Business Communication 
Maintaining a competitive edge as a small business is challenging. Rapidly evolving customer demands create moving targets that are tough to capture without the right tools. Answering services help ensure that all phone calls are answered by real people, even during off-hours or busy periods. This guide will explore the best answering services for small business owners to drive better customer retention, plus what you need to look for before choosing one.
What Is an Answering Service for Small Business?
An answering service handles calls for other businesses, primarily after hours, during weekends, or on holidays. Routing calls to an answering service via a virtual receptionist also helps free up time and resources you’d otherwise spend managing calls internally. That way, you can focus more on scaling your business.
Comparison of the Best Answering Service for Small Businesses
Here’s an overview of the best answering services for small businesses:
| Answering service | Best for | Key services | Free trial | Starting price |
| AnswerConnect | Comprehensive lead management | 24/7 Answering, Lead Capture, Appointment Scheduling, Web Chat | ❌ | $325/month |
| Posh | Personalized customer service | 24/7 Answering, Outbound Calling, Bilingual Support | ✅ (7 days) | $65/month |
| VoiceNation | 24/7 availability & quick setup | 24/7 Answering, Order Processing, Emergency Dispatch | ✅ (7 days) | $70/month |
| Ruby | Integrated chat & phone support | 24/7 Answering & Live Chat, Mobile App, Lead Capture | ✅ (7 days) | $245/month |
| Abby Connect | Dedicated receptionist teams | Dedicated Teams, Appointment Scheduling, Warm Transfers | ✅ (14 days) | $329/month |
| Davinci Virtual | Startups needing admin support | Business Hours Answering, Admin Tasks, Virtual Office Address | ❌ | $129/month |
The 7 Best Answering Services for Small Business Explained
Let’s now look at the top answering services for small businesses, reviewed and compared:
1. AnswerConnect – Best overall service for lead management
AnswerConnect is a live answering and chat tool that offers bilingual support. Their support team can help you by taking messages, routing calls, and qualifying inbound leads. AnswerConnect can also help manage customer experience (CX) with personalization thanks to caller ID.
Features
AnswerConnect offers a range of features in addition to live answering:
- Caller ID to recognize repeat callers for better in-call personalization
- Inbound lead qualification so your sales team can hit the ground running
- Detailed message-taking so you don’t lose any important information
- Time-sensitive call routing depending on where your teams are located
- Appointment bookings to set up a future point of contact
- Overflow response system for busy hours to ensure no call goes unanswered
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| 24/7/365 live answering | More expensive than some other offerings |
| Live chat answering capabilities | Call reports aren’t customizable |
| Integration with most CRM systems | |
| Bilingual Spanish and English receptionists |
Pricing
AnswerConnect requires businesses to contact their sales team for pricing details and to discuss their business needs. Historically, there were three main pricing options from AnswerConnect:
- 100 minutes included: $325 per month plus $2.95 per minute and a $75 setup fee
- 300 minutes included: $425 per month plus $2.75 per minute
- 450 minutes included: $825 per month plus $2.75 per minute and a $75 setup fee
Larger businesses get 14 additional pricing tiers, from 600 minutes at $1,095 per month to 100,000 minutes at $168,995 per month. Plans from 600 to 5,000 minutes have a $75 setup fee, while larger plans have no setup fee.
Make sure to contact AnswerConnect for the latest pricing details.
Best for: Businesses looking for a comprehensive answering service with lead qualification and bilingual support.
“They respond very quickly to requests, call me to ensure the changes are correct. My clients like the people who answer the phones. They are accurate on taking the numbers and names. However, I would like to have an assigned person on my phone so they can answer more questions when people ask for the same thing.” Cynthia F. via G2
👉 See more AnswerConnect reviews on G2.
2. Posh – Best for personalized customer service
Posh is a live answering service that offers outbound calling capabilities. Its knowledgeable agents specialize in customer service for businesses in health, wellness, real estate, and consulting. Most notably, its outbound capabilities mean it can help capture and qualify leads and convert initial customer inquiries.
