Missing calls is expensive. Not sure how expensive? Do the math with our missed call calculator.
A traditional answering service is a solution used by some businesses, but it’s not the only alternative to missed calls.
Depending on how maxny calls you get, when you’re missing them, and what callers actually need, there are quite a few ways to make sure your calls get answered. (Some are surprisingly low-tech.)
Here are several alternatives worth considering.
1. Hire a receptionist
Let’s start with the obvious one.
If you get enough calls to keep someone busy, hiring a receptionist can still be one of the best options. You get a real person who knows your business inside and out and can handle every phone call correctly.
There are two considerations with a receptionist: overhead cost and working hours.
Your receptionist deserves quality pay and benefits, which only makes sense for larger businesses with enough call volume and revenue. And even the best receptionists offer coverage during the day, not nights and weekends.
But there’s a more cost-effective version of this idea that can work surprisingly well.
2. Hire a part-time receptionist
You might not need someone sitting at a desk from 8 to 5.
Look at when you actually miss calls.
Maybe your office manager can handle the phone most of the day, but things fall apart between 3 and 6. Or you need someone answering while your crew is busiest in the morning.
A college student, retiree, stay-at-home parent, or someone looking for part-time work could cover those hours. You can even forward your business number to their cell phone, so they don’t necessarily need to be sitting in your office.
For a small local business with predictable busy periods, this can be a pretty practical middle ground.
3. Use an AI voice agent
AI voice agents have gotten really good. And they’re a great supplement to your current coverage, especially if cost is a consideration or you need coverage outside normal office hours.
Instead of missing a call or sending potential prospects to voicemail, you can have an AI agent answer with a breadth of knowledge about your business.
And it can do quite a bit more than say, “Thanks for calling. Can I get your name and number?” (And in multiple languages and accents.)
You train the voice agent on information and rules for handling calls. Then it can:
- Answer common questions about your business
- Collect contact and lead information
- Qualify new leads
- Route urgent or high-value calls to a real person
- Schedule appointments
- Take messages
- Send follow-up texts
- Handle multiple calls at once
- Provide answering coverage for nights, weekends, holidays, and unexpected call spikes
That last part is one of the biggest differences between AI and hiring another person.
You don’t necessarily have to predict exactly when you’ll need help.
If three people call at once, your receptionist can still only answer one phone. An AI system can potentially handle all three.
And you don’t have to use AI for every call.
You could have your receptionist answer first and send unanswered calls to AI. Use AI only after hours. Have AI handle basic questions while sending sales calls directly to your team. Or turn it on temporarily when you know you’re going to get slammed.
A roofing company could use an AI agent to handle the rush of calls after a major storm. An HVAC company could use one during the first really hot week of summer. A business running a big promotion could turn it on for the campaign instead of hiring temporary staff.
There are tradeoffs.
AI isn’t the right choice for every conversation. Complicated, emotional, unusual, or highly sensitive calls may still be better handled by a person. And a poorly configured AI agent can create just as frustrating an experience as a poorly trained call center.
The goal isn’t necessarily to get humans off the phone.
It’s to decide which calls actually need them.
CTA to get started with 800.com’s AI agents here.
4. Rotate the phone between employees
You may already have enough people to answer your calls. You just haven’t assigned anyone to do it.
Create an on-call schedule and forward unanswered calls to whoever is responsible that day.
For example:
Monday: Office manager
Tuesday: Owner
Wednesday: Sales rep
Thursday: Office manager
Friday: Operations manager
This obviously won’t work for every company. Your HVAC technician probably shouldn’t be answering sales calls while replacing a compressor.
But if several people on your team are already capable of answering basic questions, you may be able to spread the responsibility around instead of outsourcing it.
Just make sure someone is clearly responsible. “Everyone answers the phone” has a tendency to become “someone else will answer the phone.”
5. Change your call routing
Sometimes the problem isn’t staffing. It’s your phone setup.
Say your main number rings the front desk three times and then goes to voicemail.
Meanwhile, you have four other employees perfectly capable of helping that caller.
That’s fixable.
Modern business phone systems like 800.com give you options: simultaneous ringing, ring groups, sequential forwarding, department routing, and forwarding unanswered calls to another number. And you can now have an AI agent route calls intelligently, too.
You could have calls:
Ring the office → ring the owner’s phone → ring a salesperson → send to your AI agent
Or have multiple phones ring at the same time and let whoever is available pick up.
Before adding another service, take a look at what a professional phone system can do for you.
6. Let people text you
Some calls don’t need to be calls.
“Do you service my area?”
“Can I get an estimate?”
“Are you open Saturday?”
Those are perfectly good text conversations that can be answered in a few minutes from your cell.
Consider adding texting to your business number and making it prominent on your website, Google Business Profile, emails, billboards, and other marketing.
With texting, you can reduce the need for simple calls and even offer an avenue for prospects who prefer texting to calling anyway.
7. Let customers book themselves
Some businesses have a large percentage of customers calling to book. If this is you, give people a way to schedule without needing a human conversation.
Add a booking page to your website. Allow an AI agent to book them on your calendar. Send a booking link automatically when you miss a call.
That way, someone calling at 9:30 on Sunday night doesn’t have to wait until Monday morning to hear from you. And you don’t have to be constantly on demand.
They can just book.
This is another way to offer your prospects multiple channels to work with you, in addition to calling your business.
8. Shop around for a different answering service
If your current answering service isn’t working, the problem might be the service, not the idea.
“Answering service” is a pretty broad category that includes terms like virtual receptionist, live answering service, call center, after-hours answering service, and receptionist service.
And the experience can vary quite a bit depending on the service or company.
Some mostly take a name, number, and message. Others can qualify leads, schedule appointments, follow detailed scripts, transfer calls, or work directly inside the software your business already uses.
Pricing can also work differently. You might pay by the minute, by the call, by the number of agents you need, or through a monthly plan.
So if you like having a real person answer but don’t like your current setup, compare a few services before giving up on the category entirely.
Pay particular attention to what happens on an actual call. Ask who answers, how they know about your business, what they can do beyond taking a message, how quickly calls get answered, what happens during high-volume periods, and how you’ll be charged.
Every business is different. You might want a higher-quality answering service if each deal is high-value and sensitive, like with a law firm. But an AI agent could be a better option than a bargain answering service. Try out a few and see what’s right for you.
9. Make fewer people call you in the first place
This one’s easy to overlook.
Pull up your call logs and write down the reasons people call.
If you’re constantly getting:
“Where are you located?”
“What time do you close?”
“Do you work on boilers?”
“What’s the status of my appointment?”
“Do you take XYZ insurance?”
Those calls are telling you something.
Put the answers on your website. Update your Google Business Profile. Send appointment reminders. Create an FAQ. Add automated status updates.
Every question you answer before someone picks up their phone is one less call your team has to handle.
The best solution might be a combination
You don’t have to choose one option and stick with it forever.
A small plumbing company might use an office manager during the day, AI for missed calls and after-hours coverage, and online scheduling for straightforward appointments.
A law firm might use a live answering service during business hours and another solution overnight.
A one-person landscaping company might use online booking, automated missed-call texts, and a strict habit of returning calls between jobs.
Start with your actual call problem.
When are calls being missed? Why are people calling? How quickly do those calls need a response? And which conversations actually require a person?
Once you know those answers, you can build a much better solution than simply paying someone to pick up the phone.
