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26-398: The concierge serves guests of an apartment building, hotel, or office building with duties similar to those of a receptionist . The position can also be maintained by a security guard over the late night shift . In medieval times, the concierge was an officer of the king who was charged with executing justice, with the help of his bailiffs . Later on in the 18th century, the concierge

52-412: A customer service representative , dispatcher , interviewers , secretary , production assistant , personal assistant , or executive assistant. In smaller businesses, such as a doctor's or a lawyer's office, a receptionist may also be the office manager who is charged with a diversity of middle management level business operations. For example, in the hotel industry, the night-time receptionist's role

78-445: A mix of getting in touch with customers and also helping out internally in the office. Other simple tasks, like taking customers’ jackets or serving drinks to customers might also be part of the front office staff's job. This is the place where customers first arrive in the hotel, where they can check in at the front desk. Employees working in the front desk will also help customers with problems and complaints. The front office in

104-453: A motion detection camera to "see" visitors as they enter the building. The remote receptionist is then displayed in a video window on a wall-mounted LCD, kiosk or desktop all-in-one computer. The video receptionist and visitors can then communicate via 2-way video, allowing the receptionist to manage one or many office lobby areas from a central location. The advancement of office automation has eliminated some receptionists' jobs. For example,

130-409: A positive attitude and dependability. At times, the job may be stressful due to interaction with many different people with different types of personalities, and being expected to perform multiple tasks quickly. Depending on the industry a receptionist position can have opportunities for networking in order to advance to other positions within a specific field. Some people may use this type of job as

156-645: A service by financial institutions to their most valuable clients as way of retaining and attracting clients. Lifestyle and travel concierge companies often offer their service as a white-label or semi-branded product on a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) basis. Banks who currently offer concierge services to clients include Coutts , China Merchants Bank , RBC , and HSBC . Airport concierge services help travellers make it through security, customs, and immigration faster, and provide lounge access. The owners and operators of concierge, lifestyle management, and errand service businesses are supported and advocated by

182-414: A telephone call could be answered by an automated attendant . However, a receptionist who possesses strong office/technical skills and who is also adept in courtesy, tact and diplomacy is still considered an asset to a company's business image, and is still very much in demand in the business world. Front office The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as

208-513: A variety of other office tasks, such as faxing or emailing. Some receptionists may also perform bookkeeping or cashiering duties. Some, but not all, offices may expect the receptionist to serve coffee or tea to guests, and to keep the lobby area tidy. A receptionist may also assume some security guard access control functions for an organization by verifying employee identification, issuing visitor passes, and observing and reporting any unusual or suspicious persons or activities. A receptionist

234-460: A way to familiarize themselves with office work, or to learn of other functions or positions within a corporation. Some people use receptionist work as a way to earn money while pursuing further educational opportunities or other career interests such as in the performing arts or as writers. While many persons working as receptionists continue in that position throughout their careers, some receptionists may advance to other administrative jobs, such as

260-421: Is a contraction of comte des cierges ("count of candles"), a servant responsible for maintaining the lighting and cleanliness of medieval palaces. Receptionist A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title receptionist

286-686: Is almost always combined with performing daily account consolidation and reporting, more particularly known as night auditing . When receptionists leave the job, they often enter other career fields such as sales and marketing, public relations or other media occupations. A few famous people were receptionists in the beginning, such as Betty Williams , a co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize . A number of celebrities had worked as receptionists before they became famous, such as singer/songwriter Naomi Judd and Linda McCartney , photographer, entrepreneur and wife of Paul McCartney . Other famous people who began their careers as receptionists or worked in

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312-507: Is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls. The term front desk is used in many hotels for an administrative department where a receptionist's duties also may include room reservations and assignment, guest registration, cashier work, credit checks, key control, and mail and message service. Such receptionists are often called front desk clerks . Receptionists cover many areas of work to assist

338-755: Is not on-site. A modern concierge may also serve as a lifestyle manager, like a secretary or a personal assistant. In hospitals, concierge services are becoming increasingly available. A hospital concierge provides similar services to those of a hotel concierge, but serves patients and employees as well. This helps hospital employees who work long shifts and helps to provide work–life balance. There are numerous independent personal concierge companies that provide errand services and information services for their members. Services include informational requests, setting dinner reservations, making telephone calls, researching travel arrangements and more. Typically, concierge companies will bill on an hourly rate, and depending upon

