A 24x7 answering service takes a business's calls day and night, through staff or an automated system, and passes on messages or bookings. There is no set UK price. The cost depends on the hours covered, the number of calls, how calls are billed and what the answerer does on each call, so a written quote for the same call pattern is the best comparison.
On this page
What a 24x7 answering service does and what sets the price
A 24x7 answering service picks up a business's calls at any hour, whether through trained staff or an automated system, then takes a message, passes on an urgent call or books an appointment. There is no set price. The quote depends on the hours covered, the number of calls, how calls are billed and what the answerer is asked to do on each one.
Whether calls are taken by people or by AI call answering may also change the quote, so it helps to ask each provider to price the same job in writing.
How much does it cost to hire an answering service?
No set UK fee applies, so a provider's own written quote and terms are the place to find a price. Provider websites may show headline prices, which are best treated as a starting point for questions.
To make quotes comparable, describe the job in the same way to each provider: rough call numbers by day and by night, the hours to be covered, and what should happen on each call. A plumber with emergency callouts, a locksmith or a property manager taking out-of-hours repair reports will each need something different from a message-taking script.
The guide to outsourced receptionist costs looks at the wider receptionist role.
How much does a telephone answering service cost in the UK?
Quotes may differ because providers count and bill calls in different ways. When reading quotes line by line, it helps to ask:
- whether night, weekend and bank holiday cover is included or charged separately
- how a call is counted, for example per call or per minute, and how a very short or abandoned call is treated
- whether message forwarding, call summaries and diary booking are part of the quote
- whether a contract term or notice period applies
Surgeries and clinics that take patient calls may prefer the guide to dental practice call cover.
What is a pay-as-you-go call answering service?
The term may suggest that charges follow the calls handled rather than a fixed monthly package, but the meaning can differ between providers. Asking the provider to confirm in writing what the label covers avoids relying on the name alone.
It helps to ask what is billed for each call and how a call is measured, and whether a monthly fee or set-up charge sits alongside the call charges. A business with few or unpredictable calls, such as a seasonal trade, may want to see how the bill would look in a quiet month and in a busy one, using the provider's own figures.
How are urgent and overnight calls handled?
Round-the-clock cover is worth most when the business has settled what happens to a call at three in the morning. Examples of points to agree include a burst pipe reported by a tenant, a customer locked out of a van, or a patient with severe pain.
These checks help identify where the service starts and stops:
- which calls count as urgent, and who decides
- who is contacted first, and what follows if that person does not answer
- whether the answerer can book, move or cancel appointments, or just takes details
- how messages reach the business, and how quickly
These points can then go into the call script and the contract.
Because the service runs through the night, it also helps to ask whether overnight calls are answered by a person or an automated system, and whether that differs from daytime handling. It is worth asking what happens if the answering system fails or an onward transfer is not picked up, and whether the provider can describe this in writing.
What if the provider also makes marketing calls?
Taking calls in is different from ringing people to promote a business. If someone else makes marketing calls for a business, the business is still responsible for complying with PECR, because it is instigating those calls. [1]
In general, a business must not make marketing calls to a number listed on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate TPS (CTPS), unless that person has specifically consented to the calls. [2]
The ICO guidance on telephone marketing covers further points, including automated calls and people who have objected before.
Sources
Rates, thresholds and dates in this guide come from these sources. Check the source for the current figure.