Features
Posh offers several features to businesses of all sizes looking for phone answering service capabilities:
- Live answering on every call so your customers never reach a voicemail on their first touchpoint
- Bilingual virtual receptionist to cater to more of your customers
- A mobile app so agents can help customers from where they’re at
- Unlimited users, so businesses don’t have to pay for more seats
- Integrations with 3,000+ business applications through its partnership with Zapier.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| 24/7/365 live answering | No live chat |
| Wide variety of pricing plans | No call recording |
| Bilingual receptionists | |
| HIPAA compliance |
Pricing
There are seven pricing tiers for Posh customers:
- 0 minutes included: $65 per month plus $2.25 per minute
- 50 minutes included: $125 per month plus $2.15 per minute
- 100 minutes included: $210 per month plus $2.10 per minute
- 200 minutes included: $410 per month plus $2.05 per minute
- 350 minutes included: $685 per month plus $1.95 per minute
- 500 minutes included: $950 per month plus $1.90 per minute
- 1,000 minutes included: $1,850 per month plus $1.85 per minute
Best for: Personal service-oriented businesses that need a flexible and easy-to-manage answering service.
“The virtual assistants are great. They are professional, easy to understand, and interact well with callers. It is saving me some time and getting me more bookings, which was the intended purpose. They don’t always follow my instructions. That could be better. But otherwise, I really like this service.” — Sheryl LaNoue via Trustpilot
👉 See more Posh Virtual Receptionist reviews on Trustpilot.
3. VoiceNation – Best for 24/7 availability & quick setup
VoiceNation, now part of Moneypenny, is a live answering service provider and virtual receptionist solution. VoiceNation provides agents with tech support know-how for small businesses without intensive resources. It also offers instant activation if you need an immediate live answering solution but don’t have the infrastructure to set it up quickly.
Features
VoiceNation offers several features, including:
- Unlimited long-distance calls so your customers get heard no matter where they are
- Live answering on every call so customers don’t reach voicemail on the first point of contact
- A mobile app so agents can help customers from where they’re at
- Custom call scripts to align with your brand
- Instant activation for easy out-of-the-box setup
- Free call patching (warm transfers) so you don’t rack up charges, making sure your agents are informed
VoiceNation users can also take advantage of message delivery free of charge via channels like voicemail, email, or SMS.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| 24/7/365 live answering | The mobile app includes additional fees for calling |
| No fees for holiday or after-hours calls | Live chat is billed annually rather than month-to-month |
| Bilingual receptionists | No dedicated account managers outside of the Enterprise plan |
| HIPAA compliance |
Pricing
VoiceNation pricing plans start from $145 per month, and you need to request a custom quote for more pricing details.
Best for: Small businesses needing to offer round-the-clock service with a quick and easy setup.
“We have been using voicenation for about a month. Everything seems to be going ok. My company is very happy with the customized scripting. My only issue is with occasional misspellings of information in the messages. Customer names, phone numbers as well as addresses have been recorded incorrectly.” — A VoiceNation customer via Trustpilot
👉 See more VoiceNation reviews on Trustpilot.
4. Ruby – Best for integrated chat & phone support
Ruby is a live answering and chat solution. Its agents are entirely based in the U.S. and have the expertise to assist with customer service, support, and even acquisition needs. Ruby handles outbound calls, qualifies and captures leads, and routes calls to the appropriate party.
Features
Ruby offers quite a few features:
- A mobile app so agents can help customers from where they’re at
- Third-party integrations to mesh with your existing tech stack
- Automatic inbound lead capture so your sales team can hit the ground running
- Call routing and forwarding to reach the right team member
- Appointment bookings to set up a future point of contact
Ruby is also known for exceptional customer service, a great option if you need outside help for a CX boost.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| 24/7/365 live answering | More expensive than some other solutions |
| Live chat answering capabilities | Bilingual receptionists aren’t 24/7/365 |
| HIPAA compliance |
Pricing
Ruby has four different live reception pricing tiers:
- 50 minutes included: $245 per month plus a per-minute fee
- 100 minutes included: $385 per month plus a per-minute fee
- 200 minutes included: $705 per month plus a per-minute fee
- 500 minutes included: $1,695 per month plus a per-minute fee
They also offer live chat as well as bundled reception and chat options.
