Glossary
Outsourcing terms, explained
This virtual assistant terminology glossary explains 148 outsourcing, front-desk, support and staffing terms in plain English, from warm transfer and answer rate to dedicated assistant, team pod and end-of-day report.
Each entry has a definition an AI engine can lift, a worked example, where the term shows up in tools such as RingCentral or Zendesk, and how AssistBPO handles it on a real desk.
- Action itemsAction items are the specific tasks agreed in a meeting or conversation, each with one named owner and a due date.
- After-hours coverageAfter-hours coverage means having trained people answer your phone, chat or email outside normal business hours, including evenings, weekends and public holidays, rather than sending customers to voicemail or an auto-reply.
- AI-fluent assistantAn AI-fluent assistant is a remote assistant who uses AI tools competently inside their existing work: drafting, summarizing, sorting, researching and building small automations.
- Answering serviceAn answering service is a company that answers telephone calls on behalf of other businesses, around the clock, taking messages, relaying urgent calls and following simple scripts.
- Appointment setterAn appointment setter is a person who contacts prospects by phone, email or message to book meetings, demos or consultations for a salesperson or service provider.
- AutomationAutomation is having software carry out a repetitive step so a person does not repeat it: creating a task when a form is submitted, sending a reminder two days before an appointment, copying a new order into a spreadsheet.
- Average handle timeAverage handle time, or AHT, is the mean amount of time an agent spends on a customer interaction from start to finish, including talk time, hold time and the after-call work needed to log notes or complete the request.
- Background checkA background check is verification of a candidate's identity, work history, education and criminal record before they are hired.
- BacklinkA backlink is a link from one website to a page on another website.
- Backup assistantA backup assistant is a second trained person who knows your account and takes over when your named assistant is sick, on leave or otherwise unavailable.
- BPOBPO, or business process outsourcing, is contracting a whole business function to an outside company that runs it with its own employees, systems and supervision.
- Brand voiceBrand voice is the consistent personality a business expresses in everything it writes and says, from website copy and emails to social posts and phone greetings.
- Business associate agreementA business associate agreement (BAA) is a written contract required under HIPAA between a covered entity, such as a medical or dental practice, and any vendor that handles protected health information on its behalf.
- Calendar blockingCalendar blocking is the practice of putting every commitment, including focused work, into the calendar as a timed event rather than keeping it on a list.
- Call monitoringCall monitoring is listening to live or recorded calls to check quality, accuracy and compliance, and to coach whoever handled them.
- Call recording consentCall recording consent is the permission a business needs before it records a phone call, including the notice given on the line.
- Call routingCall routing is the set of rules that decides where an incoming call goes: which person, team, queue, voicemail box or outside number answers it, based on factors such as the time of day, the number dialed, the caller's menu choice or who is available.
- CAN-SPAMCAN-SPAM, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, is the US federal law that sets rules for commercial email.
- CASLCASL, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, is the federal law that governs commercial electronic messages such as marketing emails, texts and social messages sent to or from Canada.
- Catalog managementCatalog management is the ongoing work of keeping a store's product data complete, consistent and correct across every sales channel.
- ChatbotA chatbot is software that holds an automated conversation with a visitor, answering from scripted rules or from a model trained on your published articles.
- Co-employmentCo-employment is an arrangement where two organizations share legal employer responsibilities for the same worker, typically a staffing firm that runs payroll and a client company that directs daily work.
- Cold transferA cold transfer, also called a blind transfer, is a phone handoff in which the caller is sent straight to another extension or number without the receiving person being told who is calling or why.
- Community managementCommunity management is the work of building and moderating a group of customers, fans or members around a brand, whether in a Facebook group, Discord server, Slack workspace, forum or the comments on social posts.
- Conflict checkA conflict check is the search a law firm runs before accepting a matter to confirm it holds no conflicting duty to a current or former client, an opposing party or a related person.
- Content briefA content brief is a one-page document that tells a writer or designer exactly what a piece of content must achieve before they start.
