7 Top-Rated Reception Software for Your Business in 2021
Looking for the best reception software with a modern twist? In this post-COVID environment, you’d have employees returning to working in the office and not to mention your customers’ huge footfall.
With all that footfall coming into your practice, are you that your current infrastructure is enough to handle it? Even if you’re not, don’t worry; you’re not alone. We’ve prepared this guide to help you find the best reception software without having to do all the hectic research yourself.
A report from Proxy Click shows that more than 71% of US consumers stated that most corporate receptions are unfriendly and unhelpful. A reception is the face of your business. In this guide, we’ll talk about how you can provide an exceptional visitor experience with the best reception software.
The Best Reception Software in 2020–21
What’s the one thing your consumers want? An engaging experience. Now, if your staff is mixed up with administrative and operational tasks, they’re probably not going to be able to provide that. That’s where good reception software comes in to help increase your customer satisfaction.
It is important to consider several things when managing a reception desk. Visitors need to be checked in properly, meetings need to be booked for the right time, and all customer queries need to be responded to correctly.
Then comes the hassle of organizing and sending your company mail to the right department on time. Juggling with all those tasks manually can be rather daunting for anyone. That’s why online reception software takes the burden of these tasks from your shoulders.
This way, you can focus on what matters — your people. People are the center of your business. Whether it’s employees, customers, shareholders, or anyone really, they all need an engaging experience.
Following is a list of the top reception software choices for 2020–21.
Incoming Mail/Package Management
When running a business, efficient package/mail management is the key to keeping customers happy. This goes for hotels, online retailers, universities, and even coffee shops. Having an efficient delivery tracker in place helps run your operations smoothly.
Herein lies the value of mailing room management software. It speeds up your delivery process, reduces waiting time at your lobby, and provides a seamless package delivery experience.
1. PackageX Mailroom Best Reception Software Overall
Among the top online reception software available on the market today, PackageX mailroom is an all-in-one platform that helps take your mailroom to the next level. It’s a machine vision-based and artificial intelligence-enabled virtual mailroom that manages all your mailroom operations with ease.
PackageX mailroom offers tailored services for universities, co-working spaces, residential communities, and hospitality industries. Its outstanding features help businesses like yours manage their delivery processes with ease.
This app works across all your devices and offers virtual mailbox compatibility. Based on their user reviews, businesses that use PackageX mailroom show a 95% increase in delivery speed.
Key Features
These are some of the noteworthy features of PackageX mailroom:
● Photo Notifications: When their package is ready, your users get a photo notification as a reminder to pick up their package. This notification includes all of the information available about the package.
● User Convenience: This app focuses heavily on providing users with the utmost convenience. That’s why they also offer an option to discard, hold, and transfer a package from your mailroom to another.
● Contactless Delivery: With this app, you have access to a completely contactless delivery. It uses e-signatures and photos to ensure that your package is delivered to the intended audience. Thus, successfully minimizing the chances of errors.
● Visual Notifications: Your users can watch their package during transit and see how far their package has reached.
● Barcode Scanning: Manual data entry is prone to all sorts of errors, including general human error. This app uses a barcode scanning system to eliminate data entry and the possibility of general errors in your package delivery.
● Smart Analytics and Reporting: This app helps track inventory at each step in your transit to ensure a seamless experience. You can even check the delivery status of each package.
Pricing
PackageX mailroom has three pricing tiers, which are:
Silver: PackageX mailroom Silver costs $94.99/month. This plan includes custom labeled deliveries, co-branded emails, customized email sender, robust user permissions, text message notification (in the US and Canada), and two dedicated onboarding sessions.
Gold: PackageX mailroom Gold costs $113.99/month. In addition to all the features of Silver, Gold also includes streamlined recipient actions. Delivery forwarding, holding, and discarding, and scanning, and sending letter mail contents.
Platinum: PackageX mailroom Platinum offers a Custom Quote/month. For those who want a tailored experience, PackageX mailroom Platinum features include API access and a customized onboarding program in addition to all the Gold features. Plus, you can also have up to four dedicated onboarding sessions monthly.
