Last Updated: May 2025
In an age dominated by digital communication, the phone still reigns supreme for customer interaction. In fact, 80% of callers prefer a phone conversation to an email when contacting a business. For small businesses, this makes it crucial to never miss a call.
A dependable answering phone service for small business ensures every call is answered professionally—boosting customer satisfaction and building trust. Whether you’re a solopreneur or managing a lean team, the right service can help you stay connected without stretching your resources.
In this article, we’ve compiled the 16 best answering phone services for small business to help you choose the perfect fit for your needs.
Table of Contents
What is an Answering Phone Service for Small Business?
Why Small Businesses Should Use a Phone Answering Service?
Best Answering Phone Services for Small Businesses
- Helplama
- AnswerConnect
- Moneypenny
- RingCentral
- Abby Connect
- Ruby
- PATLive
- Davinci Virtual
- Go Answer
- AnswerFirst
- Vonage
- Answering Service Care
- MAP Communications
- AnswerForce
- Specialty Answering Service (SAS)
- Nextiva
How Does an Answering Service Work?
What is an Answering Phone Service for Small Business?
An answering phone service for small business is a professional answering service that answers calls on behalf of a company. These allow for calls to never go missed, even during business hours, after-hours, weekends, and holidays.
Not being a conventional voicemail apparatus, answering services use live personnel or sophisticated applications to engage the caller, presenting a more individualized and prompt service.
While offerings vary by provider, services can range from simple message-taking up to full virtual receptionist support that can do call screening, appointment booking, order processing, and even CRM system integration.
Small businesses can particularly gain from these services because they give the impression of a larger, economic establishment, without the baggage of employing reception staff to work in-house.
And whether you’re a one-man or woman shop, or managing just a few employees, an answering phone service serves as a critical connection between companies and customers, helping you keep in touch, build and retain customer confidence and not miss a single opportunity for more business.
Why Small Businesses Should Use a Phone Answering Service?
Small businesses need to maintain their relationship with customers at all costs to grow and succeed over a long period. Indeed, 80% of calls routed to voicemail don’t result in a message being left behind. In other words, missed calls translate to missed opportunities.
A small business phone answering service can help close that gap, providing several reasons why it might be a cornerstone part of your overall business plan:
1. Improved Customer Service and First Impressions
Answering calls on time is one of the basic factors in giving good service to customers. Speed and reliability are key when dealing with consumers, and a missed call can give a negative impression or encourage new customers to visit competitors.
By using an answering phone service, you can guarantee that you never miss a call, which will make your small business appear to be more professional and responsive.
2. Cost-Effective Solution
Employing a full-time receptionist or in-house staff can be expensive, particularly if you are a small business with a small budget. A phone answering service is a cheap and cheerful substitute for a receptionist and provides all the advantages of a professional team without the costly overhead of staff salaries, training, and benefits. The pricing plans are also flexible, so you can select a plan that suits your budget and requirements.
3. 24/7 Availability
Small businesses can have a hard time being available 24/7, particularly if you are simply operating a one-man show or the resources for extended hours aren’t there. A telephone answering service lets you be in business 24/7 without you being there.
If you require a call answering service out of hours or on weekends, you can be confident that your customers have support whenever they need it.
4. After-Hours Phone Answering Service
The majority of customer calls occur outside of 9–5 business hours. With an after-hours phone answering service, you are always accessible day and night, seven days a week, even on holidays. This is particularly useful for service-based businesses, medical offices, and emergency repair companies where quick responses affect customer satisfaction and retention.
5. Increases Productivity and Focus
By having someone else (or in this case, something else) answer your calls for you, you can keep the team working on sales and marketing, or creating a new product.
Answering calls and customer queries is executed by experts, allowing you to stay focused. This allows you to stay as productive as you can while delivering high levels of customer service.
6. Scalability and Flexibility
Your customer service needs grow as your business grows. Additional phone answering can be added to your custom package, and many of the phone answering service features can be further customized or modified in order to meet your organization’s specific needs.
Many of the services feature plans that are custom-fit as your company grows and develops, no matter if you’re a startup or a more established small business.
7. Better Customer Retention
You will have an answering service that keeps your customers’ concerns and questions answered promptly, so they are satisfied and will stay as customers. When clients feel confident picking up the phone, knowing your business will always answer, they are more inclined to return and refer your services.