- ContractorA contractor, or independent contractor, is a person or company engaged under a commercial contract to deliver work, and is not employed by the business that hires them.
- Conversion rateA conversion rate is the share of people who take a defined action out of everyone who had the chance, expressed as a percentage.
- CRMA CRM, or customer relationship management system, is the software where a business keeps its contacts, companies, deals, conversations and next steps in one place.
- Customer satisfaction scoreCustomer satisfaction score, or CSAT, is a metric that asks customers to rate a specific interaction or purchase, usually on a scale from 1 to 5 or with a thumbs up and down, immediately after it happens.
- Daily stand-upA daily stand-up is a short check-in, usually ten to fifteen minutes, where each person says what they finished, what they are doing next and what is blocking them.
- DashboardA dashboard is a single screen that displays a business's most important numbers, updated on a schedule and pulled from the systems where the work happens.
- Data cleansingData cleansing is the work of correcting and standardizing records that are wrong, incomplete, inconsistent or out of date: fixing formats, filling gaps, retiring dead contacts and making every field follow one convention.
- Data enrichmentData enrichment is adding missing or useful information to records you already hold, such as company size, industry, job title, direct phone number or address, using other sources.
- Data entryData entry is the work of transferring information from one form into a structured system, such as typing invoices into accounting software, adding leads to a CRM, keying survey responses into a spreadsheet or updating product records.
- Dedicated virtual assistantA dedicated virtual assistant is one named person assigned to a single client for a fixed block of hours each month, typically 80 or 160, rather than a shared pool that serves many accounts at once.
- DeduplicationDeduplication is finding records that describe the same person, company or item and merging them into one, keeping the best value in each field and preserving the history attached to both.
- DelegationDelegation is handing a task, and the authority to finish it, to someone else while staying accountable for the outcome.
- DNCRThe DNCR, Australia's Do Not Call Register, is the national list of numbers whose owners have opted out of telemarketing calls and marketing faxes.
- Do not call listA do not call list is a register of phone numbers whose owners have opted out of telemarketing calls; callers must screen against it before dialing.
- Drip campaignA drip campaign is a pre-written series of emails or messages sent automatically over time, triggered by an action such as signing up, downloading a guide or requesting a quote.
- DropshippingDropshipping is a retail model where the store sells products it does not stock.
- Eligibility verificationEligibility verification is the process of confirming, before a patient is seen, that their insurance is active and what it covers: plan status, effective dates, copay, remaining deductible, coinsurance and whether the provider is in network.
- Email marketingEmail marketing is the use of email to build relationships with subscribers and customers, promote products and services, and drive repeat purchases.
- Employer of recordAn employer of record, or EOR, is a company that legally employs workers in a country on behalf of another business, handling contracts, payroll, tax withholding, benefits and statutory filings.
- End-of-day reportAn end-of-day report is a short written summary an assistant sends at the close of each shift, listing what was handled, what is waiting on you and what is planned for tomorrow.
- Engagement managerAn engagement manager owns the commercial relationship between a client and a staffing provider: scope, hours, coverage, reporting and any change to what a desk does.
- Escalation matrixAn escalation matrix is a written table that says who handles an issue, when it moves up and to whom, based on severity and how long it has gone unresolved.
- Executive assistantAn executive assistant is a senior support professional who manages an executive's calendar, inbox, travel, meeting preparation and follow-ups, and acts as a gatekeeper for their time.
- Expense reportAn expense report is a submitted record of money an employee spent on business, listing each item with its date, amount, category, purpose and receipt, so it can be approved, coded to the right account and reimbursed.
- FBAFBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon, is Amazon's program where sellers send inventory to Amazon warehouses and Amazon stores, picks, packs and ships the orders, and handles customer service and returns for those orders.
- First contact resolutionFirst contact resolution, or FCR, is the percentage of customer issues that are fully resolved during the first call, chat or email, with no follow-up contact needed from the customer and no transfer or escalation to another person.
- First response timeFirst response time is the amount of time between a customer sending a message, ticket or chat and the first human reply they receive from your team.