Calendar and Appointments
Keeping track of your day-to-day activities is essential when running a business. Keeping a calendar allows you to know when meetings are on time, when events are attending, and when rooms are booked correctly.
For most business professionals, checking their calendar is the first thing they do when they clock in. Although managing a calendar sounds simple, it can just as easily become quite challenging.
That’s where effective online reception software comes in. They make managing your day-to-day calendar easier than pie!
2. Calendly: Online Reception Software for Managing Calendars
Calendly helps you schedule meetings and connect with others much more easily. It enables you to prioritize upcoming events according to how important they are and fit into your schedule accordingly.
Calendly users can also integrate its services with their Google, Office 365, and Outlook accounts.
Key Features
Calendly’s noteworthy features include:
● Meeting Types: You can easily manage all types of meetings from a single. Although their free version only allows you to do one event type. However, with its paid versions, you have access to unlimited event types.
● Connect up to size calendars: Calednly allows you to connect up to six calendars for improved collaboration.
● Integration: To avoid any double bookings, you can integrate the app with your Google, Office 365, or iCloud accounts.
● Intelligent Time Zone: It also offers Intelligent time zone detection that automatically changes your invitees’ time zones according to yours. This way, you won’t have to worry about doing all that math before every meeting.
● Detailed Metrics: Get a clearer picture of how invitees engage with detailed metrics and analytics.
● Consolidated View: It offers single view pages that help provide all the information you need in a single view.
Pricing
Basic: Calendly’s free plan includes one calendar per month. Although you can schedule unlimited events, send automated reminders to invitees, and get a personalized URL.
Premium: Calendly’s Premium plan costs $8/month/user. This plan includes two two calendars per month with your personalized branding. You also have an option for pooled availability options for your teams. You also get 3 hours of email support at your disposal from 8 am-6 pm Eastern time.
Pro: Calendly’s Pro plan costs $12/month/user. With Callendly’s Pro plan, you can get collaboration with up to 6 calendars per month. In addition to all the Premium features, you can also get SMS notifications, create and send automated email responses, and advanced integration with Salesforce, Hubspot, PayPal, Stripe, etc.
Conference Room Booking
For most businesses, managing conference room meetings is no walk in the park. It happens all too often that reservations are conflicted, logistical issues arise, and it is unclear who’s responsible for what. This leads to frustration and conflicts among your workforce.
Luckily, you save a lot of time and trouble with a well-functioning booking system! By eliminating double bookings, delegating responsibilities, and coordinating better, you can start saving time right away.
Whether you’re looking for free reception software for hotel reception or any other business, you’ll have to look for software that offers easy collaboration. The idea is to reduce complications, not add them.
3. Joan: Free reception software
Joan offers easy online scheduling of conference rooms as well as on-the-spot scheduling. Through real-time meeting room schedules, everyone gets a clear picture of availability.
Joan offers users quick access to your corporate calendar by integrating with apps like G Suite and iCalendar.
This product is super easy to use and, not to mention, requires very little maintenance to keep things running smoothly!
Key Features
Some of Joan’s noteworthy features include:
● Easy Room Booking: You can effortlessly book a room directly on the door of the meeting room or from an existing calendar.
● Simplify Your Calendar: Simplify your corporate calendar by removing unattended meetings and bookings.
● On-the-Spot Booking: Real-time bookings make it easier to book a room on the spot. An interactive and engaging time-table allows you to see all the available slots.
● Voice Assistant: Making reservations is made easier on the go with Joan’s voice assistant. You can also set specific work hours, so Joan goes into power-saving mode outside of these hours.
● Customizations: A simple customization process allows you to add your logo, customize action buttons, and remind your guests of upcoming meetings.
● Email Notifications: Your conference room is notified of its weekly use through email.
Pricing
Basic: Joan’s Basic plan is free of cost. This plan provides seamless integration with Google Apps, Office 365, Exchange, along with iCalendar. You also have an option to either book meetings on the spot or at a later time. Other features include check-ins, custom permissions, and a time-table.
