Although they don’t get a lot of attention, live telephone answering services are actually an important component of the business and customer service worlds, leading to better customer experiences and higher productivity for workers. Small businesses, in particular, tend to overlook the improvements hiring an answering service can make in their business models — and overestimate the cost of such a move.

There are many misconceptions about what answering services are and do, and unfortunately, that can discourage some small or mid-sized companies from getting the small business answering services that could help them grow or maintain their businesses. Below are some of the most common myths about answering services that persist in the business world, as well as some information that counters them and might help you decide if you could benefit from a live answering service.

If you run a small or mid-sized business, it’s probable you’ve never even considered a live telephone answering service, assuming it’s unnecessary or prohibitively expensive. But in reality, whether you’re a medical practice needing a 24 hour answering service or simply a small tech company, a business answering service can be the best choice for both your customers and your business.

Ideally, any call to a business should be answered immediately by a live person. One study that included more than 2,500 participants found that nearly 60% of consumers felt that a minute of hold time was too long; over 30% thought that any wait time at all was unacceptable.

With so many people dumping their landlines and communicating by email and text, telephones may seem like a thing of the past. But for many businesses, phones are still an important part of communicating with clients. If you run a business that takes a lot of phone calls, you may want to consider engaging an answering service, as doing so can lift a burden from your office staff and allow your employees to do whatever it is that your business does best.