Pennsylvania (PA) Business Blog

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HIPAA Compliance with Doctor Answering Services

Posted by pabusiness on November 19, 2009

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a privacy Act mandating that medical records of individuals are confidential and must be transported via secure channels. Penalties can be imposed if the rules are not followed by individuals in the medical field, or anyone handling patient information. A doctor answering service protects the privacy of patients during the communications process, and they are able to comply with the mandatory HIPAA regulations. Doctor answering services have highly trained and certified agents who use professional scripting to gather the appropriate information and to handle it suitably. It is also a highly technological telecommunications field which has disaster recovery plans to protect patient information; the proper storage and recovery of which is also a requirement of HIPAA.

Doctor answering service agents are trained to use information only for the purposes for which it is intended from patients and doctors. An answering service is a professional and accurate means to meet patient needs, and they avoid long hold times or busy signals for patients. They provide coverage for overflow calls in a doctor’s office, and after hours and emergency call handling. In addition to answering calls, agents have the capability to triage to the correct medical professional, schedule appointments, and obtain referral information.

An answering service staff has ongoing HIPAA training to assure secure voice communications, and safe storage of information. Reasonable precautions are taken for the security of electronic information transfers such as pagers, email, fax and internet. HIPAA assures that a patient’s information is protected, while allowing the flow of information needed for the patient’s care. Answering service agents work with great accuracy and care to meet patient needs, and always comply with HIPAA regulations.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “HIPAA Compliance with Doctor Answering Services” notes that answering services do comply with mandatory HIPAA regulations. AllVoiceUSA.com provides a full range of answering services including doctor answering services

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Protecting a Home Inspector with Proactive Measures and Home Inspector Insurance

Posted by pabusiness on November 19, 2009

The home inspection field is infamous for having many lawsuits, even when a home inspector is not at fault for any problems which may have occurred. Even the very best of home inspectors are sued, and they need to protect themselves and their businesses with home inspector insurance in case this happens. There are measures they can take in addition to having home inspector insurance to protect themselves.
Being educated and certified in the home inspection field, and using consistent, industry standard wording can avoid a lawsuit. This helps the homeowner understand a home inspector’s opinion of the condition of the home. A signed and dated agreement and discussions with the homeowner can also shield a home inspector from legal action. Pictures are a great way to document the condition of a home during the inspection. They can be a permanent part of an inspection report, and are an excellent representation of a home’s condition at the time of the inspection.

Homeowners must realize that some problems cannot be recognized at the time of a home inspection. For example, if moisture and leakage occur in a basement only during heavy rains or thaws, an inspector could not detect this during a dry period. Home inspectors give a visual examination, and they do not take apart systems, nor do they remove carpeting or furniture. They do not perform invasive or destructive tests because a home inspector is a generalist, and their job is to give an overall assessment of the condition of a home.

Unfortunately, if a homeowner does not understand this, they can hold the inspector responsible. Home inspector insurance is necessary to protect a business in these situations. Home inspectors should itemize what is not included in a home inspection to help the homeowner fully understand the service provided, and to know what to expect, and what not to expect. Communicating with the customer on all levels always enhances understanding, and could avoid conflicts.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “Protecting a Home Inspector with Proactive Measures and Home Inspector Insurance” notes what a home inspector can do to protect themselves from legal action. Eiipro.com offers competitive, cost effective home inspector insurance

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Help Desk Support Specialist Job

Posted by pabusiness on October 27, 2009

Career opportunities and job listings are available all over the country for Help Desk Support Specialist. A Help Desk Support Specialist is employed by many different types of companies to serve as a direct point of contact for customers through a variety of means, by telephone, by e-mail, fax, and regular mail. Some Help Desk Support Specialist handles general questions and complaints, whereas others specialize in aparticular product or service.

Help Desk Support Specialist Job Requirements:

  • Education — Most Help Desk Support Specialist jobs require only a high school diploma. However, because employers are demanding a higher skilled workforce, many Help Desk Support Specialist jobs now require an associate or bachelor’s degree.
  • Communication A Help Desk Support Specialist constantly interacts with the public, good communication and problem-solving skills are a must. For a Help Desk Support Specialist who communicates through e-mail so writing skills are also necessary. Basic to intermediate computer knowledge and good interpersonal skills also are important to those who wish to be successful in the field.

Help Desk Support Specialist Training:

A Help Desk Support Specialist is provided with some training prior to beginning work. This training generally includes customer service and phone skills, information on products and services, information about common customer problems, the use of the telephone and computer systems, and company policies and regulations.