Best for: Businesses with fluctuating call volumes and a need for both call and chat support.
“We have Ruby answer all incoming calls for our business so that our team can focus on the tasks that are important to our clients, and not have to field spam calls etc. Ruby does a great job being a gatekeeper, and giving legitimate callers a fantastic first impression. Sometimes we’ve had a client call in and say that the person who answered the phone wasn’t very friendly. However, thankfully this is a rare occurance.” A Ruby customer via G2
👉 See more Ruby Receptionists reviews on G2.
5. Abby Connect – Best for dedicated receptionist teams
Abby Connect offers live answering, chat, and virtual receptionist services. While live receptionists aren’t available on holidays through Abby Connect, live chat is available around the clock, 365 days a year.
Features
The features that Abby Connect offers include:
- Dedicated receptionist teams that stay with your account for consistency
- Appointment bookings to set up a future point of contact
- Call announcements for transparency and clear communication
- Call transfers to reach the right team member
- A mobile app so agents can help customers from where they’re at
- Zapier integration for compatibility with more than 3,000 third-party apps.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Live chat answering capabilities | Limited receptionist capabilities |
| Free outbound calls | No custom script option |
| Free trial | Live answering isn’t 24/7/365 |
Pricing
Abby Connect has three live answering pricing packages:
- Essential: $329 per month for up to 100 minutes, with a per-minute rate of $3.29.
- Professional: $599 per month for up to 200 minutes, with a per-minute rate of $2.99.
- Growth: $1380 per month for up to 500 minutes, with a per-minute rate of $2.76.
Abby also offers live chat as well as bundled reception and chat options.
Best for: Businesses that want a dedicated account manager and a consistent team of receptionists.
“I have been using Abby for over a year now to handle all of my appointment scheduling. I tried other companies first, and Abby has made it the easiest. Their call centers are in Las Vegas, so there is no language issue when they handle your calls.” — Chelsea Woodworth via Trustpilot
👉 See more Abby Connect reviews on Trustpilot.
6. Davinci Virtual – Best for startups needing admin support
Davinci Virtual is a comprehensive business solution that includes live receptionist services. It’s a relatively affordable answering service offering businesses administrative services, like providing a physical address, customer support resources, and live receptionists. Rather than compensate for business off-hours and holidays, Davinci takes over call support for extremely small teams.
Features
Davinci Virtual’s Business plans prioritize their live answering services and offer quite a few features, like:
- Free local or toll-free phone number, depending on your needs
- Call forwarding and screening to reach the right team member
- Unlimited long-distance calls so your customers get heard no matter where they are
- Online faxing for the transfer of important documents and information
Live answering with Davinci is only available during standard business hours, and not 24/7/365, so callers may sometimes reach voicemail.
Pros & cons
| Pros | Cons |
| Less costly than alternatives | Live answering isn’t 24/7/365 |
| Live receptionist | No notifications for new messages |
| Business administrative services | One-time setup fees |
| Minimum six-month commitment with no month-to-month option | |
| No free trial |
Pricing
Davinci has four pricing tiers customers can choose from, split into two categories. Business plans are answering services, while Premium plans are broader contact center solutions:
- Business | 50 minutes included: $129 per month plus $1.75 per minute
- Business | 100 minutes included: $239 per month plus $1.75 per minute
- Premium | 50 minutes included: $249 per month plus $2.50 per minute
- Premium | 100 minutes included: $319 per month plus $2.50 per minute
Best for: Solopreneurs and startups looking for an affordable answering service with additional administrative support.
“Maddi is excellent. She is wonderful to deal with and super professional. However, the company you use for remote notary services isn’t apt; their software (user experience) is appalling. — Michael Preston via Trustpilot
👉 See more Davinci Virtual reviews on Trustpilot.
Why and How Small Businesses Use Answering Services
Businesses use answering services to keep lines of communication open with their customers when the usual team isn’t available. They might add the answering service to their call flow after business hours, during a holiday, or when a service outage hits.
A typical call flow that includes an answering service might look like this:
- A customer calls your business over the weekend while your team is off.
