Small business answering service: what it costs and what you get

A receptionist is for big offices. A small business has one phone, and it rings at the wrong moment. This is what an answering service costs when you have fifty calls a month instead of five hundred.

Human answering services charge per call, with a minimum monthly plan. The less you call, the more you pay per call: at fifty calls a month, $1 to $3 a call plus a $30 to $80 plan quickly comes to $100 to $230 — two to four dollars a call, for a message.

With us: $25.95 a month, a thousand minutes of calls included. Ten calls or three hundred, the amount is the same. There is no setup: she reads your website, and that is her briefing.

What you get

• She always answers, even when you are up a ladder or with a customer.
• She knows your business: your services, your area, your opening hours — from your own website.
• After every call a report on your phone, by text and by email.
• If a caller wants an appointment, she checks your calendar and books it.
• She speaks your caller's language — English, Spanish, Arabic and twenty more.
• Cancelling is one text: STOP. No contract, no notice period.

What people ask about this

What does an answering service cost for a small business?

A human answering service charges per call plus a minimum plan, which at low volume works out to $2 to $4 a call. With us it is $25.95 a month for a thousand minutes, however many calls you get.

Is this not too much for a one-person business?

It is made for exactly that. One number, one code on your phone, and nothing else to set up — she reads your website and knows what you do.

Do I have to install anything?

No. You dial one forwarding code on your existing phone. Another code switches it off.

Am I tied into anything?

No. Cancel any month with one text: STOP. Whoever joins during the launch period keeps their price for as long as they stay.

Can I try it first?

Yes, free and without an account: enter your website and your number, and within a minute she rings you.