Alternatives / Face For Business
Face For Business, which trades as FFB, is a UK telephone answering service staffed by human PAs, with managed live chat as well. It publishes three plans: Taster from £49 a month, Message Only from £99 a month and Inclusive Minutes from £115 a month. Calls are charged by the second, which it says are never rounded up, and there are no set-up or onboarding fees. It offers a 7-day free trial and no long-term contract. Its pricing page does not state whether the prices include VAT. Note that its live website is ffb.co.uk; the older faceforbusiness.co.uk address does not respond.
Prices checked on ffb.co.uk on 12 September 2026. Always confirm current prices with each provider.
The short answer
Choose Face For Business if you want a named human PA who learns your business, live chat handled too, and you are comfortable with a plan price plus per-second call charges. Choose While You Work if you want one all-in price with nothing added per call, 24-hour cover on every plan and the details sent to you in a minute.
Side by side
| Face For Business | While You Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Taster from £49 a month, Message Only from £99, Inclusive Minutes from £115. VAT treatment not stated | £49 a month including VAT for founding members, locked for as long as you stay (£69 after the first 20 of each type of business) |
| How you pay | Plan price plus calls charged by the second, no set-up fee | Flat monthly, no per-call or per-minute charges |
| Who answers | Human PAs, with managed live chat available | AI receptionist with a separate script and set-up form for each kind of business |
| Hours | Core business hours on the entry plan; evening and weekend cover is listed on Inclusive Minutes | 24 hours a day, 365 days a year |
| Trial | 7-day free trial, no obligation | First week free once your line is live, full refund if you cancel in that week |
| Contract | None, change or cancel any time | None, cancel any time |
| After the call | Message to your inbox, call recordings and appointment booking on the higher plans | Details by email a minute after the call and a text straight away for urgent calls (or every call, if you prefer), plus a confirmation text to the caller |
| Type of service | Human PAs, plus managed live chat | AI receptionist |
| Available | Now | Taking founding members now. Each line switches on as soon as the set-up form is finished, usually within minutes |
Switching
Look at your current provider’s terms for any notice period or unused credit.
A short form for your kind of business: hours, area, services and what callers should be told.
Point divert-on-no-answer at your While You Work number. Your callers keep ringing the same number.
Want the full picture on UK prices? Read how much a call answering service costs in the UK.
Other comparisons: Moneypenny, ReceptionHQ, Jodie, Cyberstaff, Answer.co.uk, Answer4u.
Questions
Its published plans start at £49 a month for Taster, £99 for Message Only and £115 for Inclusive Minutes, with calls charged by the second on top. Its pricing page does not say whether those figures include VAT. While You Work is £49 a month including VAT for founding members, flat, with up to 150 answered calls.
The headline is the same, the meter is not. Its Taster plan starts at £49 a month and then charges for the time its PAs spend on your calls, so a busy month costs more. While You Work is £49 a month whatever happens, and includes evenings and weekends.
If you want a person who can hold a longer conversation, take live chat and use judgement, Face For Business is the better fit and we would say so. If you mainly need every missed call answered and the details with you within a minute for a fixed price, While You Work is built for that.
It depends on how many calls you miss. For a small business that wants every missed call answered and the details sent to them in a minute for one flat price including VAT, While You Work is £49 a month for founding members. Choose Face For Business if you want a named human PA who learns your business, live chat handled too, and you are comfortable with a plan price plus per-second call charges. Choose While You Work if you want one all-in price with nothing added per call, 24-hour cover on every plan and the details sent to you in a minute.
Sources, checked 12 September 2026: Face For Business answering service pricing, Face For Business home. Face For Business is a trademark of its owner. While You Work is not connected with Face For Business.
Founding price locked for as long as you stay. No contract. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form.