Startel

📖👻 Two-Sentence Contact Center Horror Story

"I asked when we last tested the disaster recovery plan."

"No one in the room could remember."

😱

As spooky season continues, we're bringing back another edition of Two-Sentence Contact Center Horror Stories.

Unlike ghosts, monsters, and haunted houses, disaster recovery risks are real. The best plan isn't the one sitting on a shelf. It's the one that's been tested, reviewed, and is ready when it's needed.

Because when an outage, emergency, or unexpected disruption happens, that's not the time to discover your plan has been gathering dust.

What's the scariest business continuity or disaster recovery story you've heard?

🎀 October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This month, we join others in raising awareness, honoring survivors, remembering those we've lost, and supporting everyone affected by breast cancer.

Whether you've faced the disease personally, supported a loved one through treatment, or participated in awareness efforts, you know the impact breast cancer can have on individuals, families, and communities.

This October, we encourage everyone to take time to learn, share awareness, and support those affected by this disease.

💗 Together, awareness can make a difference.

📍 Next stop: Detroit!

We're excited to be attending the GLTSA Conference October 6-8 and connecting with telephone answering service professionals from across the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Industry events like GLTSA are a great opportunity to share ideas, discuss challenges, discover new opportunities, and strengthen the relationships that make this industry so special.

If you'll be attending, make plans to stop by the Startel Experience Zone. We'd love to learn more about your business, answer your questions, and discuss ways to help your operation work even more efficiently.

We can't wait to see familiar faces and make some new connections along the way.

🤝 Will we see you in Detroit?

❓ Some questions make us laugh. Others make us think.

Questions like:

"Who decided Monday should happen every week?"

Or:

"If the system is in the cloud, what happens when it rains?"

Maybe they don't have the most practical answers... but asking questions is how we learn.

In the contact center industry, the best improvements often start with a simple question:

"How can we help agents work smarter and serve customers better?"

The right question can uncover new opportunities, challenge old assumptions, and lead to better solutions for customers and teams alike.

💡 What's a question your team has asked that led to a meaningful improvement?

👻 Spooky season is almost here...

So let's play a game:

What's your contact center two-sentence horror story?

We'll start:

"Your call is important to us."
"You've been on hold for 43 minutes."

😱

Long wait times, missed calls, and frustrated customers can turn an ordinary day into a customer service nightmare.

Fortunately, horror stories don't have to be part of the script.

Now it's your turn. What's the scariest contact center sentence you've ever heard?

🍂 The seasons change. Has your software?

As we welcome the first day of fall, it's a good time to think about what's helping your business grow... and what's simply taking up space.

Outdated systems can lead to inefficient workflows, limited flexibility, and unnecessary headaches for agents and administrators alike.

Modern contact center technology is designed to help teams work more efficiently, adapt more easily, and deliver better customer experiences.

This fall, don't let legacy software leave your business buried in the pile. 🍁

What's the biggest challenge you've faced with outdated technology?

🧙‍♂️ Happy Hobbit Day!

Running a telephone answering service for a community that enjoys breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, and supper sounds like a challenge worthy of an epic quest.

Fortunately, modern answering services don't need a wizard, an enchanted ring, or a journey across dangerous lands to stay organized.

With the right tools, managing calls, messages, and customer communications can be surprisingly simple.

🍃 Whether you're celebrating Hobbit Day or just enjoying an extra snack today, we hope your adventures are productive and your phones are quiet at meal time.

🏈 Football season is back... and so are unexpected impacts.

A long pass through the office window probably isn't at the top of your disaster recovery plan.

But whether it's a football, severe weather, a power outage, or another unexpected disruption, on-premise equipment can be vulnerable to the unexpected.

With hosted cloud solutions, your business communications aren't tied to a single physical location, helping your team stay connected when it matters most.

Because some surprises belong on the football field, not in your server room.

What's the most unexpected business disruption you've ever experienced?

🎉 And the winner is…

Congratulations to Spring from AnswerOne, Inc for taking home our Bluetooth speaker giveaway at ASTAA 2026! 🎵

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the Startel booth, entered the giveaway, and spent time chatting with our team. One of the best parts of every conference is reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting new ones, and hearing what’s happening across the answering service industry.

We appreciate everyone who helped make ASTAA another great event. Safe travels home, and we’ll see you at the next one!

Want to learn more about how Startel helps answering services and contact centers work smarter? Visit Startel.com to explore our solutions.

We’re in 📍Baltimore for ASTAA 2026!

The conference is underway, and Bobby is ready to connect with the ASTAA community.

If you’re here this week, make sure you stop by the Startel Experience Zone to say hello, catch up with Bobby, and talk about what’s happening in your operation — from everyday challenges to new opportunities and what’s next for your technology.

Whether you’ve worked with Startel for years or you’re just getting to know us, we’d love to connect!

See you at the Startel Experience Zone!