Providing the best Call Answering Service in the UK
Packages start from just £14.99 per month and a 30 day free trial.
Pro
Customer Service processes and more complex messages
Includes everything in Classic plus:
More complex message taking
Bespoke operator training
FAQs & additional data capture
Our team of friendly, professional receptionists can answer your calls and more, just as if they were in your office.
Whatever your business, large or small, Connect has the complete telephone answering service.
Classic
Live message taking and call transfers
Includes:
Live telephone answering
Standard message taking
Call transfers
Classic training
Let our professional, UK based, call handling operators become part of your business.
Diary
Integration with your online diary
Includes everything in Classic plus:
Diary management
Bespoke operator training
FAQs & additional data capture
An inbound call handling service specifically designed to access your online diary and manage calls for your clinic, restaurant or any other business whose callers need to make, amend or cancel an appointment.
Key Call Answering Stats for March 2025:
phone calls answered by Connect
minutes saved for our clients
unsolicited sales calls identified
Clear and transparent pricing
As well as our excellent customer service, what sets us apart is our clear and transparent pricing with calls you receive tariffs for our classic telephone answering service starting from just £14.99 per month.
While most answering services charge for every call or for every second that a call lasts, our unique approach means that you don’t pay for unwanted calls from wrong numbers, sales calls or the many other nuisance phone calls that plague many businesses.
Inbound call handling for every size of business
Our call answering services are perfect for small and medium businesses across multiple sectors.
We provide everything from simple telephone answering, to call overflow, to online diary management, to an outsourced switchboard from our UK-based inbound call centre.
Phone us on 0330 3333 777 to find out more or click here to set-up a free trial of any of our telephone answering services.
Excellent
Excellent customer care on our behalf
We work with clients who are often feeling desperate or have mental health problems. The Connect team field all of our incoming calls and do a fantastic job of…
CL Reps, 26 January
Good call handling service
Good call handling service and excellent customer service. Would highly recommend if need help answering calls.
Tracy woods, 15 November
Excellent service
My law firm has used Connect since 2017. I have found them to be extremely professional, polite and accurate. Messages are checked carefully and…
Daniel Berke, 31 July
How our telephone answering services work
Virtual telephone answering services involve a dedicated team of trained operators professionally answering calls on behalf of your business. These operators can either take messages, handle customer queries, call transfers, or even act as a full time receptionist.
Connect receptionists are expert call handlers, meaning your business calls will be answered by a professional and friendly operator from our team, who will greet you callers with your company name or other preferred greeting.
Your friendly and professional Connect receptionist can:
- Answer calls using your company name or however you wish
- Take a message then email, WhatsApp or SMS text the contact details you require immediately
- Act as an outsourced reception and transfer calls through to the relevant person or department
- Look after your diary management and access your diary to book, amend or cancel appointments
- Become your sales line, take payment and process orders for your business
A professional telephone answering service removes missed calls, which can often lead to missed opportunities, diverts calls when lines are busy, and ensures that you never miss a call.
The whole process is seamless so your callers will be unaware that you use a call answering service rather than your own in-house team.
Why choose our telephone answering service?
First impressions have always counted and no more so than today, as technology places your clients and prospects a mere click away from the competition.
Just take look at www.fsb.org.uk to see how many start-ups and established organisations invest in significant resources to get their message across to potential new users, so it’s reassuring that Connect offers reliable and proven phone answering services that ensure all your enquiries and inbound calls are answered professionally and quickly.
It’s easy to set-up, just divert your existing telephone number to our service and an enhanced customer experience can be ready in under an hour for your clients.
Call Handling Services
Key Features:
- Flexible packages
- Tailored call forwarding
- Support for high-volume calls
A professional telephone presence that costs a fraction of an in-house resource.
Virtual Receptionist
Key Features:
- Professional PA’s look after your calls
- Personalised answering scripts
- Appointment booking
A UK-based, friendly & dedicated team of receptionists answering your calls.
Virtual Numbers
Key Features:
- Regional and non-geographic numbers
- Call tracking options
- Instant activation
Make both inbound and outbound calls from your virtual landline number.
