Call answering service UK
While You Work answers the calls you cannot get to, in your business name, 24 hours a day. The caller is asked what they need, where they are and how urgent it is, and you get the details by email a minute later, with a text straight away if it is urgent. Three plans for small businesses of every kind, priced per call, not per minute.
Plans from £39 a month + VAT, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 + VAT for 12 months. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
In one paragraph
When you are busy with a customer, a missed call usually means a lost one. Most people who reach voicemail do not leave a message. They ring the next name on the list. A call answering service makes sure somebody always picks up, takes the details properly and gets them to you, so you can ring back when you have a free hand. While You Work does that with an AI receptionist set up for your kind of business, so it answers every call at once, never has a day off and costs the same in a busy week as a quiet one.
How it works
Your kind of business, hours, area, what you do and your prices if you want callers told. A short form, about ten minutes.
One code on your mobile sends any call you do not answer within 20 seconds to your While You Work line. Switch it off whenever you like.
The caller is greeted in your business name and asked the right questions. You get their name, number, where they are and what they need. They get a text saying you will ring back.
What your callers hear
This is a typical call to a plumber. A salon, cleaner or driving instructor gets the same care, with questions set for their business. The receptionist asks one thing at a time, reads the number back to check it and never makes up a price.
Receptionist: 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?
Caller: It’s Jill. I’ve got water coming through my kitchen ceiling.
Receptionist: Thanks, Jill. I’m sorry, that sounds worrying. Is it still coming through now?
Caller: Yes, it’s dripping quite fast.
Receptionist: Right, I’ll mark this as urgent so Dave sees it first. What’s your postcode?
Caller: LS6, in Headingley.
Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Dave to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 482.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 482. Is that right?
Caller: That’s right.
Receptionist: Thanks, Jill. Dave will ring you back as soon as he can, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
Dave’s text: URGENT. Jill, 07700 900482, LS6 Headingley. Water coming through kitchen ceiling, still dripping fast.
Price
While You Work is from £39 a month + VAT for 50 calls, or £69 + VAT for 150 calls on Pro. A call counts once however long it lasts, up to 10 minutes, so a long call costs the same as a short one, and sales calls are ended before they take up your time.
The simplest way to judge it: what is one new customer worth to you? If a single missed call a month would have become £150 of work, even the £39 Starter plan pays for itself more than three times over. Try the calculator on our home page with your own numbers. If you are comparing providers, our guide to call answering service cost sets out per-call, per-minute and flat prices from named UK services.
Compared
Human answering services are a good fit for firms that need a person to use judgement on every call. For a small business that mainly needs the details taken and passed on, AI is quicker and cheaper.
| Typical human answering service | While You Work | |
|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Monthly fee plus a charge per call or per minute | A monthly plan with a set number of calls, from £39 + VAT |
| Busy week | Costs more | Costs the same |
| Hours | Often office hours, with 24/7 as an extra | 24 hours a day as standard |
| Several people ring at once | Depends how many staff are on shift | Several callers answered at the same time |
| Knows your business | Reads from a script about your business | Asks the questions your kind of business needs, every time |
| After the call | Message by email or app | Email in a minute with name, number and what they need, urgent calls texted straight away |
| Complex judgement calls | A person can use judgement | Takes the details and passes them to you |
Out of hours
A lot of work comes in when you have finished for the day: the boiler that fails at 7pm, the client who wants a Saturday appointment, the learner who books lessons on a Sunday night. While You Work answers around the clock, so those callers get a proper answer instead of a voicemail box.
You choose what callers are told. If you deal with urgent work out of hours, urgent calls are flagged so you can decide what to do. If you do not, callers are told you will ring back in working hours, and they still get a text to say so. More on out of hours and 24/7 answering.
Who it is for
For anyone who cannot answer because they are busy with a customer:
Want a receptionist that feels like part of the team rather than a message service? See our virtual receptionist page.
Questions
A call answering service picks up the calls you cannot, in your business name, takes the caller’s details and what they need, and passes them to you. While You Work does this with an AI receptionist, so every call is answered straight away, day or night, for one monthly price.
Three plans, all + VAT: Starter £39 a month for 50 calls, Pro £69 for 150 calls and Business £129 for 400 calls. A call counts once however long it lasts, up to 10 minutes, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 + VAT for 12 months. Our call answering cost guide compares named UK providers at 20, 50 and 100 calls a month.
No. You keep your number. You switch on divert-on-no-answer from your mobile with one code, and any call you do not pick up within 20 seconds comes through to your While You Work line. Turn it off any time.
Yes. It answers 24 hours a day, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Anything urgent is flagged, such as a leak through a ceiling for a plumber or a problem with today’s appointment for a salon, so you ring those back first.
Callers hear a natural British voice that answers in your business name and asks one question at a time. The greeting tells every caller it is the automated assistant for your business and that calls are recorded. It never pretends to be you.
It gives your prices, call-out fee or lesson price if you have told it to. It never invents a quote. For anything else it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.
No. It is monthly and you can cancel any time with no notice period. Cancel within 14 days of your line going live and you get a full refund.
From £39 a month + VAT, priced per call, not per minute. No contract, and cancel within 14 days of your line going live for a full refund. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form.