Best Answering Phone Services for Small Businesses
Over 76% of all customers still want to talk to customer agents via the old-school channel of phones. For a small business, one missed call can be the end of a client relationship.
This is why selecting the right answering phone service for a small business is so important to ensure professional, responsive customer service.
1. Helplama
Pricing: Starts at 70 cents per minute.
Helplama provides custom live call answering services, and plans start at $399 per month, with pay-as-you-go opportunities available from $0.70/minute. Their agents based in the U.S. are trained with your past customer interactions to provide personalized and brand-specific support.
With round-the-clock availability, CRM integration, bilingual support, and a 100% money-back guarantee, Helplama is the safe bet for small businesses wanting professional call handling.
2. AnswerConnect
Pricing: Custom Pricing
AnswerConnect provides 24/7 live answering support to small businesses so they can be available anytime. More of a bespoke service, they work with you to create tailored responses to customer queries.
You’ll get live call alerts so you can stay on top of things, giving every caller a human touch. Excellent for increasing customer satisfaction and closing more sales.
3. Moneypenny
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Moneypenny (formerly VoiceNation) uses a 100% U.S.-based team and is known as one of the leading answering services for small businesses in the U.S. Custom story scripting and live agents — part of the model.
Focuses on maintaining a direct relationship with its users, delivering personalized experiences for callers. With the mobile app, everything from tracking calls to data is easily at your fingertips for business management on the go.
4. RingCentral
Pricing: Plans start at $20/user/month
RingCentral is an A-list provider with excellent service suitable for small businesses whose phone system runs in the cloud and is delivered through one app. It’s simple to use, and it’s loaded with advanced features such as interactive voice response (IVR), call queues and multi-site support, so it’s perfect for businesses with various communication needs.
5. Abby Connect
Pricing: Plans start at $329/month for up to 100 minutes.
Convert more callers into customers with Abby Connect’s professional live receptionist team. Known as one of the best answering services for small businesses, Abby Connect delivers customized customer experiences tailored to any industry.
With a strong emphasis on extensive training and service excellence, their team is dedicated to delivering happiness with every call.
6. Ruby
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Ruby feels every conversation is a potential business opportunity. Their human-enabled virtual receptionists and live chat products empower small business owners to maximize every call.
Ruby’s adaptable answering service works around you, with 24/7 coverage and a team of receptionists functioning as an extension of your company, driven to help you grow your business.
7. PATLive
Pricing: Plans start at $235/month for up to 75 minutes.
PATLive has over three decades of experience providing reliable phone answering services for small businesses all over the United States. Their reputation is one of supporting growing businesses with solid features that make it easy to fit their live receptionists into your workflow. Their vast list of integrations will have your creative workflow in overdrive.
8. Davinci Virtual
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Although Davinci Virtual is popular for its virtual office packages, small business answering services are something that they can offer to their customers. Smart, friendly agents make a powerful first impression by answering calls professionally.
These services include call routing, voice mail management, and bilingual receptionists to make sure that your clients always have the support they need.
9. Go Answer
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Go Answer provides a complete answering phone service for small businesses, with virtual receptionists who can handle calls, emails, texts, and messages. Built for small businesses, the program features a 30-Day Risk-Free Trial.
This is designed to be HIPAA compliant, includes 24/7/365 Bilingual Support, a free mobile app and some of the fastest response times in the industry.
10. AnswerFirst
Pricing: Custom Pricing
AnswerFirst provides 24-hour live answering services with 100% US-based agents to help small businesses with overflow support and assistance on special projects. Their company culture is centred on their employees and creating empowered teams that provide good customer service for thousands of clients.
11. Vonage
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Vonage broadens the reach for teams everywhere in order to improve the customer experience. Its Business Communications platform also functions as an answering phone service for small businesses, with special capabilities like a virtual receptionist for personalized call routing. Having set schedules and directing calls to the appropriate place.
12. Answering Service Care
Pricing: Plans start at $40/month.
Answering Service Care is a dependable answering service company in the US committed to serving small businesses with call answering. It is also unique in that it includes a studio-recorded custom on-hold marketing message for your restaurant, giving restaurants a phone line the professional sound of a chain (but at a fraction of the cost!).
13. MAP Communications
Pricing: Plans start at $49/month.
MAP Communications provides customized call answering services for businesses, assisting small businesses’ growth and enabling big businesses to always be within reach.
Never miss a call again, no more hold times with their 24/7 live support. Their free online tools and comprehensive reports give you valuable information, and their team will help you tailor the program to your unique situation.
