You call me, you get me. If you text me, you get me faster.

I'm old school.... when a potential client calls, they want to speak to the agent, not another person.... the one to answer the phone is the one who gets the business.... the more points of contact, the less likely that caller appreciates the system... his/her first thought is "is this what I have to go through every time I want a quick answer from my listing agent?"  hmmm.... you might want to think about that.... is anyone really that busy that they can't take a phone call.... 

May be more effective to use the VA's and ISA's for outbound marketing and let the incoming calls go to digital assistants or a VA that can actually convert them into appointments.

Does it make communication easier?  More effective?  Better for the person/company as well as the client? There are many business models and methods, that's my thought.  

Honestly I don't understand it Julio Vasiu . I always found it well worth my while to hire a personal secretary. I wanted someone right by my side that knew how I operated.  More and more agents seem to want to be less engaged these days by having apps do their work. I kept it personal. Clients knew they were going to get me or my secretary who knew everything I knew about the transaction. My clients knew I cared enough to take all their concerns personally.

I use 3 virtual assistants, but I answer my own calls. When I get too busy to do that, I'd hire a VA for that too.

Nope. Nope. Nope. Not something I would ever do.

Reminds me of the 80's trying to get around the assistant & she keeps picking up the phone for the boss.  I think that you're not using the idea correctly. Either the VA is helping your business but picking up the phone? You're phone's got that built in - if not, then Google can help. 

VA should help you do admin things like paperwork, ad placement, whatever.

I don't use it.

Reminds me of the days of pagers.  Page the agent and hope they return the call promptly and when you're not away from the phone.

I have not seen this, with the exception of showing time (which I hate).  Personally, I'm more than happy to have every OTHER agent out there do this.  That way my personal service and answering my own phone will set me apart even more than it already does.  :)

We use a telephone service.  It is answered by a human being who routes the call to either my line or Ron's line.  We love it, as it prevents Robo calls and spammers.

Our company is virtual, however we have real people working for us in different parts of the country.  That includes our web develper, our SEO expert, our graphic designer, our proof reader.  What makes that work is the fact that each individual is a SELF starter and we do not need to follow up.  The job gets done. 

Julio Vasiu I think you have received several excellent answers.

I don't know any agents who use a phone center.  A VA possibly for transaction management.

I would encourage all agents to use VA and phone centers and team anarchry to make it as difficult as possible for other agents and buyers and sellers to reach youj, get information or even understand who all these people are!.

However, I encourage serious agents to ANSWER YOUR PHONE. This solves many problems.

I do not use them.  

You call my number and I answer simple as that.  If you call and leave a message, I call you back.

Not my style. My clients call me and expect me to speak with them and I do so with pleasure.

I have not used one. I prefer an assistant in the office.

I do on my website - they are not current clients but, 'leads' from the site. A live person gets information from the inquirer and lets them know that I'll be in touch within 10 minutes, or if it's after-hours, 'first thing in the morning.' 

It works well for me to weed out the renters and keeps me free to be in front of or speaking directly with my current clients and my sphere. 

No, not for me.

We are trying virtual agents. Jury is still out. We use them for admin jobs not call center.

We have a call center for fielding leads. Sign calls come into that center and other misc calls.

Trying to do more with our resources.

I don't use them but had considered it.

I would not do business with anyone who did business like that. I have my doctors cell phone for heaven's sake.  And s/he answers it.  

No thank you. We are going in a different direction and prefer to differentiate ourselves as offering high-end over-the-top service to our select clients

You get Me, Myself or I and which one depends on the time of day and day of the week Julio!

Busy agents do it all the time often from overseas. AR uses it to maintain service in the past.

For me a virtual assistant is useless, i need someone here on the ground. I do use an appoitment center to set up showings and i love it

When it comes to calls, I handle my own. May outsource clerical work from time to time.

I haven't but, I'm considering it. It wouldn't be for my clients but for inquiries. As others mentioned above, it could weed out the scammers and spammers and connect me to the real person. I've found when people call they want a person. 

I can see using a VA for marketing and related issues. What you seem to be describing does not seem very consumer-centric.

No thank you, would rather keep the personal touch.

Julio Vasiu - I have great ISAs on our team!  We have about 3 really good callers. They know how to use the MOJO dialer. You can text me at 561-502-1577 to get more info.