A flexible live call answering service that’s tailor-made to meet your needs
Call Answering Tips & Insights
New for 2025 - Now you can receive messages via WhatsApp!
21st March 2025: Our IT team have just completed the roll-out of our new service which, for the first time, means you can receive you messages instantly via WhatApp.
Connect are now the first, and only, phone answering service that can offer WhatsApp integration for your business calls.
Messages can be sent via email, WhatApp, SMS text message or a combination to make sure nothing is missed. Calls can, of course, still be transferred if you are using the service as an outsourced switchboard.
To find out more, call us on 0330 3333 777 for further details.
Introducing our new and extended free trial period!
7th February 2025: Connect are pleased to announce that we are extending our free trial period up to a maximum of 30 days inclusive or 100 messages, whichever is reached first.
We realise that 7, 10 or even 14 days of free service isn’t always going to be long enough to fully establish how our call answering service is working for your business. As our pricing is based on monthly tariffs, we feel it’s important that we give your business a true reflection of the volume of incoming calls we’ll answer and the number of messages we are likely to send.
Our experienced operators can handle your business calls
Our telephone answering services come with the offer of a free trial not only to prove we can answer your calls professionally, but also to help you choose the most economical tariff to suit your needs.
Click here to apply online or call us on 0330 3333 777 for further details.
Recent new telephone answering service clients
Nail and Beauty Academy
Our new client in Newcastle offers everything from nail art courses to waxing training and attracts students from all over the North East. With their VTCT level 2 to 4 qualifications, they provide both part-time and full-time courses. But they recently faced a challenge: their telephone support wasn’t as good as their training sessions.
So, when the Beauty Academy took a free trial of our telephone answering service, we came up with a special plan. Connect’s call answering operators were trained with a specific guide, helping them answer most questions and book appointments all in one call. If there’s a question they can’t answer, they send a quick text to the right trainer. That way, the caller gets a call back within an hour.
Click here to read the full case study for our Nail and Beauty Academy client.
Digital Marketing and PR Firm
Located in the heart of London and catering to both UK and international clients, this digital marketing and PR agency opted to remain compact in its in-house team. The firm regularly delegated tasks to a dependable network of writers, designers, and digital media consultants. Therefore, the idea of entrusting their call handling to Connect was a natural progression for them.
Like all new clients, they trialled our telephone answering service for free to see if it worked for them or not. What began as an experiment soon transformed into a revelation. They discovered that Connect’s operators offered far more value than just being a “glorified human answering machine”. This led to a shift from merely receiving messages via email to actively transferring calls to specific designers and account managers.
The transition to Connect’s telephone answering service proved invaluable. To quote their director, they effectively “secured a skilled receptionist team for less than a hundred pounds a month”.
Conveyancing Solicitors
A well established conveyancing law firm in Liverpool contacted Connect with a specific request. They needed our assistance in implementing a custom script to fill out online forms for incoming call, particularly new clients.
Our new call answering service client, a distinguished legal practice, focuses primarily on conveyancing and property law. Their clientele spreads across Liverpool and surrounding regions, including Manchester, West Derby, and Warrington. They realised the need for distinguishing new enquiries from existing clients due to the distinct handling procedures by separate office departments.
Connect now manages all incoming calls for our client. Existing clients are transferred to their assigned case officer, or a message is taken and emailed to the appropriate person. For new enquiries, our operators access a secured online form to gather detailed information. This procedure allows the best suited solicitor to promptly contact the prospective client. Click here to read the full case study.
Newcastle-Based Piano Teacher and Tuner
Our new client, James, teaches piano while also offering professional tuning services, although not at the same time! As his teaching responsibilities take up most of his time, attending to incoming calls from potential clients was becoming a daunting challenge.
To address this, we first equipped James with a dedicated 0191 Newcastle telephone number as up until now he had been using just his mobile number.
In addition to providing the local number, our trained operators now professionally handle all incoming calls, managing both new and existing enquiries. This ensures a seamless process for James’s clients, whether they are booking a tuning appointment or arranging a piano lesson.