A Help Desk Support Specialist plays a critical role in providing an interface between customers and companies. As a result, employers seek out people who are friendly and ability to deal patiently with problems and complaints and to remain courteous when faced with difficult or angry people is very important. Also, a Help Desk Support Specialist needs to be able to work independently within specified time constraints. A person wiling to have Help Desk Support Specialist job should have a clear and pleasant speaking voice and be fluent in English. However, the ability to speak a foreign language is becoming increasingly necessary as many companies offer bi-lingual services.

Join the exciting field of communications and customer service. A Help Desk Support Specialist is a fast growing field with opportunity for advancement into management opportunities.

Linda Dunkelberger is a freelance writer and editor. To read more about “Help Desk Support Specialist Jobs” please visit GoAcaNow.com. Answer Center America Inc. (www. goACAnow.com) an Industry leader, repeatedly delivers Help Desk Support Specialist and call center solutions to fuel precise communication needs and exceeding customer expectations.

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Spanish Call Center for Your Business’s Spanish Answering Service Needs

Posted by pabusiness on October 23, 2009

The key to thriving business practices starts with clear communications.  In today’s diverse business market, the need to reach out to the Spanish speaking population is essential.    The Spanish speaking community deserves the right to be understood and to receive information that they can understand.  It will be happen when you hire a Spanish call center for your Spanish speaking customers. A Spanish call center will fulfill your need for a Spanish call center by providing a bi-lingual, live call center in Spanish.

Following are some important points you should consider before choosing a Spanish call center:

  • Before choosing Spanish call center you should make sure that the Spanish call center is a reputed Spanish call center and provide high quality Spanish answering service.
  • Your Spanish call center should be used for taking orders for products and services, or for a help desk to answer routine customer questions.
  • Your Spanish call center should provide features 24-hour care, 7 days a week.
  • Make sure that your Spanish call center also includes Spanish chat, email monitoring and response services, emergency messaging and dispatch, after hours call answering and emergency call overflow etc.
  • Your Spanish call center should must including the following services:
    • Virtual Switch Board Services
    • Email Monitoring Services
    • Email Response Services
    • Employee Call Off Hotline
    • Inbound Fax Services
    • Outbound Fax Services
    • Emergency Messaging Services
    • Emergency Message Dispatch Services
    • Customized Message Delivery Services
    • Advanced Voicemail Options

There are many Spanish call centers, providing Spanish answering service today, these Spanish call centers in Spanish will help you to reach out to the expanding market of the non-English speaking community that has emerged as a significant part of today’s consumers.   You can choose Spanish call center solutions for every size business today. These Spanish call center provide highly trained staff in their Spanish call center which allow them to give that extra personal attention to each call by providing translation and interpretation services as well as professional customer service and accurate order taking.  Employees of these Spanish call centers are provided with the tools and training needed to assist the customer and meet their needs quickly and professionally. A Spanish call center can help a lot to enhance your business by extending your business to the expanding market of Spanish speaking population.

For more information visit ACA (Answer Center America) at www.goacanow.com. ACA (Answer Center America) is a leading Spanish Call Center, provides both a Spanish Answering Service solution and specialized medical answering service out of Chicago.

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Tasks of a Home Inspector and Why They Need Errors and Omissions Insurance

Posted by pabusiness on October 20, 2009

Homeowners or potential home buyers are very passionate about their properties.  Why wouldn’t they be?  For most, a house is the largest investment that will be made in their lifetime.  When a home inspector is hired, the homeowner wants the overall condition of the property evaluated, and the home inspection results are a key factor in the sales transaction.  This can leave the Home Inspector in a vulnerable position since the results and the accuracy of the inspection are of great interest to the buyer and seller.

What are the responsibilities of a Home Inspector?  Home inspection is a visual examination of a property, scrutinizing major systems like electrical and plumbing, and also the structural condition of the dwelling.  A material defect is a deficiency in a system or structure of a property that could have an adverse impact on the value of the property.  A Home Inspector looks for defects, and will examine the following systems and areas of a home:  roof, exterior, basement, foundation, crawlspace, heating, cooling, plumbing, electric, fireplace, attic, ventilation, insulation, doors and windows.  They will give a general inspection, and operate systems to see if they are in functioning order.  For example, they will activate the heating and cooling system noting if they are in working order, and run the faucets and showers to observe their functionality.

All of these systems are critical to the normal function of a home, and it is the job of the Home Inspector to give a general diagnosis on how well they are functioning.  When a problem occurs in a house at a later date, even if there was not a way to anticipate the issue, a Home Inspector can be held accountable.  This is a frequent occurrence, and this is why it is necessary for a Home Inspector to have Errors and Omissions insurance.   Owners have invested large sums of money into their homes, so some may look for a way to make up for their loss.