- Flat-rate planA flat-rate plan is a fixed monthly fee for a defined service, charged the same whatever the volume inside the agreed scope.
- Follow-the-sun supportFollow-the-sun support is a staffing model in which customer support is handed from one team to another across time zones, so that someone is always working a normal daytime shift while covering your customers around the clock.
- Fractional executive assistantA fractional executive assistant is an experienced executive assistant who supports a leader for a portion of a full-time schedule, commonly 10 to 20 hours a week, and is often shared across two or three executives or companies.
- FreelancerA freelancer is a self-employed person who sells work directly to clients, usually by the hour or by the project, and carries their own taxes, equipment, insurance and time off.
- Full-time equivalentFull-time equivalent, often shortened to FTE, expresses staffing in units of one full-time person.
- Help deskA help desk is the software and the team that receive, track and answer customer or employee requests in one place.
- HIPAAHIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is the US federal law that sets national standards for protecting patient health information.
- Hours bankAn hours bank is a prepaid block of assistant hours a client buys in advance and draws down as work is done.
- Inbox zeroInbox zero is a working habit in which every message in the main inbox view has been dealt with, so the list is empty at the end of a session.
- Inside sales agentAn inside sales agent, or ISA, is a phone-based sales professional who calls, texts and emails leads to qualify them and book appointments for a closer, without meeting prospects in person.
- Intake formAn intake form is the structured set of questions a business asks a new client, patient or customer at the start of the relationship, capturing identity, contact details, the reason for coming, consents and anything needed to open a file.
- Lead qualificationLead qualification is the process of checking whether a new enquiry is worth a salesperson's time by asking a set of questions about need, budget, decision-maker, timeline and fit.
- Lead sourceA lead source is the recorded origin of an inquiry: the channel, campaign or referral that produced it, such as Google Ads, organic search, a Facebook post, a trade show or a customer referral.
- Least privilege accessLeast privilege access is the practice of giving each person only the permissions their job genuinely needs, and only for as long as they need them.
- Listing coordinatorA listing coordinator is the team member who prepares a property for market and keeps it running until it goes under contract.
- Listing optimizationListing optimization is the practice of improving a product page on a marketplace or online store so it ranks higher in search and converts more shoppers.
- Live chatLive chat is a real-time text conversation between a visitor on your website or app and a person answering on the other side.
- MacroA macro is a saved block of text and actions in a help desk that an agent applies to a ticket with one click.
- Managed virtual assistantA managed virtual assistant is a remote assistant employed and supervised by a staffing provider, which handles recruiting, training, quality checks, backup cover and payroll while the client directs the day-to-day work.
- MinutesMinutes are the official written record of a meeting: who attended, what was decided, what was agreed to be done and by whom.
- MLSMLS stands for multiple listing service, the private database where licensed real estate brokers in a region share property listings with each other.
- Multi-factor authenticationMulti-factor authentication is a login that demands two or more different kinds of proof: something you know such as a password, something you have such as a phone or hardware key, and sometimes something you are such as a fingerprint.
- Mystery shoppingMystery shopping is a quality check in which someone poses as a customer, follows a realistic scenario and records what happened against a checklist.
- Nearshore staffingNearshore staffing is hiring people in a nearby country, close enough that the working day mostly overlaps with yours.
- Net Promoter ScoreNet Promoter Score, or NPS, is a loyalty metric based on one question: how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague, answered on a scale from 0 to 10.
- No-show rateA no-show rate is the share of booked appointments where the customer or patient does not arrive and does not cancel in time, usually measured per month.
- Non-disclosure agreementA non-disclosure agreement is a signed contract in which one or both parties promise not to share defined confidential information or use it outside an agreed purpose.
- OffboardingOffboarding is the controlled process of ending someone's access and handing their work over when a role or an engagement finishes.
- Offshore staffingOffshore staffing is the practice of hiring people in a distant country, usually across several time zones, to do work for a business at home.
- On-page SEOOn-page SEO is the set of optimizations made on a web page itself so search engines understand its topic and users find it useful.