14. AnswerForce
Pricing: Custom Pricing
AnswerForce offers an answering service for small businesses that includes a full tech stack in every plan, helping you grow and scale efficiently. Their services cover 24/7 call answering, live chat, appointment scheduling, bilingual support, and seamless integration with sales software.
15. Specialty Answering Service (SAS)
Pricing: Plans start at $38/month.
Specialty Answering Service (SAS) is an affordable service that provides professional virtual receptionists and a hassle-free system to help you run your small business. SAS provides top-notch 24/7 live operator support and powerful software integrations, making it a great option for small businesses that can benefit from improving customer service.
16. Nextiva
Pricing: Plans start at $20/month.
Nextiva is a complete business communication system that works for small business owners who desire a workable VoIP system that doesn’t skimp on features. Its phone answering solution comes with VoiP phone numbers, voicemail, call recordings, and more; all in one easy-to-use platform.
Built for non-technical users, Nextiva makes it simple to manage calls and improve customer satisfaction with limited funds.
How Does an Answering Service Work?
A small business answering phone service essentially takes incoming calls and directs them to professionally trained operators or to a completely automated system that processes legitimate calls as you would yourself, just as if they were part of your team.
Here’s a step-by-step look at how it typically works:
1. Call Forwarding Setup
The first step is forwarding calls from the business number to the answering service’s phone line. This could be for all calls or just during certain hours of the day (after hours, weekends).
2. Custom Script and Instructions
Many providers will help mount a custom script for your business. This script provides exactly how calls should be answered, what to say, and how to manage inquiries of various types (new prospects, current customers, emergencies, etc.).
3. Live or Virtual Receptionists Handle Calls
When someone calls your business number, the call is forwarded to a live agent or an automated system that is set up to be able to respond with your directions. Your receptionist can answer calls professionally, give directions, take details, make appointments, or escalate priority calls to your mobile.
4. Message Delivery and Follow-Up
After the call, the caller’s message will be sent to you via email, text or a client portal, depending on the service’s features and your preference. Some providers even include CRM integration so that calls get logged into your system automatically.
5. Analytics and Call Reports (Optional)
Several virtual-answering-service companies also offer real-time dashboards and reports that display call volumes, call times, categories of calls and such. That allows you to learn more about your customers and monitor performance over time.
In essence, an answering service serves as an organic part of your company and ensures every phone call is handled professionally when you are not around.
How Much Does an Answering Service Cost?
The price of a small business answering phone service depends on factors such as call volume, desired features, and the pricing model of the provider. Knowing these variables can guide to select a plan that meets your business requirements and budget.
Typical Pricing Models
- Per-Minute Billing: This is the typical pay-as-you-go model, billed by the amount of time agents spend on your calls. Rates generally hover around $0.75-$1.50 per minute, depending on the provider and services.
- Monthly Plans: Many services offer tiered monthly plans based on the number of included minutes. For example:
- 100 minutes: $150–$250/month
- 250 minutes: $300–$400/month
- 500 minutes: $600–$700/month
- 1,000 minutes: $1,076–$1,175/month
- 2,500 minutes: $2,675–$2,775/month
- These plans often come with additional charges for services like message taking, appointment scheduling, or bilingual support.
Factors Influencing Cost
- Call Volume: Discounts on per-minute or per-call calls may apply to higher volume call users.
- Service Features: Those additional services might be something like integration with CRM, order processing or, say, industry-based support, then it’d cost more.
- Operating Hours: 24/7 availability or off-hour support is usually more expensive.
- Customization: And customized scripts, support in other languages or special agent training will raise the cost even further.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive market, offering fast and reliable customer support is critical to business success. A staggering 60% of consumers have stopped doing business with a brand after just one poor customer service experience, making it clear that every interaction counts.
That’s why investing in a dependable answering phone service small business solution can be a game-changer. Whether it’s 24/7 live support, bilingual agents, or customized call handling, the 16 services featured in this article are designed to help small businesses stay professional and responsive.
Among them, Helplama stands out for its U.S.-based agents, flexible pricing, and tailored training that mirrors your customer tone and style. With CRM integration, multilingual support, and a 100% money-back guarantee, Helplama offers everything small businesses need to deliver exceptional service.
Choosing the right answering phone service for small business isn’t just about managing calls—it’s about protecting your reputation and maximizing every customer touchpoint.