Standard: Joan’s Standard plan costs €9 per month (~USD 10.85 per month). With this plan, you can add custom features, such as the room grid, and enjoy all features of a basic plan.
Premium: Joan’s Premium plan costs €19 per month (~USD 22.91 per month). In addition to the Standard features, this plan also features a fully integrated status board and customizable content. It includes Alexa integration, Magic check-ins for meetings, Cisco Webex integration, and more.
Team Communication
Communication is key in any business. It improves collaboration and productivity among your team members. This is especially helpful today where your teams are scattered in their homes.
Online team communications software facilitates remote collaborations and increases team strength. With an effective communication tool, you can also discuss ideas, delegate tasks, and minimize inconsistencies.
4. Microsoft Teams: Free Team Communication software
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that lets you keep track of projects and stay informed on your team, regardless of where they’re located. You can hold instant chats via Microsoft Teams with your staff or visitors outside your organization.
Other features of Microsoft Teams include hosting meetings, managing e-mail, and sharing files.
It enables employees to begin conversations at work, collaborates on teamwork, shares documents, and engage in video chats. While working remotely, you can share your screen and interact smoothly with your team while working remotely.
Key Features
Some of the key features of Microsoft Teams are:
● Teams and channels: Teamwork is accomplished by channel communication.
● Document storage in SharePoint: SharePoint Online will carry a default document library folder for every team that uses Microsoft Teams. All files stored as part of a conversation will go into this folder. It is also possible to customize permissions and security settings for sensitive information.
● Full telephony: The days of spending too much money on phone systems and seeking out VoIP providers are over. Your business can completely replace its existing phone system with Microsoft 365 Business Voice. Please note that additional licensing is required for this feature.
● Collaborate in Real-Time: Microsoft Team lets you communicate and collaborate in real-time, rather than taking turns emailing updates. The days of having multiple versions of everything are over!
● Access Teams From Anywhere: In addition to the web interface, Microsoft Teams offers its users the ability to collaborate on the go, as well as answer teammate questions via the mobile apps.
Pricing
Microsoft Teams (Free): This plan includes online meetings with up to 100 participants, easy screen sharing, simplified customized backgrounds, and an option to pre-schedule meetings. However, the maximum duration of a meeting can only be sixty minutes.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic: Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $5.00 per user/month. In addition to the free features, this plan also includes the option to record meetings, administrative tools, usage reporting, and configurable user settings..
Microsoft 365 Business Standard: Microsoft 365 Business Standard costs $12.50 per user/month. This plan provides integration with MileIQ, Bookings, and Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Publisher desktop applications.
Office 365 E3:Office 365 E3 costs $20.00 per user/month. Users can chat with up to 500k people, benefit from unlimited cloud storage, access file attachments, and exchange servers, and use Skype and Google Apps.
Customer Service Software
A big part of a receptionist’s job is dealing with customers. A useful customer service software can help you manage your customer’s footfall and ensure they get an engaging experience.
Consumers today want a seamless shopping experience. In fact, they are more likely to switch to your competitor simply because they offer better service. The right customer service software can set your business up for success.
5. Aircall: Customer Service Software
With Aircall’s cloud-based phone system, sales and support reps can set up and forward call numbers efficiently. This software connects to CRM and collaboration tools to offer a seamless integration through its APIs and webhooks.
Manage phone calls more effectively with this app’s powerful features.
Key Features
Some of the noteworthy features of Aircall include:
● Accuracy: With Aircall, you never have to worry about calls again. With customized rules and distributions, direct calls will always reach the right teammates every time.
● Custom Messages: You can greet your callers with a pre-programmed customized message.
● Centralized Directory: You can save all of your numbers in a single location through a virtual call center.
● Options for users to share contacts, assign calls, and leave comments on calls to help increase collaboration.
● Parallel Cells: With this feature, you can handle multiple calls, one after another, at the same time. You can table an existing call as well while you attend another.
● Desktop Notifications: The desktop notification system makes it so you can watch for incoming calls and join the conversation by simply clicking the banner.