Errors and Omissions insurance protect a Home Inspector from dramatic financial loss should they be the target of legal action?  Many times the Home Inspector is not at fault, but they are sued anyway and costly legal fees are incurred.  However; sometimes due to an oversight or mistake, a Home Inspector is accountable.  Either way, the litigation can be crippling for a small business, and Errors and Omissions insurance will protect the company, its employees, owners and even contractors.  Home Inspectors are indispensable in a real estate transaction, but they should always be protected with Errors and Omissions insurance to shield themselves and their business.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor.  “Tasks of a Home Inspector and Why They Need Errors and Omissions Insurance” outlines the general responsibilities of a Home Inspector and how they can be held liable.  Eiipro.com offers competitive, cost effective Errors and Omissions Insurance for Home Inspectors.

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How an Outsourced IT Help Desk Support Specialist Improves Efficiency

Posted by pabusiness on October 6, 2009

Using an outsourced IT help desk support specialist can save company money, and it will not compromise service levels. There are savings in staff expenditures, and their troubleshooting capabilities mean the quick resolution of technical problems. IT support is a necessity for a business, and in these tough economic times, a company cannot afford to have wasted time. An outsourced IT help desk has constant coverage, so that work does not have to come to a halt because of a technical problem that is not being addressed.

An outsourced IT help desk service can be contracted for a reasonable cost. Whether it is supporting an in-house staff, or the only IT support source, outsourcing is not as costly as hiring, training and managing in-house employees. An answering service staff is trained and certified to communicate with customers professionally and knowledgeably, so service is never compromised despite less of an investment needed.

In addition to the savings on staff expenditures, an outsourced IT help desk can be more efficient by improving service levels due to their highly trained staff. Considering the proactive capabilities of an outsourced IT help desk support specialist, they can avoid some problems from ever happening. When problems do occur, their quick response will have difficulties fixed quickly. This decrease in down time ultimately saves company money, and businesses are more likely to run smoothly with fewer technical interruptions.

IT help desks deal with many problems including support for hardware and software, password resets, network problems, and remote access problems. Outsourced IT help desk support specialists are highly trained in all of these areas of troubleshooting, and also listen closely to customers and employees to improve service. An outsourced IT help desk can capably and efficiently support a work force during or after business hours.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “How Using an Outsourced IT Help Desk Support Specialist Improves Efficiency” notes the money savings, improved service and time efficiency of outsourcing an IT help desk. Goacanow.com offers call center services with dedicated customer service agents to aid customers in technical support.

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The Increased Need for a Spanish Answering Service

Posted by pabusiness on September 24, 2009

It is common knowledge that Spanish is widely spoken in the United States and it is, in fact, the second most commonly spoken language besides English. This is because of the dramatic increase in the Spanish speaking population. Along with population growth, the Spanish speaking populous is also gaining earning power. They are a significant consumer, and they cannot be ignored.

This is why answering services must offer Spanish speaking customer service representatives to effectively serve this considerable segment of the population. Having products and services available to Spanish speaking customers could increase a company’s sales noticeably. It is not only if a company serves an ethnically diverse area or works internationally, Spanish is being spoken everywhere in the U.S. and Canada. It is important to reach this market in order to remain competitive, since call center volumes are increasing in this category.

A Spanish answering service can be used for taking orders for products and services, or for a help desk to answer routine customer questions. It has been proven in the answering service industry, that the majority of customers who have a negative experience with customer service representatives will not use that company again. Therefore, customer service agents must be proficient in the language to properly communicate with Spanish speaking customers. The goal is to assist the customer and meet their needs quickly and professionally. An Spanish answering service staff needs to be fluent and highly trained to make the customer at ease.

A Spanish answering service must allow for communications to run smoothly and clearly with all customers. Customer’s satisfaction with the transaction will make them want to do business again with a company to buy their products and services.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor. “The Increased Need for a Spanish Answering Service” notes the importance of businesses to cater to this significant portion of consumers. Goacanow.com offers Answer Center Services including Spanish speaking customer service professionals, who are fluent and give personal attention to customers

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Healthcare Industry High Demands Met by an Answering Service in New York

Posted by pabusiness on September 24, 2009

With the healthcare industry in the spotlight, high demands are being placed on providers. Patients need to confirm care and appointments. Communication with providers is a first priority. We rely on open communication channels with our physician’s office, hospital and facility practices, and home care and hospice providers, services that we cannot do without.

To assist with the high demands, health care offices in New York are using a quality professional answering service. An answering service in New York supplies call overflow and special office back-up to physician’s office, hospital and facility practices, and home care and hospice providers. All Voice USA, an answering service in New York provides individualized and specialized answering services to all their clients.

