Find & Compare Answering Services in Your Area!

Answering services pick up a business’s phone when staff cannot: after hours, during lunch, when every line is busy, or around the clock for trades, property managers, medical offices and law firms. Live agents take messages, book appointments, screen leads, dispatch on-call technicians, and follow your script, while virtual receptionist plans handle the phone during business hours as well. People come to this page because missed calls are turning into missed jobs.

Answering services are not licensed, but medical and legal callers raise privacy obligations; ask whether agents are trained on HIPAA handling and whether the service will sign a business associate agreement if you need one. Ask where the agents are located, whether calls are recorded, how quickly messages reach you, and how the service connects to your calendar or software. Pricing is usually a monthly plan with a block of minutes or calls, so ask what happens when you exceed it and whether hold time counts. If you want someone physically at the front desk, staffing agencies place receptionists.

Every service on this page wrote its own listing, and a person reviewed it before it went up. If you answer phones for other businesses, apply to get listed — free, and it takes only minutes.