Taking an order by phone is the most transactional thing an answering service does and the one with the clearest boundary. An operator can capture what somebody wants to buy, where it goes and how to reach them. Whether they should be typing a card number into anything is a separate question with an expensive answer, and it decides how the whole arrangement is built.
What an operator can capture cleanly
Items and quantities against a product list you supply, delivery and billing addresses, a contact number, delivery preferences and any note the customer wants attached. With a current price list they can also total it and read it back, which is what makes the call feel finished to the customer. All of that is ordinary clerical work and it is what the tier is priced for.
Card details are where it gets expensive
An operator reading a card number into a system brings the provider inside your payment card compliance scope, and providers that do this properly have built for it: they either use a system where the operator never sees or hears the full number, or they are certified and will say so with a level and a date. A provider that will happily take card details with no such arrangement is offering you a liability rather than a service. The cheaper and usually better design is to have the operator send a payment link and let the customer pay themselves.
Stock and price have to be current or the call misleads
An order taken for something out of stock creates a worse experience than an unanswered phone, because the customer now believes they have bought it. If the operator cannot see live stock, the script must say that availability is confirmed afterwards, in a sentence you wrote. The same applies to price. This is the failure mode of order taking arrangements and it is a data problem rather than a staffing one.
What it costs per order
Order calls run longer than enquiries, often four to six minutes with a read-back. Against published per-minute rates here of a dollar fifty four to two dollars ninety nine that is roughly six to eighteen dollars a call, which is only sensible against an order value well above it. The per-call providers, at seven and eleven dollars fifty, are the ones to price for longer orders since the rate does not move with length. Work out your average order value first; below a certain figure this arrangement does not pay.
Questions people ask about order taking answering service
Can an answering service take orders over the phone?
Yes: items and quantities against your product list, addresses, contact details and delivery notes, with a read-back if they have a current price list. That part is ordinary clerical work.
Should operators take card details?
Only with a proper arrangement: a system where the operator never sees the full number, or a provider certified for it who will state a level and a date. Otherwise send a payment link and let the customer pay. Taking numbers informally is a liability, not a service.
What if the item is out of stock?
Without live stock visibility the script must say availability is confirmed afterwards, in a sentence you wrote. An order taken for something unavailable is worse than an unanswered phone, because the customer believes they have bought it.
Does order taking pay for itself?
Only above a certain order value. Order calls run four to six minutes, which at published rates of a dollar fifty four to two ninety nine a minute is roughly six to eighteen dollars a call. Work out your average order value first.