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Give callers 24/7 support with virtual receptionists

Need assistance with answering the telephone? ReceptionHQ’s live call handling services help UK businesses thrive by preventing missed calls and lost opportunities. All for a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.


Save precious time, get more done and never miss a lead with our team of receptionists answering calls for you

UK receptionists

Our local virtual reception teams answer your calls, with overflow support to ensure a fast speed of answer.

24/7 availability

After-hours, weekends, public holidays … we can answer day or night, 365 days a year, so you never miss opportunities.

Custom call greetings

Calls are answered with your preferred greeting to ensure your callers enjoy a consistent experience.

Instant emails or texts

Receive email or SMS messages after each call, containing caller details and their reason for calling.

Screening & transfers

Call screening and transfer options for unlimited staff or departments, so you only take the most important calls.

Appointment Icon

Short-term flexibility

With no lock-in contract, you can use our services temporarily to cope with staff shortages or seasonal demand.

How it works


We can do more than just take messages

Our more advanced call answering solutions, MyAssistant and MyDiary, include seamless integration with software such as CRMs and appointment-scheduling tools.


We make managing your virtual reception service simple

You can easily manage the receptionist’s greeting, call transfer availability and message preferences in real-time, plus add additional staff of departments as contacts for transfers or messages, using our online client portal or mobile app (iPhone and Android).

We offer a 7-day free trial, with instant activation and it’s super quick to get set up. You can have us answering your phone within minutes!

FAQs

Many callers hang up when their call goes to voicemail, so you can miss out on vital conversations or leads.  Ensuring your calls are answered by a live person, increases customer satisfaction, builds loyalty and improves your opportunity to create a rapport and obtain caller details. Live call answering also allows you to screen calls, as you can advise your receptionist to transfer or take messages for only those call types you wish to receive.  Once answered, you can see each message as it’s taken and prioritise who you will call back first. Live call answering increases revenue through better customer connections, reduces costs as you’re not paying for a full time receptionist and helps you to be more efficient with your time.

ReceptionHQ is based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and is a subsidiary of OfficeHQ, a global virtual reception company headquartered in Australia.

Yes, our receptionist can answer calls you’d usually miss.  You may be on another call or simply unable to answer because you’re busy at the time. Our receptionists will take a detailed message and send to you instantly by email or SMS. Many clients who subscribe to our service are surprised when they learn how many calls they’d been missing prior to having their calls answered by ReceptionHQ.

Yes. This is referred to as “call overflow”.

A lot of companies require their phone calls to be answered only when they are unable to take the call themselves. For example, if you step out of the office for an hour or your in-house receptionist goes to lunch, is on leave or is busy on another call and you have multiple calls coming in at the one time.

You can set your business phone number to divert (to the unique local phone number we allocate your business during the Free Trial setup process) only when the phone rings for more than a specified period (such as after 5 rings) or if your line is busy/engaged.

In such instances our receptionists will then answer the phone as if we were in your office. You’re always in control and can relax knowing you will never miss another important call again! 

Forwarding your business phone calls to ReceptionHQ is easy. To have our team of virtual receptionists answer your calls, simply:

  1. Decide whether you wish to forward calls immediately to ReceptionHQ (the best solution for most businesses) or have delayed call forwarding.
  2. Identify the call forwarding codes for your telecommunications provider. Most providers publish these codes on their websites.
  3. Use the codes to enable call forwarding to the local or toll-free number you choose to have allocated to you (aka your Assigned DID).

For more information, check out our article Forwarding Inbound Calls to Our Team of Receptionists, which outlines:

Yes.  Our receptionists are available 24/7 and you can opt-in to receive after hours live call answering on any ReceptionHQ subscription.

Without after-hours call answering turned on, our receptionists will answer your calls between 8:00am and 6:00pm on weekdays.  Outside of these standard business hours, calls will then go to voicemail and your voicemail message recordings will be emailed to you.

If you need after-hours call answering, please let us know when you sign up or contact us.

Yes. ReceptionHQ’s team of receptionists based in the United Kingdom answer the majority of calls for our UK clients during standard office hours, with overflow support available from our teams in Australia and the US.  Calls are always answered by our team in the UK whenever possible, however calls overflow to Australia or the US after hours and during unforeseen peaks in call volumes.  This enables us to provide 24/7 coverage for businesses that need it and ensure calls are always answered as fast as possible.
Read more.
Our clients range from small businesses including sole traders through to large enterprises including multinational corporations. We provide call answering and appointment scheduling services for a variety of industries, including estate agents, lawyers, accountants and healthcare (such as psychologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and dentists). We support many businesses with mobile workforces, such as those in trades, building and construction or travel and tourism operators. We also assist a variety of start-up businesses, contractors, franchises, retailers and service providers including IT companies and website design or marketing agencies.

Yes, you are able to use our service for an hour, a day, a week, whenever you need our assistance. Many clients use our live call answering for short-term needs, for example, when their own in-house receptionist is at lunch, sick or on annual leave.  Some clients use the service during their busy periods only, as call overflow or for campaigns.  Our live call answering service is like having a casual receptionist who is always available.  It’s reliable and risk-free, as you only pay for what you use.

If you prefer to use our service seasonally, you can take advantage of our pause package.


