready to resolve customer questions and enquiries in real-time. Bizik will prioritise customer service for you and eliminate the costly and challenging task of recruiting a dedicated team of Live Chat agents.

Full customisable software

Bizik allows you to maintain brand consistency with personalised Live Chat. You can add your logo, change colours, and customise buttons on your Live Chat to match your brand. You can also optimise the widget for mobile devices and change its position to your liking. 

Smart data capture tools

Bizik's agents are on hand to assist your customers, working alongside great technology to maximise sales. Bizik's clever Live Chat software allows you to capture visitor details through pre-chat forms and post-chat surveys. You can also set up proactive chats that can pop up on critical pages on your website.

Online portal

Access your transcripts, data dashboard and more with Bizik's Live Chat Online Portal. You can collect valuable data by setting up bespoke forms and surveys to collect additional data. You'll be able to see everything in real-time and even jump in to respond to chats yourself.

Why use our answering services?

Great customer service

Exceptional customer service with Bizik's dedicated team, who are available to assist you at all times

Experienced agents

Bizik's UK-based team of answering specialists are highly trained and knowledgeable about your business

Save money

Save time and money on hiring and training new staff - Bizik train their team to sound just like an in-house team

Capture more leads

Bizik's agents will ask the right questions so that they can collect valuable data and send enquiries to the relevant department

Online portal

Access an easy-to-use portal as part of your answering service, giving you access to useful customer insights and account settings

Diary management

Get meetings and appointments scheduled in your diary as part of your answering service, and get notified of any changes in real time

Want to speak to our Team?

Use the button below to schedule a meeting with the Bizik team

Answering Services FAQs

Who is Bizik?

Bizik, our sister company, is a leading UK service provider. They offer comprehensive services, including Business Telephone Numbers, Telephone Answering, Managed Live Chat, and Diary Management. Renowned for their exceptional customer service, Bizik delivers solutions tailored to businesses of all sizes.

What is telephone answering?

Telephone answering is an outsourced service where a dedicated team, not directly employed by your company, answers calls on behalf of your business. This team is extensively trained to handle enquiries, transfer calls and take messages with confidence. This solution provides the benefits of an in-house team while eliminating the need for full-time staff.

What is managed live chat?

Managed live chat is an outsourced service that integrates live chat software into your website. Chats received through your live chat are handled by a team of trained agents who chat to your web visitors on behalf of your business. This team undergoes thorough training on managing enquiries on behalf of your business, providing the benefits of an in-house team without needing full-time staff.

How does Bizik know that calls or chats are for my business?

You will be provided with a unique divert number or live chat code, which Bizik’s advanced system will associate with your company. Any calls or chats linked to this identifier will display your business name and relevant information to Bizik's team, enabling them to precisely handle interactions on your behalf.

How does Bizik ensure it handles my calls and chats appropriately?

During onboarding, Bizik gathers comprehensive information from you to build a detailed knowledge base about your business. Bizik's receptionists use knowledge and experience to answer calls and chats on behalf of your business. If there are any updates or critical changes, you can quickly inform Bizik's dedicated support team, ensuring your business information remains current.

Does Bizik answer all of my calls and chats?

Calls: Bizik offers flexible call management options. They can handle all incoming calls on your behalf or serve as an overflow service when your team is unavailable. The decision is entirely yours.

Chats: Bizik can manage all incoming chats for your business or provide your in-house team with logins to the chat hub, allowing your company to respond to chats directly if preferred.

Can SMS messages sent to my Business Telephone Number be forwarded to me?

If you are diverting your Business Telephone Number to a UK number you will be able to receive SMSs. Unfortunately, if you are diverting your purchased Business Telephone Number to a non-UK number, you won’t be able to receive SMSs.

What is diary management, and how does it work?

Diary management is a service whereby your dedicated answering team can access your diary to schedule appointments, book meetings and notify you of any appointment changes in real-time. Bizik will provide detailed instructions for integrating your Calendly account with your service, enabling your team to manage your schedule effectively. If you do not already have a Calendly account, you will receive guidance on setting up a free account. You will have complete control of your availability, allowing you to designate slots for Bizik to handle appointments.

How does Bizik answer my calls?

Bizik will answer all calls under your company name, using your specific call-handling instructions and business information to manage your calls. Their advanced system ensures that agents receive your unique company profile during each call, enabling consistent and bespoke service for your callers.

What message details will Bizik provide to me after a live chat conversation?

Bizik will handle questions during the live chat using the knowledge base established during onboarding. If a specific question cannot be answered, we will gather contact details so you can follow up with the web visitor. Once a chat has ended, you will receive complete transcripts via email and the online portal.

Can I view my message and transcript history?

You can access a comprehensive log of your call messages and chat transcripts through your online portal.

What happens to my calls and chats out of hours?

Calls: Bizik's standard working hours are 8.30am to 5.30 pm. Outside of these hours, your calls can be directed to a personalised voicemail message or redirected to a number of your choice so that you can continue answering them.

Chats: Bizik can either display an out-of-hours message and contact form to your customers or remove the chat button from your website.

What is the structure of Bizik's pricing plans?

Bizik provides a variety of flexible pricing plans tailored to different business needs, with inclusive options that bundle calls or chats. This ensures that you only pay for what you require.

How long are Bizik's contracts?

Bizik understands that customers want to avoid long-term contracts, so most plans have a three-month minimum commitment; however, some larger plans have a longer commitment of 6 or 12 months. To cancel your subscription, Bizik requires a notice period of one month from your next invoice date.