- The call triggers an interactive voice response (IVR) menu that prompts the customer for a response.
- The customer gives input.
- The call routes to an answering service covering the caller’s intended destination.
- The caller connects with a support agent from the answering service who notes the issue and sets up expectations for the next steps.
- If needed, your team follows up with the caller when normal business hours resume, or via automated email or text.
Streamlining business processes can help make operations more efficient, lead to better customer service, and lower turnover rates. Keeping customers around for the long haul is important — the longer they do business with you, the more money they spend. They might even send new business your way, too.
By capturing customer attention on the first point of contact, an answering service engages and primes customers for the next step in their journey. Engaged customers are more valuable, too — according to Gallup, they drive a 23% premium over the average customer regarding wallet share among your competitors.
How to Choose the Best Answering Service for Your Small Business
The answering service you choose will be the first impression for callers contacting your business. When you consider that 83% of businesses either lost a customer, missed a deadline, or terminated an employee due to miscommunication, that first impression becomes even more important.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing an answering service:
- Customizable: Look for a business phone system that offers customizable solutions, like the ability to tailor scripts and call handling procedures to align with your brand.
- Available 24/7: Opt for a service that can handle calls around the clock (even on weekends and holidays) to ensure you’re always accessible to customers.
- Scalable: Pick a service that can scale with your business. That means handling increasing call volumes and adapting to rapid changes.
- Cost-effective: Select a service that balances affordability and quality, ensuring you get the best value for your money. When evaluating answering service cost, look beyond the base price, consider what’s included, such as call handling, message delivery, and integration capabilities, to assess true value.
- Able to integrate: Go for a service that seamlessly integrates with your tech stack, like CRM software, to streamline call handling and data management.
- Reputable: Single out testimonials and reviews from other small businesses. A reputable service with a track record of satisfied customers is more likely to meet your expectations.
| 💡Even if an answering service checks all your boxes, you’ll still need to route the calls somewhere. With a complete virtual call center solution like Nextiva, you can easily set up a connection to a third-party answering service and make sure customers reach the correct destinations. |
Be There Any Time Your Customers Call
To compete in today’s market, you must be there when customers call. That’s day or night, weekday or weekend, holiday or not. With round-the-clock availability, professional call handling, and scalability, an answering service for small businesses can improve your customer service game and retention.
A small business phone service like Nextiva is essential to manage, route, and analyze those calls so you can be there for your customers even when you aren’t actually available.
A complete call center solution.
See why top brands use Nextiva to handle calls at scale. Easy to use. Fast setup.
Small Business Answering Service FAQs
If you’re still curious about an answering service for small businesses, check out these frequently asked questions.
Live answering services cost anywhere from $64 to more than $300 monthly, plus a per-minute fee of around $2–3. The more minutes in your plan, the less your per-minute charge will likely be.
Answering services are beneficial for a wide range of industries, including:
– Healthcare: For appointment scheduling, patient inquiries, and emergency call forwarding, all while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
– Legal: For client intake, appointment setting, and after-hours support.
– Real estate: For lead capture, appointment scheduling, and property inquiries.
– Home services: For dispatching technicians, scheduling appointments, and handling customer inquiries.
An answering service can help:
Enhance customer service
Improve call efficiency
Reduce operational costs
Scale business operations
Be more available to customers
With an answering service, you can also free up time to focus on core activities like developing new products and acquiring new customers.
Trained professionals, often called customer service representatives or agents, answer calls for an answering service. The answering service provider usually employs them, and they follow scripts and protocols provided by the businesses they serve.
Answering services and virtual receptionists serve similar purposes but differ in scope and level of service.
Virtual receptionists offer more than answering services, including call answering and forwarding and appointment scheduling. Virtual receptionists can also offer customers a higher level of personalization and are more integrated with day-to-day business operations.
Answering services and call centers handle incoming calls, but the size of the businesses they serve and the expertise of their agents can differ greatly.
Call centers can be larger in scale, while answering services typically serve only small and medium-sized businesses. However, answering services offer general services like call handling and recording messages. If you have broader needs, you might opt for a call center that can often offer more specialized services like technical support.
