AI receptionist for small businesses

Stop losing jobs to the next name on the list.

You are up a ladder, halfway through an appointment or in the passenger seat. The phone rings, you cannot get it, and the customer rings someone else. While You Work answers your calls, website chat and enquiry emails in your business name, 24 hours a day, and puts the details in your hand straight away. WhatsApp replies are coming next.

Hear it answer as your business, free

Ellie is our own AI receptionist. Press the button, ask her anything and she will show you what your customers would hear. Or ring 01202 144997 and hear her answer. Founding offer: Pro for £49 a month + VAT for 12 months. See what missed calls cost you.

Built in the UK for trades, driving instructors, salons, cleaners and every business that misses calls. An AI receptionist that works as a call answering service and virtual receptionist in one, from £39 a month + VAT. See how it works as an answering service for small business or an out of hours answering service.

Heating engineer working on a boiler

The problem

Small businesses lose work while they are doing the work

Missed calls. Messages answered at 9pm. Emails found on Sunday. Every one is a customer who has already rung the next person. You are not bad at the job. You are doing the job when the phone rings.

Capture every job

Every call and website chat is answered in seconds, in your name, and turned into a callback with the details you need. Nothing rings out.

Cut the evening admin

No more ringing back six voicemails at 8pm to find out what each one wanted. You get a tidy summary of every enquiry, ready to ring back.

Look like a bigger business

A consistent, professional first contact every time, whatever you are doing. Customers hear a receptionist, not a rushed voicemail.

What it costs you today

Put your own numbers in

Small businesses miss about a third of their calls, and 60% of tradespeople say they struggle to answer the phone at work. Some of those callers ring back. Most do not. Here is what walks past you every month.

Defaults are conservative. Change them to match your week. Where these numbers come from.

£1,560 a month

5 calls × 40% × £180 = £360 a week. × 52 weeks ÷ 12 = £1,560 a month.

walking to the next name on the list. While You Work starts at £39 a month + VAT.

What you get

Every way customers reach you, one receptionist

Every plan answers the phone. Pro adds website chat, and Business adds email, Facebook and Instagram and diary booking. Every channel shares the same knowledge of your business, so the answer is the same whether someone rings, messages or emails.

Phone answering Every plan

Missed calls answered in your business name, with the details with you in a minute.

How it helps

Website chat Pro and Business

A chat window on your website that turns browsers into booked callbacks while you are busy with a customer.

How it helps

Diary booking Business

Books the job or appointment into your diary on the call and texts your deposit link, so no-shows stop costing you a day.

How it helps

Email replies Business

Enquiry emails answered in minutes with the right questions asked, and drafts for anything that needs you.

How it helps

Facebook and Instagram Business

Facebook and Instagram messages answered instantly, because that is where a lot of local work now starts.

How it helps

WhatsApp BusinessComing

Replies to WhatsApp messages in seconds, even mid-job or mid-appointment, and books the callback.

How it helps

Phone answering, website chat, email replies, Facebook and Instagram and diary booking are live now. WhatsApp is being built and will be on the Business plan.

How it works

Three steps, no new number, no app to learn

  1. Tell us about your business

    Your name, what you do, your hours, your area and your prices if you want callers told. Ten minutes on a simple form.

  2. Switch on divert

    One code on your mobile sends calls you do not answer within 20 seconds to your While You Work line. Turn it off any time.

  3. Get the details in a minute

    The caller is greeted in your business name, asked the right questions for your kind of business, and told you will ring back. You get the details, they get a confirmation.

Before and after

Your phone today against While You Work

TodayWith While You Work
Customer rings while you are workingRings out or hits voicemail. Most callers do not leave one.Answered in 20 seconds in your business name
Someone asks a question on your websiteThey wait for an email reply, or give upAnswered in seconds by website chat, any hour
Evenings, weekends, bank holidaysUnansweredCovered 24/7
EmergenciesLost in a voicemail queueFlagged and texted to you as URGENT
Sales and spam callsInterrupt your jobEnded before they reach your inbox
CostA part-time receptionist, about £1,100 a month at the National Living WageFrom £39 a month + VAT, no contract

Who it is for

Built around your business, not a generic script

Each kind of business has its own receptionist set up for the questions that matter. A plumbing emergency is handled differently from a lesson cancellation or a salon booking.

Plumber fitting a radiator pipe

Plumbers, heating and gas

Boiler down, leak through a ceiling, no hot water. The caller gets a calm voice, you get the address, the fault and how urgent it is.

For plumbers and heating engineers

Electrician fitting a socket to a freshly plastered wall

Electricians, builders and every trade

Fuse boards, rewires, extensions, roofing, landscaping. Whatever you do, the job is written down properly and sent to your phone.

For electricians · For builders

Hairdresser colouring a client’s hair in a salon

Salons, cleaners and more

Appointment requests, your prices if you have set them, and same-day problems handled while you are with a client. It works for any business that misses calls.

For salons · For cleaners

Learner driver at the wheel with her driving instructor beside her

Driving instructors

New learners, block bookings, cancellations and test-day questions handled between lessons, so you never lose a pupil to the next instructor on the list.

For driving instructors

What the caller hears

A real conversation, in your name

"Hi, you're through to Dave's Plumbing. Dave's out on a job, so I'm the automated assistant taking the details for a call back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What's your name?"

  • Asks what the job is, where it is and how urgent it is
  • Reads the callback number back digit by digit
  • Gives your call-out fee if you want it to, never a made-up quote
  • Flags emergencies like gas smells and leaks straight away
  • Politely ends sales calls so they never reach your inbox
Customer making a phone call

Pricing

Three plans, priced per call, not per minute

Starter £39 for 50 calls, Pro £69 for 150 calls, Business £129 for 400 calls, a month + VAT. A call counts once however long it lasts, up to 10 minutes. Founding offer: the first 50 businesses in the UK get Pro for £49 a month + VAT for their first 12 months. No contract, and cancel within 14 days of your line going live for a full refund.

Compare the plans

Questions

Straight answers

Does it sound like a robot?

No. Callers hear a natural British voice that answers in your business name, asks one question at a time and confirms the number back. The greeting tells every caller it is the automated assistant for your business and that calls are recorded. It never pretends to be you.

Do I need a new phone number?

No. You keep your number. You switch on divert-on-no-answer from your mobile, which takes about a minute, and calls you do not pick up within 20 seconds come through to us.

What happens after the call?

Within a minute you get an email with the caller’s name, number, postcode and what they need, and on Pro and Business urgent calls are texted to you straight away, or every call if you prefer. The caller gets a text confirming you will ring them back.

Can it quote or book?

It gives your prices, call-out fee or lesson price if you want it to, and never invents a quote. On Pro it can text callers your booking link, and on Business it books the job or appointment into your diary on the call and texts your deposit link.

Is there a contract?

No. Monthly or yearly, cancel any time from your account or by email. Cancel within 14 days of your line going live and you get a full refund.

More questions answered

Not ready to pay yet?

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