Founded in 2000, Moneypenny began as a small team of receptionists and has grown into the UK’s leading answering service provider. With more than 1,000 employees across the UK and US, we support thousands of businesses globally through a unique mix of extraordinary people and advanced technology.
As we’ve grown, our small-business values remain at the heart of everything we do. Whether you’re a start-up or a global enterprise, Moneypenny helps you deliver a professional, reliable and friendly customer experience without the cost of hiring in-house teams.
In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about telephone answering services – how they work, why they matter, what they cost, and how to choose the right partner for your business.
A telephone answering service is a modern, cost-effective alternative to hiring a full-time receptionist. It’s an outsourced solution that ensures every call to your business is answered promptly and professionally.
Your calls are diverted to your provider whenever you’re busy, in a meeting, or out of hours.
A trained receptionist answers the call in your business name, just as if they were sitting in your office.
Calls are either transferred to you or a detailed message is taken and sent instantly via text or email.
You can decide when the service is active – all day, overflow only, or evenings and weekends.
This setup gives you total flexibility and peace of mind that no matter the time or day, your callers are greeted by someone who understands your business.
In today’s always-on world, missed calls mean missed opportunities. Studies show that around one in three business calls go unanswered. For a potential new client, that often means moving straight on to a competitor.
Instead of relying on voicemail or missing out altogether, you can have every call handled with care and accuracy – giving your business the professional presence it deserves.
Every organisation has its own reasons for outsourcing calls, but some of the most common include:
Partnering with an expert outsourced call answering team brings both flexibility and reassurance. You can scale your service up or down as your business changes, without the risk or expense of hiring permanent staff.
Your receptionist answers with warmth, accuracy and consistency, which helps callers feel valued straight away. This creates trust and sets the tone for the entire relationship.
Instead of juggling ringing phones with other tasks, your team gets space to focus. This leads to faster turnaround, better service delivery and happier staff who are not constantly interrupted.
Even the smallest business can present itself with the polish of a larger operation. A dedicated receptionist gives callers confidence that they are dealing with an organised, established company.
Live call handling ensures you do not lose potential customers who will not leave voicemails or call back. Your receptionist can qualify enquiries, gather key details and pass warm leads straight to you.
Whether you are dealing with holiday absences, seasonal surges or campaign spikes, the service scales instantly. You stay responsive without the cost or risk of hiring.
Many callers reach out in the evenings or at weekends. With live 24/7 coverage, you stay available whenever customers need you and never miss time-sensitive enquiries.
You remove the expense of recruitment, salaries, training and sickness cover. You get premium customer service for a fraction of the cost of a full-time receptionist.
Fewer interruptions mean more clarity and momentum. Calls are filtered, unwanted calls drop dramatically, and you stay in control of how and when calls reach you.
With call data, message logs and reporting tools, you can spot trends, understand your audience and make smarter decisions about staffing, marketing and customer engagement.
Need overflow support only? Full coverage? Temporary help during a busy project? Your configuration can change at any time, so the service always fits your workflow.
A telephone answering service becomes a reliable partner that helps you deliver great customer experiences, protect your reputation and keep your business running smoothly even when things get hectic. It is a simple way to create more time, more opportunities and more confidence in how you communicate.
The short answer: almost all of them. From sole traders to global corporations, businesses across every sector rely on professional call answering. Some of our typical clients include:
Whatever your size or industry, a flexible service helps manage your time better and ensures your callers always reach a friendly, knowledgeable voice.
Don’t just take our word for it. Read our case studies to find out more about the different types of businesses we support here at Moneypenny.
Understandably, there are many online searches each week for “affordable answering service” and for “how much does an answering service cost?”. In regards to the cost, there’s no set answer, and the price varies.
Generally, there are two ways a provider will charge for their service; either by the number of calls you receive, or the duration of those calls in minutes. Each provider will have a different price per call or per minute.
