For busy Fine-art and antiques valuers

Call handling for Fine-art and antiques valuers, without losing focus on the job.

A valuation enquiry may support insurance, probate, tax, sale or a family's wish to understand a collection, and each purpose needs different terms. Ziverly can gather the items, stated authority and intended use while you are examining elsewhere, without suggesting value or authenticity.

See what could help Try your own numbers

A familiar moment

The inherited collection needing a valuation before family decisions are made

You are cataloguing another collection when an executor calls about paintings, ceramics and furniture inherited with a family home. Ziverly can capture who is calling and their stated authority, property and broad location, valuation purpose, item categories and approximate quantities, artists, makers, marks, dates or provenance the caller chooses to mention without confirming them, current location, condition observations at a safe level, existing inventories, receipts, certificates, photographs or earlier valuations, insurer, solicitor, executor, accountant, auctioneer, dealer or conservator involvement, security and access at a general level without collecting codes, privacy needs, timing and preferred contact. It does not verify ownership, authority, provenance, attribution or documents, authenticate, identify, date, condition-grade or value an item, suggest market, insurance, probate, tax, reserve or sale figures, advise on division, disposal, conservation, transport, insurance, legal or tax matters, ask the caller to move fragile or heavy items, collect security codes, accept custody, quote, accept the instruction or promise a report. Suspected theft, coercion, unsafe access, hazardous materials or immediate danger requires the appropriate police, emergency or specialist route.

The useful handover

Enough context to respond properly.

The aim is to welcome the caller, gather the details you decide matter and keep the same enquiry easy to follow until the work is resolved.

  • Who is calling and how to reach them.
  • What they need help with and where.
  • What should happen next, without inventing a response time.

Where the pressure tends to gather

Make space for the work without leaving the caller in the dark.

Think about the calls that interrupt you most often. Ziverly can follow the questions and boundaries you choose, then leave the details ready for your judgement.

The purpose changes the basis of value

Insurance, probate, tax and sale contexts are not interchangeable and need clear instructions.

Family history is not verified provenance

Names, stories, labels and documents are useful starting points without establishing authenticity.

Examination requires methodical attention

A new collection can be welcomed without interrupting careful handling and notes elsewhere.

What a better handover can change

Less interruption now, a clearer thread afterwards.

Purpose and stated authority come first

Review why the valuation is sought and who is involved before discussing the collection.

Item groups and documents stay connected

Keep caller descriptions, photographs and certificates visible without treating them as verified evidence.

Your approved preparation can persist

Add an authority-document, inventory or safe photograph request for that known caller within your process.

Adiel, The Spirit of Service
Available in Ziverly

Adiel, The Spirit of Service

Someone calling about fine-art and antiques valuation is a person asking for help, not a conversion statistic. A calm welcome can make the next step easier for both of you.

Before, during and after the call

From first ring to finished follow-up.

Ziverly can do more than take a message. You stay in control of when it answers, how you hear about each call and what context is available if the customer rings again.

  1. You decide which calls reach Ziverly.

    Use the call-diversion options supported by your mobile or landline service, such as no reply, unreachable, busy or rejected. Turn them off again whenever you want to answer normally, or use cover for evenings, weekends, holidays and unexpected time away.

  2. Your call details meet you where you are.

    Choose email or SMS alerts where enabled, then open Ziverly to review the summary, transcript, recording where available, status and priority.

    Review caller and stated authority, property, valuation purpose, item categories and quantities, unverified maker or provenance details, condition observations, documents, professionals involved, security context, privacy, timing and preferred contact.

  3. The next conversation starts further forwards.

    Add an AI-facing note when you want Ziverly to have more context if the same known caller rings again. Separate private notes stay private.

    Add an approved authority-document, inventory or safe photograph request so Ziverly can use your latest preparation note without collecting security codes.

  4. Open calls do not have to rely on memory.

    Choose a daily or weekly email summary of calls still waiting for attention, at the time that best fits your working day.

  5. You can check in by phone, too.

    With Owner Voice Access enabled, call your own Ziverly number, verify your PIN and manage the calls you are allowed to see.

    After securing the collection currently in your care, verify your PIN to hear only the valuation enquiries and statuses you are permitted to access.

Use your own numbers

What might unanswered calls represent for your business?

If an average valuation is worth around £450 to your business, even one suitable enquiry can be worth understanding properly. Replace that example with your own figures below.

The result is an illustration based only on what you enter. It is not a forecast, a promise that Ziverly will recover the work or a reason to accept an unsuitable job.

Enquiries represented by your figures 0 Monthly work value represented £0

This simple multiplication does not account for timing, capacity, costs, cancellations, repeat work or whether another response would have changed the outcome.

Useful boundaries for call handling

Let Ziverly gather details without overstepping your expertise.

No statutory valuer licence; purpose, basis, conflicts, market date and professional indemnity should be explicit, especially for tax or insurance use.

You remain responsible for the advice you give, the work you accept and the safety, eligibility and professional checks your business requires.

A few practical questions

What would you want to know before starting?

Use these answers to decide where Ziverly could help and where the conversation should always return to you.

Can Ziverly estimate what an antique is worth?

No. Value depends on purpose, identification, condition, provenance, market and professional examination.

Will it authenticate an item from the caller's description?

No. Names, marks, labels and family history are captured only as unverified context.

Can it advise whether the family should sell or keep something?

No. Sale, ownership, probate, tax, insurance and family decisions remain with authorised people and advisers.

Try the smallest useful version

Begin with the calls that interrupt your working day most often.

Choose what Ziverly should know, what it should never promise and which details make a follow-up genuinely useful. Creating an account is free, so you can look around before deciding when you want Ziverly to handle a call.

No monthly or annual plan is required and there is no fixed-term commitment. Add pay-as-you-go credit only when you are ready to use it.

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