How we compare to the alternatives.
We're not the cheapest option and we're not the only option. Here's an honest look at how Always On Enquiries stacks up against the four types of solution you're probably considering, so you can decide what's right for your business.
Your four real alternatives.
Most service business owners weighing up their options are comparing four things: doing nothing (and losing the calls), hiring a receptionist, using a traditional answering service, or using a budget AI tool. Here's how each stacks up.
Doing nothing (missing the calls)
Missed calls can cost a busy service business thousands of pounds a year. In a YouGov survey of 2,046 UK adults (June 2026, commissioned by a UK telephone answering provider), 37% said they would give up on a business call within 60 seconds and try a competitor.
If you're a one-person trade and you genuinely only get 2–3 calls a day, you might be fine. But if you're missing 5+ calls a day, work out what an average job is worth to you and multiply it out. Doing nothing is often the most expensive option on this list.
If your miss rate is under 10% and your jobs are low-value, keep doing what you're doing. If it's higher, read on.
Hiring a receptionist
A full-time receptionist paid the National Living Wage costs an employer about £2,359 a month once employer NI and minimum pension are added (2026/27 rates). Part-time, at 20 to 30 hours a week, is about £1,200 to £1,900 a month. These figures exclude holiday and sick cover. Neither covers evenings, weekends, or bank holidays.
A real human who knows your business, handles complex situations with empathy, and can do admin between calls. For some businesses, this is genuinely the right answer.
24/7 coverage, multi-channel (they can't answer webchat and phone at the same time), automatic booking with qualifications routing. And when they're ill, on holiday, or at lunch, you're back to missing calls.
If you have high call volume, complex emotional conversations (bereavement services, sensitive legal matters), and the budget for it, a human receptionist is hard to beat for those specific calls.
If you need 24/7 coverage, multi-channel, booking intelligence, and want to spend £199–£929/month instead of around £2,359.
Traditional answering services
Varies with the provider and your call volume. Entry plans start from about £15 a month, and 100 to 250 calls a month at published per-call rates comes to roughly £150 to £550 excluding VAT. Most charge per-minute overages that can make bills unpredictable.
A professional human voice answering your calls in your business name. Message-taking, call transfers, some offer basic diary management. Established, trusted, well-run services.
A booking back-office. Webchat or webforms. Qualifications-based routing (they'll take a message, but they won't book the right person for a specialist job). Vertical-specific logic for your trade. And most aren't truly 24/7 without significant premium charges.
If you only need phone answering and message-taking, and your calls are simple and low-volume, a traditional service or budget AI tool may be all you need.
If you need the call answered and the booking made (with the right staff member, at the right time), plus webchat and webforms feeding into the same system.
Budget AI receptionist tools
From about £10 to £100 a month plus usage charges, voice-only AI tools
Published monthly prices run from about £10 to £100, and usage charges (per call or per minute) are added on top.
An AI voice agent that answers calls, takes messages, and may do basic appointment scheduling via calendar integration. Quick to set up, cheap to run.
A booking back-office with staff management and qualifications routing. Webchat or webforms. Vertical-specific features for your trade. Typically US-focused with UK as an afterthought.
If you're a sole trader who only needs calls answered and messages taken, and you don't need booking intelligence or multi-channel, a low-cost tool may be enough for now.
If you need the enquiry handled and the booking made, with staff qualifications checked, across phone, chat, and web. Budget tools don't do this. That's the gap we built Always On Enquiries to fill.
Every option, every feature.
The whole landscape in one table. Scan down the column that fits your budget, then across to see what you'd be giving up.
| Feature | Doing nothing | Hiring a receptionist | Answering service | Budget AI tool | Always On Enquiries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | £0 (but you lose the jobs: work out your own figure) | £1,200 to £2,359 | From £15 for entry plans; about £150 to £550 for 100 to 250 calls, excluding VAT | About £10 to £100, plus usage charges | £199–£929 |
| 24/7 coverage | ✗ | ✗ business hours only | Limited (premium extra) | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI voice answering | ✗ | ✗ | Some (hybrid) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Webchat | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Webforms | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Booking back-office | ✗ | Manual | ✗ message only | Basic calendar | ✓ Full (staff, quals, types) |
| Staff qualifications routing | ✗ | Human judgment | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vertical modules | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ built for your trade |
| UK phone number | n/a | n/a | ✓ | Some | ✓ Auto-provisioned |
| Setup | n/a | Weeks (hiring) | Days | Minutes | We set it up for you |
| Scales with volume | ✗ | ✗ hire more staff | ✓ but costly | ✓ | ✓ |
Receptionist costs are employer cost at the National Living Wage (£12.71 an hour from April 2026), including employer NI and minimum pension, and exclude holiday and sick cover. Answering service costs are the lowest and highest published pay-as-you-go prices for new customers at two UK telephone answering providers, excluding VAT, for 100 to 250 calls a month, captured 4 October 2026. Budget automated tool prices are the lowest and highest published monthly prices for plans that include automated call answering at two UK providers, captured 4 October 2026. Usage charges (per call or per minute) are extra. Prices change, so check providers for current rates. Rates as of October 2026.
So which is right for you?
Choose a human solution if…
You have the budget to employ a receptionist, and someone to cover while they're away. Otherwise, you're just losing revenue.
Choose a budget AI tool if…
You're a sole trader, you only need calls answered and messages taken, you don't need booking intelligence, and a low monthly price (roughly £10 to £100 a month) fits your budget, plus the usage charges these tools add on top.
Choose Always On Enquiries if…
You need more than call answering. You need the enquiry handled and the booking made across phone, chat and web, with staff qualifications checked and vertical-specific features. From £199/month.
Four plans. The same core product on every one.
You only move up a tier for more call volume, integrations, and niche modules, never for core features.
- All channels + booking engine
- Dedicated UK number
- For sole traders and one-person businesses
- Everything in Solo
- All integrations + niche modules
- For small firms
- Everything in Starter
- More call & chat volume
- The best fit for most businesses
- Everything in Growth
- Highest volume + peak spikes
- For busy, larger firms
Not sure which option is right?
Try it and see. Always On Enquiries handles the enquiry and the booking across phone, chat, and web, so you can judge it on your own numbers.