What is Answering Service?
Quick Definition
An answering service is a company that answers phone calls on behalf of businesses, typically using live operators or AI. Services include message taking, appointment scheduling, and call transfer.
Answering Service explained
An answering service is a third-party company that handles incoming phone calls for businesses. Traditional answering services employ live human operators who answer calls using the business's name and follow customized scripts. They take messages, schedule appointments, transfer urgent calls, and provide basic information to callers. Answering services are particularly popular with medical offices (for after-hours patient calls), law firms (for client intake), home service contractors (for emergency dispatch), and any business that needs phone coverage outside regular hours. Pricing models vary: per-minute ($0.75-$2.00/min), per-call ($2.50-$7.00/call), or monthly plans ($100-$700+/month). Modern answering services increasingly incorporate AI technology, either as a hybrid model (AI handles routine calls, humans handle complex ones) or fully AI-powered. AI answering services like AIRA typically cost 80-90% less than traditional live answering services while providing 24/7 coverage with no per-call fees.
Where is answering service used?
Medical offices, law firms, contractors, property management, any business.
Related terms
Virtual Receptionist
A virtual receptionist is a remote or AI-powered service that answers phone calls on behalf of a business. It can refer to either live remote agents or AI-powered phone answering software.
AI Receptionist
An AI receptionist is software that answers business phone calls using conversational artificial intelligence. It greets callers, answers questions, books appointments, takes messages, and transfers calls without human involvement.
Call Routing
Call routing is the process of directing incoming phone calls to the most appropriate person, department, or system based on predefined rules, caller input, or AI-driven analysis.
Want to see answering service in action?
AIRA is an AI receptionist that answers your business calls 24/7.