Crown Point answering service provides professional response — no matter the hour
Sherry Langdeau and Tabetha Alvarado like to say they went to school at work, and it prepared them perfectly to become entrepreneurs.
The Crown Point residents together run Great Lakes Communications, an answering service that handles calls 24/7 for companies throughout the Region and the country — and impresses clients with its responsiveness and accountability.
Great Lakes Communications, based in Crown Point and known as GLC, has been in business since 2015. The company provides a real-time response to calls received by businesses, service companies, doctors, nonprofits, religious organizations and even crisis hotlines.
“We never close; we’re always open,” said Langdeau, who has been working in the answering service industry since 1999. “We provide that relief to the business owners. They know they can leave at the end of the day, and we’ll take their calls, and they don’t have to worry about missing calls. Because missed calls is missing revenue.”
GLC’s owners met in 2002 when Langdeau’s team at a local answering company initially passed over hiring Alvarado. Landeau thought she was “too pushy,” but a different candidate didn’t work out. So, Alvarado got her chance.
“At the time, I was selling perfume on the streets, which was not great,” said Alvarado, who decided college wasn’t for her because she felt too many required classes were irrelevant. “I was like, ‘I want an inside job where I talk. I like talking.’”
The role was a fit, so the pair continued their on-the-job learning, taking calls and building industry knowledge. When their employer passed away and successors closed the business, Langdeau and Alvarado saw an opportunity to start their own venture. The idea was to provide customized answering services “and do it a little better,” Langdeau said.
Early challenges included finding employees who could understand the evolving technological side of answering calls, inputting key details and dispatching service. Younger workers usually proved a better fit.
Now, technological know-how isn’t so hard to find, but conversational ability is, GLC’s owners said. Hiring younger generations comes with the responsibility of training workers to speak professionally, listen accurately, ask questions and empathize with the stress of frustrating situations.
As women entrepreneurs, GLC’s leaders see themselves as skilled multitaskers who can truly understand callers’ problems, whether it’s a floor drain backing up into a finished basement or a baby screaming with a fever.
“We can empathize with whatever they’re calling about. We can feel what they’re feeling. We can let them know and reassure them that we are here; we’re here to help. It’s very comforting,” Langdeau said. “We train our agents to answer the phones how we answer the phones.”
These relational skills are the benefits that live answering agents at GLC bring over automated services through artificial intelligence, Langdeau and Alvarado said.
“It’s what’s missing in society, because a lot of people can’t handle one conversation — and here we’re having them one after another,” Alvarado said. “And it brings that human connection with our clients’ callers.”
GLC aims to sustain other businesses as an extension of their team, helping ensure startups and growing businesses don’t miss opportunities. The service’s smallest client package starts at $30 a month — and still provides 24/7 answering coverage.
Support from GLC proved vital early this year to Dan Wood Co., a plumbing, heating and cooling service provider based in Portage, Michigan. Manager Monica Schriemer said temperatures were rising out of a deep freeze when 5 p.m. on a Friday rolled around, and calls were set to be handled by GLC over the weekend.
The GLC team took 60 calls for Dan Wood Co. before regular business hours began again Monday morning, 40 of them requiring dispatch of emergency services. Schriemer said she reached out to Langdeau and Alvarado twice during the high-call-volume weekend to change plans and better handle the influx of emergencies, “and they immediately responded with their full support.”
“Their flexibility, teamwork and commitment were instrumental in preventing what could have been an overwhelming and chaotic weekend from becoming a disaster,” Schriemer said. “Despite supporting multiple businesses, they were willing to adapt quickly, collaborate in real time and adjust their normal procedures to help us manage an unusually demanding situation.”
GLC plans to stay nimble and continue supporting businesses of all sizes, answering whatever calls may come, no matter the time.
“Nowadays, everyone expects to get an answer — now,” Langdeau said. “We can answer for any client. It doesn’t matter what your business is. Every business needs an answering service.” ▪
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