● Call Center Metrics: You can get all the metrics of the call center in one place, like missed call rate, wait time, and call volume.
Pricing
Essentials: Aircall Essentials costs $30/user per month. Ample inbound calls, call recording, voicemail, and phone support are included in this plan, along with 50+ integrations and API access.
Professional: Aircall Professional costs $50/user per month. This plan includes Salesforce integration, live call monitoring, advanced support features, including queue call back, and a dedicated accounts manager.
Custom: Aircall Custom costs may vary depending on your requirements. The customized plan includes custom onboarding, service-level agreements, and access to API developer support.
Visitor Management
Visitors need to sign in when entering your building. Checking IDs, printing visitor badges, and informing hosts when guests arrive are all part of being a receptionist. Doing all that manually is a lot of tough work.
That’s where using visitor management software can simplify the sign-in process. It ensures that guests have an enjoyable visit without standing in long queues.
6. Lobbipad: Software for Hotel Reception
Lobbipad is a powerful app that lets you see and manage your visitors effectively. It not only helps provide better security but also offers a seamless visitor experience.
Businesses who would like to save reception costs can benefit from Lobbipad’s fully customized iPad, which shows off their logos and caters to visitors.
In addition to being a marvelous tool for all sorts of businesses, it can also be used as a hotel reception software.
Key Features
● Instant Greets: This software provides your reception with the complete information of your visitors before they come up to your reception. This enables you to provide a personalized greeting.
● Secure Check-In: Check-in is done directly on an iPad using a self-service system so that visitors don’t have to worry about putting in their name and information on a mobile site.
● On-Site Legal Document Signing: The on-site legal document signing feature makes it possible to get a copy of the document without needing to deal with lengthy paperwork.
● Easy-to-Access: Their infrastructure is designed in such a way that it maximizes ease of access and information security.
● Customized Link: By registering in advance through a customized link, employees can ensure that the reception will be ready for them.
● Temporary Visitor Badges: You can automatically generate temporary visitor badges for your visitors.
Pricing
Plus: Lobbipad Plus costs €69 per month/location (~USD 83.15 per month per location). With this plan, you get all features, links to unlimited iPads, and 50 hosts.
Pro: Lobbipad Pro costs €119 per month/location (~USD 143.40 per month per location). This plan includes all features, unlimited electronic devices with links, 100 hosts, e-mail, and SMS notifications.
Enterprise: Lobbipad Enterprise offers custom pricing based on your requirements. Here you can pick and choose the services you need in this plan.
Email Management
Email management is yet another important task that your reception has to deal with. There’s usually a bunch of emails, and no one really knows where anything goes.
Having email management software helps by reducing costs, decluttering emails, and ensuring business continuity.
7. Superhuman: Email Management Software
Superhuman is one of the fastest email apps available today. You can easily send emails with its beautiful visuals, nifty features, and blazing-fast interface.
Incredibly detailed, with a clean interface and features designed to save the user time, Superhuman forges a new path in the world of e-mail.
Key Features
● Built for Speed: Superhuman is designed to streamline your emails and simplify your processes.
● Smart Tools: The device’s built-in read statuses show you when others have read your email so that you can respond at the appropriate time.
● Back-up Plan: This tool also features an ‘undo send’ button that allows you unsend any emails that may have gone out.
● AI-Powered Triage: You’ll get to read your most important emails first with AI-Powered Triage.
● Social Media Insights: This tool helps you strengthen your network by integrating social media insights from sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
● Follow-up Emails: For every email that didn’t get a reply, you can send another email after two days to ensure maximum engagement.
Pricing
Subscription: Superhuman Subscription costs $30/month. The app’s owners may only refer new users to this plan or put themselves on its waiting list. Currently, it only has a free trial.
Your business can benefit from a wide range of best reception software, so choosing the right one for your business can make a big difference. It lets the receptionists do their jobs more easily, allowing them to focus more on your visitors.
Having an online reception software ensures, all of your guests are assured a great first impression, as well as a warm welcome. If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, feel free to get in touch with us on how you can streamline your reception today!