364-460: Is often the first business contact a person will meet at any organization. Organizations usually expect that the receptionist maintains a calm, courteous and professional demeanor at all times, regardless of the visitor's behavior. Some personal qualities that a receptionist is expected to possess in order to do the job successfully include attentiveness, a well-groomed appearance, initiative, loyalty, maturity, respect for confidentiality and discretion,

390-419: Is the most important role in the front office, employees generally receive the highest salary compared to staff in the same position in other industries. In some sports businesses, the front office usually gets in touch with the players and organizes activities for them. The front office staff is usually the one that has the highest position in the sports team, who can control the whole team. The motivation of

416-495: The businesses they work for, including setting appointments, filing, record keeping, and other office tasks. The business duties of a receptionist may include answering visitors' enquiries about a company and its products or services, directing visitors to their destinations, sorting and handing out mail, answering incoming calls on multi-line telephones or, earlier in the 20th century, a switchboard , setting appointments, filing, records keeping, keyboarding/data entry and performing

442-656: The field include civil rights activist Rosa Parks and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina . Some small-to-medium-sized business owners hire a live remote receptionist in lieu of a full-time, in-house receptionist, thanks to advances in communications technology. As the phrase itself suggests, a live remote receptionist deals with phone calls for a company in another location using telephony private branch exchange (PBX) servers. Most modern receptionist services can take messages, screen and forward calls, answer basic FAQs, and fill out web forms. Many services can also schedule appointments and take credit card orders. Some of

468-407: The front office as they get in touch with customers directly. They will show customers the way and carry the luggage for them. There are different parts in the front office of a hotel, which included reception, providing services when customers asked, mailing information, concierge and employees who manage with money. The front office of investment banking, mainly deal with sales and trading. As this

494-414: The front office can also deal with simple tasks, such as sorting out emails, helping out on printing and typing works. Front office staff need to use different skills on technologies too, such as using the printers, fax machines and phone. This is the reason why training is needed before the staffs start to work, although some might only be simple tasks. The most common work for the front office worker will be

520-415: The hotel industry, also called the reception area , which the receptionist is the one who get in touch with the customers, most importantly, confirm their reservation and answering their questions. The receptionist in the front office will pick up phone calls from customers too, welcome customers and also help customers checking out at last. The employees who work in the lobby of the hotel are also part of

546-412: The marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries. The function of front office is to directly get in touch with customers, and is usually the first place that customers get to when they arrive to the company. The front office can discover more information about the customer by asking them questions, also helping the customers out. Staff working in

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572-661: The non-profit International Concierge and Lifestyle Management Association (ICLMA) and the National Concierge Association. The French word concierge is likely derived from the Old French cumcerges , itself related to the Medieval Latin consergius or the Latin conservus ("fellow slave"). Another possibility, suggested by French authors as early as the 19th century, is that "concierge"

598-473: The older receptionist services have been around for decades, but these often operate very differently from modern services. Advances in touch screen and 2-way video technology is changing the way some receptionist work. New types of virtual video receptionist systems now allows for live, in-house or remote receptionists to manage office lobby areas from remote locations. These virtual receptionists not only answer phones but also greet walk-in visitors by utilizing

624-435: The part-time services of door-staff . Some larger apartment buildings or groups of buildings retain the use of concierges. The concierge may, for instance, keep the mail of absented dwellers, be entrusted with the apartment keys to deal with emergencies when residents are absent, provide information to residents and guests, provide access control, enforce rules, and act as a go-between for residents and management when management

650-576: The type of task, fees can vary drastically. Other companies bill a flat monthly fee based upon the number of requests a member is allowed to place each month. In the United Kingdom, since the year 2000 and as of 2010, concierge has become a key marketing and loyalty tool in the banking sector and offered as a benefit on luxury credit cards . This service offering is also known as lifestyle management. Concierges also entertain their clients. Additionally, concierge services are now frequently offered as

676-581: Was a high official of the kingdom, appointed by the king to maintain order and oversee the police and prisoner records. In 19th-century and early 20th-century apartment buildings, particularly in Paris , the concierge was known as a "Suisse", as the post was often filled by Swiss people. They often had a small apartment on the ground floor, called loge , and were able to monitor all comings and goings. However, such settings are now extremely rare; most concierges in small or middle-sized buildings have been replaced by

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