Virtual receptionist UK
While You Work is an AI virtual receptionist for UK small businesses, from sole traders to small teams. It answers the calls you miss in your business name, knows your hours, area and prices, and sends you every enquiry within a minute. No staff to hire, priced per call, not per minute, no contract.
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.
Definitions
A virtual receptionist answers your phone from somewhere other than your premises, in your business name, and passes the caller’s details to you. There are three kinds, and they suit very different businesses.
A person in a call centre answers your calls from a script about your business. Good judgement on unusual calls. Usually charged per call or per minute, and cover outside office hours often costs extra.
Usually means a screen or tablet in a reception area that signs visitors in, or a phone menu that says "press 1 for bookings". Useful in an office, no help when you are the one doing the work.
A natural voice that holds a real conversation, asks the questions your kind of business needs and sends you the details. Answers several callers at the same time, 24 hours a day, for a set monthly price. This is what While You Work is.
Our AI receptionist page goes through what happens on a call, step by step, and what it will not do in your name.
Trained on you
You fill in one short form. Every answer is used on every call, and you can change it whenever you like.
| You tell us | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Your business name | Used to answer every call |
| Your hours and area | So callers outside your patch are told straight away |
| What you do | Services, specialities and what you do not take on |
| Your prices | Call-out fee, lesson price or price list, only if you want callers told |
| Urgent calls | What counts as urgent for you, and whether you deal with it out of hours |
| Anything else | Gas Safe number, payment methods, parking, cancellation notice, languages spoken |
Each kind of business has its own form. A plumber is asked about call-out fees and emergencies, a driving instructor about pick-up area, manual or automatic, lesson prices and cancellation notice, and a salon or cleaner about its services, prices and booking policy. Nobody gets a generic script.
What callers hear
Instructors cannot pick up during a lesson. This is how a new learner’s call goes instead of hitting voicemail.
Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Sarah’s Driving School. Sarah’s teaching, so I’m the automated assistant taking details for a call back between lessons. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?
Caller: Hi, it’s Tom. I’m ringing about lessons for my daughter.
Receptionist: Thanks, Tom. Has she got her provisional licence yet?
Caller: Yes, she got it last month. She’s never driven before.
Receptionist: That’s fine, Sarah teaches plenty of complete beginners. Whereabouts would she need picking up from?
Caller: Horsforth, near the station.
Receptionist: That’s in Sarah’s area. Lessons are £38 an hour, and Sarah can talk you through block bookings. What’s the best number for her to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 615.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 615. Is that right?
Caller: That’s it.
Receptionist: Thanks, Tom. Sarah will ring you back today, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
What Sarah receives: New learner, parent booking. Tom, 07700 900615, Horsforth. Daughter has a provisional licence, no experience yet.
Cost
Three ways to have your phone answered, and what each one costs a small business.
About £1,100 a month for 20 hours a week at the National Living Wage, plus holiday cover. Still only one call at a time, and nobody after they go home.
A monthly fee plus a charge per call or per minute (Face For Business, for example, charges calls by the second). Costs rise in your busiest weeks, and 24/7 cover is often an extra.
From £39 a month + VAT for 50 calls, or £69 + VAT for 150 on Pro. 24 hours a day, counted per call, not per minute, no contract.
Want the detail on per-call and per-minute pricing? See what UK call answering services cost, or what an answering service for a small business costs next to a part-time receptionist.
Small business
Big firms have a front desk. Most small businesses have a phone in someone’s pocket and their hands full. A virtual receptionist gives a one-person business the same first impression as a bigger one: every call answered properly, in your name, with nobody sent to voicemail.
You stay in charge. You decide what callers are told, you get every enquiry by email and urgent ones by text, and every call is in your dashboard with a transcript and recording.
Beyond the phone
The phone, website chat and email are live now: chat on Pro, email on Business. Facebook and Instagram messages are answered on Business, and WhatsApp is being added, all sharing the same knowledge of your business. See which plan has what on the features page.
Questions
A virtual receptionist answers your business phone remotely, in your business name, and passes the caller’s details to you. It can be a person in a call centre or an AI. While You Work is an AI virtual receptionist that answers every call you miss, 24 hours a day, from £39 a month + VAT.
Human virtual receptionist services usually charge a monthly fee plus a price per call or per minute. Employing a part-time receptionist for 20 hours a week costs about £1,100 a month (20 hours a week at the £12.71 National Living Wage, before employer National Insurance, pension and holiday). While You Work is from £39 a month + VAT for 50 calls, or £69 + VAT for 150 calls on Pro, counted per call, not per minute.
Whether you work alone or run a small team, if you miss calls while you work, usually yes. One missed customer is often worth more than a month of the service. The calculator on our home page shows what missed calls cost you with your own numbers.
A virtual receptionist is any receptionist who is not in your building. An AI receptionist is one kind of virtual receptionist that uses a natural AI voice instead of a person, so it can answer many calls at once, never has a day off and costs a set monthly price.
Yes. You fill in one short form with your hours, area, services, prices and anything callers should be told. The receptionist uses those facts on every call, and you can change them any time.
Yes, on the Business plan: it offers your real free times, books the appointment and texts a confirmation with your deposit link. On Pro it can text the caller your booking link. On Starter it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.
Yes. You switch on divert-on-no-answer from your mobile with one code, so calls you do not pick up within 20 seconds come through. Your customers ring the same number they always have.
No contract and no set-up fee. It is monthly and you can cancel any time. 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.