Our call answering services are designed for businesses of any size in any industry

Call answering services for businesses of any size

Whether you need a simple message service or a virtual receptionist to take orders, input leads into your CRM or book appointments while providing a seamless caller experience, we have a solution to suit. Each service’s inclusions, in addition to the standard features above, are listed below for comparison.

Whether you need a simple message service or a virtual receptionist to take orders, input leads into your CRM or book appointments, we have a solution to suit. Compare our services below.

  MessageExpress MyReceptionist MyAssistant MyDiary
Compare our
live call
answering
services

Call answering and message taking for one individual or team.

from
£15*
per month
See pricing

Messages, support and call transfers for multiple staff or departments.

from
£15*
per month
See pricing

Tailored scripting and virtual assistance for unlimited staff or departments.

from
£30*
per month
See pricing

Appointment booking, using your preferred software, for unlimited staff or departments.

from
£30*
per month
See pricing

Caller greeting Personalised Fully customised Fully customised Fully customised
List staff or departments One person or team Unlimited contacts Unlimited contacts Unlimited contacts
Collect information from callers 3 details 5 details Up to 11 details Up to 11 details
Warm call transfers  
Advise business hours/location  
Answer common questions  
Scripted questions & responses    
Quote fees & take payments    
CRM input or submit online forms    
Appointment scheduling      
Diary management      
  About MessageExpress Enquire now About MyReceptionistTry our 7-day free trial About MyAssistantEnquire now About MyDiaryEnquire now

* Plus VAT. Refer to Terms & Conditions.

MessageExpress

Call answering and message taking for one individual or team.

from £15
  • UK receptionists
  • No lock-in contract
  • Personalised greeting
  • Instant email or SMS messages
  • One person or team listed as message recipient
  • Mobile app & portal
  • 24/7 service upgrade option
  • an 0800 number upgrade option

MyReceptionist

Messages, support and call transfers for multiple staff or departments.

from £15
  • UK receptionists
  • No lock-in contract
  • Instant email or SMS messages
  • Mobile app & portal
  • 24/7 service upgrade option
  • 0800 number upgrade option
  • Fully customised greeting
  • Warm call transfers
  • Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
  • Collect 5 pieces of info
  • Advise business hours/location

MyAssistant

Tailored scripting and virtual assistance for unlimited staff or departments.

from £30
  • UK receptionists
  • No lock-in contract
  • Instant email or SMS messages
  • Mobile app & portal
  • 24/7 service upgrade option
  • 0800 number upgrade option
  • Fully customised greeting
  • Warm call transfers
  • Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
  • Advise business hours/location
  • Collect 11 pieces of info
  • Custom scripting or FAQs
  • CRM input or online form submissions
  • Quote fees & take payments

MyDiary

Appointment booking, using your preferred software, for unlimited staff or departments.

from £30
  • UK receptionists
  • No lock-in contract
  • Instant email or SMS messages
  • Mobile app & portal
  • 24/7 service upgrade option
  • 0800 number upgrade option
  • Fully customised greeting
  • Warm call transfers
  • Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
  • Advise business hours/location
  • Collect 11 pieces of info
  • Custom scripting or FAQs
  • CRM input or online forms
  • Quote fees & take payments
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Diary management

* Plus VAT. Refer to Terms & Conditions.

What our customers love

Used ReceptionHQ to cover my office calls whilst I was on annual leave for 1 week … all calls were answered, messages were emailed to me instantly. Very professional.
EHT Accounting
Taken all the worry out of missing calls and trying to cover phones at busy times when staff away on holiday. All this for a very affordable cost!
David Cheyette
We have been nothing but impressed with ReceptionHQ, their speed of response and ability to deliver what we want has been second to none.
Mark Dyer
You can be anywhere (on vacation, at the office, at home with your children); customers … won’t notice anything with this very professional receptionist service.
REN BAK
Having used a few similar companies before we can thoroughly recommend ReceptionHQ … their phone answering service is professional and efficient.
andy chapman
Fab to work with and we always get the messages in a timely manner. Thanks HQ team.
Lisa Burgess

Trusted by thousands of small businesses

Reclaim the hours in your day

ReceptionHQ’s 24/7 virtual receptionists answer your calls as though they work for your business, leaving you free to focus on your business priorities or spend uninterrupted time with your family.

Best of all, with no lock-in contract, you can just as easily use our services long-term or short-term, to fill an urgent need.

  • No phone ringing at all hours
  • No pesky voicemail hangups
  • No stress over lost opportunities
  • No HR or training headaches
  • No massive wage cost
  • No-obligation free trial

Want to learn more? Get in touch with our team!

Complementary business solutions

Automated messaging

Have voicemails instantly emailed to you both for convenience and to ensure no important communications are ever missed.

Phone numbers

Set up virtual inbound numbers for different locations or, if you require a national presence, an 0800 number.


Find out more

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Want to try our call answering services for free?

Put the United Kingdom’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.

Want to try our call answering services for free?

Put the United Kingdom’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.

What does the free trial include?

Our free trial is based on our MyReceptionist service, with remote receptionists able to take messages and transfer calls based on your availability settings.

💪 START 2025 STRONG: Get 25% off live call answering with code 25FOR25    Learn more

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