- OnboardingOnboarding is the structured first period after someone joins, in which they get access, training, business context and their first real work under supervision.
- Online business managerAn online business manager is a remote operations lead who runs the day-to-day of a small online business on the owner's behalf: managing projects, coordinating assistants and vendors, tracking metrics and keeping systems and procedures current.
- Onshore staffingOnshore staffing is hiring people who live and work in the same country as the business, either on your own payroll or through a domestic agency.
- Order processingOrder processing is the sequence of steps that turns a customer's order into a shipped, invoiced and closed sale.
- Overflow call handlingOverflow call handling is an arrangement in which calls your in-house team cannot answer within a set number of rings, or while every line is busy, are automatically forwarded to a backup team of receptionists who answer in your name.
- Part-time assistantA part-time assistant is an assistant who works a set number of hours below full time, commonly 10, 20 or 80 hours a month.
- PECRPECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, is the UK law that governs marketing calls, texts, emails and cookies.
- Per-call billingPer-call billing is a pricing model where an answering service charges for each call handled rather than for the minutes it takes.
- Per-minute billingPer-minute billing is a pricing model for answering services in which the client pays for the time agents spend on their calls, usually as a monthly plan with an included minute allowance and an overage rate beyond it.
- PIPEDAPIPEDA, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, is Canada's federal privacy law for private-sector organizations that collect, use or disclose personal information in the course of commercial activity.
- PipelineA pipeline is the set of open opportunities a business is working, arranged by the stage each one has reached, from first contact through to a signed deal.
- PodA pod is a small group of assistants working the same account or the same kind of work together under one team lead, sharing procedures, tools and coverage.
- Prior authorizationPrior authorization is a payer's requirement that a provider obtain approval before delivering certain services, medications or equipment, or the claim will not be paid.
- Privacy Act (Australia)The Privacy Act 1988 is Australia's federal privacy law for government agencies and businesses with annual turnover above A$3 million, plus smaller health providers.
- PromptA prompt is the instruction given to an AI tool: the task, the context it needs, the format wanted back and the limits it must respect.
- Property managementProperty management is the day-to-day operation of rental property on behalf of an owner.
- Purchase orderA purchase order, or PO, is a document a buyer sends a supplier to order goods or services, stating items, quantities, agreed prices, delivery date and terms.
- RecallA recall, in a dental or medical practice, is a patient due back for a routine visit such as a six-month hygiene appointment, an annual review or a follow-up after treatment.
- Replacement guaranteeA replacement guarantee is a provider's written commitment to replace an assistant or agent who leaves or is not working out, within a stated window and without a further placement charge.
- RetainerA retainer is a recurring fee paid in advance to reserve an agreed amount of a provider's time or availability each month.
- ReturnsReturns are products a customer sends back to a seller after purchase for a refund, exchange, store credit or repair.
- RMAAn RMA, or return merchandise authorization, is the approval a seller issues before a customer sends a product back.
- Rollover hoursRollover hours are unused hours from a prepaid block that carry into the next billing period instead of expiring.
- Sales development representativeA sales development representative, or SDR, is a sales team member who finds and qualifies new prospects at the top of the pipeline and hands qualified opportunities to an account executive.
- SegmentationSegmentation is the practice of dividing a contact list or customer base into groups that share a characteristic, such as location, purchase history, engagement, lead source or lifecycle stage.
- Seller CentralSeller Central is the web portal where third-party sellers manage their business on Amazon.
- SEOSEO, or search engine optimization, is the work of making a website easier for search engines to find, understand and rank so it earns more visitors from unpaid search results.
- Service level agreementA service level agreement, or SLA, is a written commitment between a service provider and a client that sets measurable targets for how the service will perform, such as how quickly calls are answered, how fast tickets receive a first reply, and what hours are covered.
- Setup feeA setup fee is a one-time charge covering the work a provider does before the service starts: writing call scripts, configuring systems, documenting procedures, training the assigned staff and testing.