Typically, you will select a package based on the number of calls or minutes you expect to need on a monthly basis. This can be tough to figure out if you’ve never thought about this, which is why at Moneypenny we offer all prospective clients a free 7-day trial, so they can experience our full service and see exactly where and when they need support.
Our service is charged for on a per minute basis, offering a range of schemes based on the amount of minutes you use. Get your quote now to find out what plan package is right for you.
No – all of our smaller schemes (inclusive of 150 minutes and below) have a minimum contract length of three months. Thereafter, we require one month’s notice to close your account from the date of your next invoice. For our larger schemes, we require either a six or twelve-month commitment (depending on the volume of inclusive minutes) with three months’ notice to terminate your account. This may not be the case with other service providers, so make sure to check before you make your decision.
The two terms are often used interchangeably. Both involve real people responding to your calls and representing your business, but a virtual receptionist may provide extra features such as:
Essentially, a telephone answering service focuses on managing calls efficiently, while a virtual receptionist can take on broader administrative or client care duties. The right choice depends on how much support you want and how complex your calls are.
Choosing the right partner is essential because the people responding to your calls are often the first impression of your brand. A great provider does far more than pick up the phone. They help you protect leads, support customers, and keep things running smoothly when you’re busy.
Here is how to make the right choice:
Need help finding the right service for you? Why not check out our Top tips for engaging a phone answering company blog for more information.
There are a number of ways you can work including:
The important thing is that they are flexible enough to satisfy the unique requirements of your business. You don’t want to be tied into long-term contracts and receive invoices that will mean spending thousands of pounds a month, if you only want them to answer calls when you’re unavailable.
This can vary depending on your provider and the service they offer. At Moneypenny, we offer a 24-hour answering service, where we answer calls on your behalf every day of the year, even during the holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As standard, your calls will normally be diverted to a professionally recorded voicemail system outside of your usual business hours. Moneypenny, however, have the capacity to answer your calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with our dedicated 24/7 team.
Not sure you need support out-of-hours? We’ve put together a blog post to help you out – Do I need a 24/7 call answering service?
When you sign up, you’re given a unique forwarding number. Any calls made to that number instantly appear on the receptionist’s system, along with your company profile. The Moneypenny receptionist can then greet the caller in your business name and handle the conversation according to your instructions.
It’s seamless for your callers – they’ll never know the call wasn’t answered in your office!
It all begins with onboarding. Moneypenny take the time to learn about your company, preferred greeting, tone of voice, and any key details you want shared.
For example our Moneypenny receptionist team will:
Each Moneypenny receptionist is trained to sound warm, capable, and knowledgeable, providing callers with a great impression every time.
Modern telephone answering services provide intuitive tools so you are always in control. With the Moneypenny app and online portal, you can:
This transparency gives you the confidence that your customer communications are running smoothly, even when you are not at your desk.
Moneypenny has evolved far beyond traditional call answering. Today, we’re the go to partner for businesses that want to deliver brilliant customer conversations across every channel, including phone, AI receptionist, live chat and more.
Our difference lies in the combination of extraordinary people and market leading AI technology. With more than 1,000 receptionists and specialist agents in the UK and US, we act as a seamless extension of your business, representing your brand with warmth and professionalism 24/7.
Here is what sets Moneypenny apart:
Together, these services mean Moneypenny can cover every communication touchpoint your business has, giving you one trusted partner for phone, chat, and digital engagement.
Whether you need overflow support, full outsourcing or a mix of live agents and AI, our solutions scale effortlessly as your business grows. We make sure your customers always reach a real, confident voice, wherever they get in touch.
That is why Moneypenny continues to lead the way in blending human connection with cutting edge AI technology, giving businesses of every size the power to sound polished, professional and always available.
Running a business is full of distractions, but your customers should not feel the impact of that. When every call is answered quickly, warmly and professionally, it changes the way people see your brand.
A telephone answering service is more than just a backup plan. It is an investment in better communication, calmer workdays, and stronger customer relationships.
If you are ready to find out how it could work for you, explore Moneypenny’s free trial and see the difference our receptionists can make from the very first call.
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