Read the full case study here to discover how Connect’s telephone answering service not only helped James manage his calls but also allowed him to focus on his passion for music without worrying about missed business opportunities.
Adventure and Events Company
From heart-pounding white water rafting adventures in Aberfeldy to lively weekends of celebration in Amsterdam, our new client offers a diverse range of experiences that cater to callers across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Discover how our telephone answering service now helps an adventure and events company, based in Newcastle, ensure that every stag and hen party becomes an occasion to remember.
Read the full case study here to learn how our operators answer your calls, manage the high incoming call volume and capture essential details to create the personalised event experiences our client’s callers expect.
I’d like to congratulate your company on being 100% responsive from the first call to the set up and then the call logging provision. Just brilliant. No one else, and there were a few, local to us and national came close on efficiency, responsiveness, friendliness or convincing us they were competent to deal with their own enquiries let alone ours.
We appreciated the low cost flexibility you offered for a short period (no one else wanted to know!). I would not hesitate to endorse your highly efficient operators and professional service. Well done to Connect! Thank you for your help.
Click here to view more case studies and recent clients
Answering Service FAQs
Can I keep my existing phone number?
Yes, our call answering service can work either by keeping your current phone number and diverting incoming calls to us, or we can give you a new number to use.
Are there any set up fees?
No, there are no set up fees for our call answering services. We aim to make set up as smooth and as quick as possible so we can start handling your incoming calls as soon as you need us to.
Can I cancel at any time?
Yes, we work on monthly contracts, for all tariffs under 1000 messages. So, all we need from you is a month’s notice, from your next billing date, that you no longer wish to use our call answering services.
What type of businesses do you work with?
We support businesses of all shapes and sizes across a wide variety of industries.
Whether it’s helping small business owners stop missing calls, or a local hair salon looking for help with customer interactions, you get all the benefits of having in house professional receptionists for a fraction of the cost.
We aim to provide an exceptional service and a cost effective solution to any business we work with.
How do your operators know what calls are for which client?
Each client is given their own telephone number which they can either divert their calls to or give out to their callers direct. Calls coming through on this unique line are recognised by Connect’s systems and operators answer and handle the call as per the client’s instructions.
How do I divert my incoming calls to you?
I only want you to answer some calls when I'm busy, not all calls?
By using the call divert method it means that you are always in control of when calls are coming through to us, whether that’s when you’re on your lunch or in business meetings, when your line is engaged or maybe when you just want some guaranteed peace and quiet to get on with your work, you’ll have no more missed calls.
How quickly can I set the service up in an emergency?
Connect will provide you with an unique phone number for your business with which you can then either divert your current line at or use it for your marketing or website. The number that we provide to you can be either local to your business area (0208, 0131, 0161 for example) or a national “local number” (0845 or 0333).
*Please note that during busy periods of uptake, such as the recent coronavirus pandemic, new enquiries for our telephone answering service can take longer to set-up as existing client updates take priority.
Can I advertise the telephone number you give me?
Yes, but you might want to think about using one of our smart numbers which, when using our advanced telephony platform, can be programmed in a huge variety of ways.
For example, your number could go through to your office on certain days and be answered by us on other days, ring on 5 of your numbers simultaneously for 20 seconds then, if still not answered, come through to your Connect virtual receptionist service.
We can even set up a menu selection so that a caller dials “1” for sales, “2” for accounts and so on when prompted.
Can I use a smart number without using your telephone answering service?
Yes, our smart numbers are a great way of organising your call routing and can be used as a stand alone product if you do not require our answering service.
UK numbers including freephone 0808, 033 and all local area codes (for example 0208, 0131, 0141 etc) are available.
What’s the Difference Between Telephone Answering Services?
Different telephone answering service providers use varied terminology to describe their offerings. At Connect, the key difference lies in the level of service provided by our operators.
Our standard telephone answering service covers the essentials—answering calls in your company’s name, capturing contact and message details, and the option to transfer calls.
For businesses needing more detailed call handling, our Pro and Diary services offer additional flexibility, allowing for more tailored call instructions and appointment management.
View our Cost Calculator to see which service best fits your needs.
Page Last Updated: April 2nd, 2025