- Shared inboxA shared inbox is a single email address, such as support or info at your domain, that several people open and answer from one view, with assignment, internal notes and a record of who replied.
- Showing schedulerA showing scheduler is the person or system that arranges property viewings between buyers, their agents and sellers.
- Social media calendarA social media calendar is a schedule of planned posts across social platforms, showing for each post the date, time, channel, format, copy, creative, link and status.
- Spam ActThe Spam Act 2003 is the Australian law that regulates commercial electronic messages, such as marketing emails and texts, sent to or from Australia.
- Speed to leadSpeed to lead is the time between a prospect submitting an enquiry and a human making first contact, measured in minutes.
- Standard operating procedureA standard operating procedure is a written, step-by-step set of instructions for a recurring task, detailed enough that someone new can follow it and get the same result.
- Style guideA style guide is the reference document that sets the rules for how a company writes and presents its content: spelling and grammar conventions, capitalization, numbers and dates, product names, formatting, punctuation, inclusive language, and often visual rules such as logo use, colors and typography.
- Task batchingTask batching is grouping similar small jobs and doing them in one sitting instead of scattering them through the day: calls in one block, invoices in another, email in two passes.
- TCPATCPA, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, is the US federal law that restricts telemarketing calls, autodialed and prerecorded calls, and marketing text messages.
- Team leadA team lead is the supervisor responsible for an assistant's quality, coverage and coaching.
- Tenant portalA tenant portal is the secure website or app where renters pay rent, submit maintenance requests, view their lease and message the property manager.
- Ticket backlogTicket backlog is the number of support tickets that are open and waiting for work at a given moment, counted at the end of each day or shift.
- Tier 1 supportTier 1 support is the first level of customer support, covering the common and well-documented requests: order status, password resets, how-to steps, billing lookups and basic troubleshooting.
- Tier 2 supportTier 2 support is the second level of customer support, staffed by specialists who take the issues the front line cannot close: configuration faults, data errors, integration failures, billing disputes and anything needing deeper system access.
- Time zone overlapTime zone overlap is the number of working hours your team and a remote colleague share on the same clock.
- TPSTPS, the Telephone Preference Service, is the UK's official do-not-call register for individuals; the Corporate TPS (CTPS) covers businesses.
- Transaction coordinatorA transaction coordinator is the person who manages a real estate deal from signed contract to closing.
- TranscriptionTranscription is turning recorded or live speech into written text, either word for word or lightly cleaned up for readability.
- Travel itineraryA travel itinerary is a single document listing everything about a trip in time order: flights, hotels, ground transport, meetings, confirmation numbers, addresses and contacts.
- Two-party consentTwo-party consent, or all-party consent, is the rule in certain US states that everyone on a call must agree before it is recorded.
- Vendor managementVendor management is the ongoing work of selecting suppliers, agreeing terms, tracking performance and keeping the paperwork current across every vendor a business uses.
- Virtual assistantA virtual assistant is a remote worker who handles administrative, scheduling, inbox, research and customer-facing tasks for a business from another location.
- Virtual office managerA virtual office manager is a remote assistant who runs the administrative side of a business rather than handling single tasks: vendors, subscriptions, scheduling, starter paperwork, expenses, filing and the procedures that hold it together.
- Virtual receptionistA virtual receptionist is a trained person who answers your business phone remotely, in your company name, and then greets callers, takes messages, books appointments and transfers calls exactly as an in-office receptionist would.
- Warm transferA warm transfer is a phone handoff in which the person answering puts the caller on hold, speaks to the receiving colleague first to explain who is calling and why, and then connects the two.
- Weekly reviewA weekly review is a scheduled conversation, usually around twenty minutes, that looks back at the week's numbers and forward at next week's priorities.
- WISMOWISMO stands for where is my order, the most common question an online store receives after checkout.
- Work orderA work order is a written record that authorizes and tracks a specific maintenance or repair job.
- WorkflowA workflow is the defined sequence of stages a piece of work passes through from start to finish, each with an owner and a condition for moving on.
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