Lost calls, busy lines and long hold times are unacceptable practices for health care providers. Call Representatives at an answering service are professionally trained and use state of the art web portal technology to make sure that no calls go unanswered or are transcribed incorrectly. A health care answering service can handle overflow calls during regular busy hours so that staff can handle patient care or after hour and emergency calls. The answering service in New York can handle easily meet these requirements.

The healthcare answering service also features appointment scheduling solutions. This service is a solution for lost revenue and patient services because it reduces unexpected no show appointments and confirms and changes existing appointments.

The solution to the communication demands imposed on the healthcare industry is an answering service in New York. This is a cost savings solution because it does not add additional staff to high peak times or emergency situations. This is a solution to today’s high demands in the healthcare industry.

Linda Dunkelberger is a freelance writer and editor. “Healthcare Industry High Demands Met by Answering Service in New York” advocates using an answering service in New York as a solution to the high demands of the healthcare industry today. All Voice Communications (AVC) is the Premier provider of medical office answering service

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How Appraisers and Home Inspectors are Protected with Errors and Omissions Insurance

Posted by pabusiness on September 17, 2009

Home Appraisers and Home Inspectors are important and necessary experts in real estate transactions, but their roles are quite different.  Appraisers determine the value of a property, and this information is also used in the estimation of homeowners insurance and real estate taxes.  Appraisers inspect a home, its property, amenities and upgrades, and also research other local properties and their values to determine what a home is worth.
Home Inspectors are not Appraisers.  Home Inspectors look for defects in a home, or problems which could lead to future repairs for the homeowner.  They look for structural problems, in addition to electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling issues that indicate immediate repair needs, or potential future problems.  Both fields are vulnerable to law suits, and need to be covered by Appraiser E&O Insurance and Home Inspector E&O Insurance to protect their businesses.

If a lender or buyer has a financial loss that they believe was caused by negligence on the part of the Appraiser, they can sue.  Appraiser E&O insurance will protect Appraisers from large financial losses from settlements and legal fees.  Even if the Appraiser is not at fault, they can be held responsible.  They are especially vulnerable in a volatile economy when values plummet, and attempts are made by owners to regain losses from decreased property values.

Home Inspector E&O insurance is critical for protecting Inspectors because of the nature of their business.  If something goes wrong in a home, the homeowner may quickly blame a Home Inspector for not recognizing the potential problem.  Home Inspectors may not have been able to foresee a fault in a home despite a thorough inspection, but still be sued by the homeowner.  Errors and Omissions insurance can protect the Home Inspector business and its employees from monetary loss.

If an Appraiser or Home Inspector is held responsible for mistakes or oversights, it is essential protection to have coverage with Errors and Omissions insurance.  It is even a requirement in some states to have this type of insurance for Home Inspectors and Appraisers, and it guards the business, its owners, employees and subcontractors from losses.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor.  “How Appraisers and Home Inspectors are Protected with Errors and Omissions Insurance” notes the importance of this insurance product to defend these types of businesses.  Eiipro.com is a provider of E&O insurance for Home Inspectors and Appraisers.

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Leading the Way in Business with a Live Phone Answering Service

Posted by pabusiness on September 15, 2009

In this economy customers expect the best.   The strongest companies survive by providing excellent service to their existing customer base.   It is no secret that it is much more cost effective to retain a customer than to acquire a new one.  Keeping the customer happy with excellent customer care makes good business sense.  To do this, you and your office staff must be able to connect with your customers directly in a timely manner.  In many cases, small businesses are discovering that employing a live phone answering service provides economical customer care.  It gives customers the opportunity to speak with a live phone answering service that can react to their needs quickly and professionally.

Elements of a Live Phone Answering Service that will lead Your Business to Success:

  • A Live Phone Answering Service answers customer calls 24 hours/7 days a week.
  • Live phone answering service customer service representatives are trained with listening skills, techniques for building trust with customers and clients, problem solving and decision making exercises and methods to control stress, multitask, handle difficult customers, and manage complex technologies and changing products – all in the context of a busy call center.
  • A Bi-lingual Live Phone Answering Service is able to communicate with customers that prefer to speak in their native language.
  • A Live Phone Answering Service is able to customize your services with features that are important to your business so that it is the best possible solution for your needs and requirements.

A live phone answering service handling your calls will afford your customers excellent service and allow you and your staff to concentrate on your business.  Your customer’s perception of your customer service capabilities will improve.  Their positive experience with a live phone answering service representative will be a direct reflection of your business priorities.

Linda Dunkelberger is a freelance writer and editor “Leading the Way with a Live Phone Answering Service” emphasizes the importance of a live phone answering service and being a leader in business.  Answer Center America is the premier call center solution and live phone answering service.

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