AI receptionist vs answering service vs voicemail
Each option fixes a different part of the problem. If the calls you miss only need a reply later, a text back may be all you need. If they need dealing with while the caller is still on the line, that's a receptionist, human or AI.
| Voicemail | Missed-call text-back | Answering service | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caller speaks to someone | No | No, they get a text | Yes, a person | Yes, an AI voice |
| Out of hours | Yes | Yes | Depends on the plan | Yes |
| Books into your diary or job software | No | No | Sometimes, if set up to | Yes, when it's connected |
| Several calls at once | Yes | Yes | Depends on staffing | Yes |
| Urgent calls reach you | No | No | Usually by message | Yes, put through on your rules |
| How it's usually paid for | Free | Monthly plus texts | Monthly or per call | Monthly plus call minutes |
Will callers know it's AI?
Some will, and it shouldn't pretend otherwise. We set it up to say it's the business's assistant, and anyone who asks for a person can be put through or promised a call back. What callers mind is being stuck: a voice that can't understand them or won't let them speak to someone. So most of the build is the handover rules, not the greeting.
How do urgent calls get through?
You decide what counts as urgent. For a heating engineer that might be no heat with a vulnerable person in the house; for an electrician, no power or a burning smell; for a clinic, pain or bleeding after treatment. When a call matches, it's put straight through to your mobile, or to whoever's on call, and if nobody answers it tells the caller what to do next. Anything that isn't urgent gets booked or logged instead of interrupting you.
How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?
It depends on which route you take. A UK business has three, and each is paid for differently.
| Human answering service | Off-the-shelf AI receptionist app | AI receptionist built around your systems | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | A person working from a script | An AI voice on the app's set-up | An AI voice on your questions and rules |
| How it's paid for | Monthly plan or per call | Monthly plan, sized by minutes | One-off build, then a monthly fee that runs it |
| After the call | A message is passed to you | Details sent to you; some book into a calendar | Booked in your diary, logged in your CRM, urgent calls put through |
| Fits when | Callers expect a person and a message is enough | You need calls answered and details sent on | The call has to change something in your systems |
Off-the-shelf apps are the cheapest way in. Team-Connect's trade plans run from £9.99 to £79.99 a month, and ARROW starts from £99 a month (both checked 5 November 2026). What they connect to varies, so check before you sign.
What drives the cost of a built receptionist
A receptionist built for you is priced on what it has to do once it answers. Four things move the price:
- Call volume, because phone and voice minutes are paid per minute.
- What it connects to: your diary, job software, CRM or accounts.
- How many kinds of call it handles, and how many handover rules it follows.
- Whether it also answers WhatsApp, texts or web chat.
What does ours cost?
The build starts from £695. The free audit call is where we work through those four things, and you get a fixed price before anything is built.
After launch, a monthly fee runs it: hosting, the UK number, monitoring and changes to the script. It includes 500 call minutes a month.
Minutes beyond that are billed at cost, with no markup. More on running costs on AI voice agents.
Off-the-shelf, or built around your business?
If you need calls answered and details emailed to you, an off-the-shelf plan is the sensible start. A built receptionist is worth it when the call has to change something in your systems: book into a real diary with travel time between jobs, check whether a customer is existing, create the job in your job software, or follow rules only your business has.
What it does in different businesses
Trades and construction
Takes the postcode, the job and how urgent it is, texts a link for photos of the fault, and books a survey or puts an emergency through. See trades and construction.
Clinics and practices
Separates new patients from existing ones, books or moves appointments, and hands clinical questions to a person. See clinics.
Offices and agencies
Answers overflow and lunchtime calls, books viewings or consultations, and routes callers to the right person with the details already taken.