Call handling service UK
Call handling for small businesses: what it is and how to do it well
Call handling is everything that happens to a call into your business, from the greeting to the note you act on afterwards. This guide covers what a good process includes, what it costs in-house, through a bureau or with an AI receptionist, and the rules to set before anyone answers in your name.
The term
What call handling means
Call handling is how a business manages its incoming calls from the first ring to the point where someone acts on the call: the greeting, finding out who is ringing and why, deciding whether it is urgent, putting it through or taking a message, what happens outside working hours, and keeping a record so nothing is lost. A one-person business handles calls too, even if the process is "answer if I can, voicemail if I can’t". The question is whether that process loses work.
It is a wider job than call answering. A call answering service picks up the calls you cannot and takes a message: one step in the process. A virtual receptionist is the person or system doing that work from outside your premises, and an AI receptionist is one kind of virtual receptionist. Call handling is the set of rules any of them follows, and a call handling company is anyone you pay to run that process to your rules.
The process
What a good call handling process includes
Every call goes through roughly the same seven steps, whoever is handling it. When one is missing, that is usually where the work went: a message with no number, or a caller given a price you would never have quoted.
| Step | What happens | What the caller hears | What you receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeting | Picked up within a few rings, in the business name. | "Hi, you’re through to Kemp Electrical." | Nothing yet, but the caller stays on the line. |
| Screening | Who is ringing and why: customer, supplier or sales call. | A question about what the call is for. Sales calls get a polite end. | Only the calls worth your time. |
| Taking the details | Name, number, where they are and what they need, in their own words. | One question at a time, and their number read back. | A message you can act on. |
| Urgency | The call is sorted against your rules: now, today, or when it suits. | "Is water still coming through?" | Urgent calls flagged first. |
| Transfer or callback | The call is put through, or the caller is told when to expect you. | "Steve will ring you back as soon as he can." | A call on your phone, or a callback to make. |
| Out of hours | A separate rule for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. | The same greeting at 11pm as at 11am. | Emergencies tonight, the rest in the morning. |
| Logging | Every call recorded with what happened next. | "Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed." | A list of calls, and which became work. |
Who does it
The three ways to handle calls
Each can run the process above. They differ in cost, in when they are available and in how they cope with a call that fits no script.
In-house: you or your staff
Nobody knows the business better, and a person can make a judgement call on the odd request. The cost is time. A part-time receptionist on 20 hours a week costs about £1,100 a month at the £12.71 National Living Wage, before employer National Insurance, pension and holiday, and covers only those hours. If it is you answering, every call pulls you off the job, and the ones you cannot take go to voicemail, where most people hang up. Our guide to how to answer the phone covers greetings and message-taking.
An outsourced human bureau
A call centre answers in your name from a script you give it. It suits firms whose calls need a conversation or a judgement, and offices where callers must be put through to named staff. ReceptionHQ’s message-taking bundles run from £25 for 25 calls to £90 for 100, plus VAT, with extra calls at £1.15 or more, and Answer.co.uk charges £2.20 a call plus VAT on pay as you go. Check for evening and weekend surcharges, minimum terms and per-minute billing, which make a busy month cost more.
An AI receptionist
Software with a natural voice answers in your business name, asks the questions you have set and sends you the details. It picks up at once however many people ring and works through the night at the same price. It will not make a judgement your rules do not cover: it takes the details and passes them to you. Answer.co.uk’s AI plan is £10 a month plus 85p a call, Jodie is £49 a month before tax with unlimited minutes, and While You Work is £39, £69 or £129 a month + VAT for 50, 150 or 400 calls, a call counting once up to 10 minutes. The bills at 20, 50 and 100 calls a month are in our call answering service cost guide.
Our process
How While You Work handles a call
You set the rules in a short form and the receptionist follows them on every call.
Divert on no answer
You dial one code on your phone. Any call you do not pick up within 20 seconds comes through to your While You Work line. Calls you do answer never leave your phone.
The greeting
The caller hears your business name, is told they are speaking to the automated assistant taking details for a call back, and that calls are recorded.
The questions
What the job is, where it is and how urgent, one at a time. The number is read back. Your prices are given only if you have set them.
Sorting
Sales calls are ended politely. Urgent calls are marked against the rules in your set-up form. A caller who smells gas is told to ring the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 as well.
Straight after
The caller gets a text saying you will ring back. You get an email within a minute with their name, number, where they are and what they need. On Pro and Business, urgent calls are texted to you straight away, or put through to your phone if you switch that on.
Afterwards
Every call sits in your dashboard with its transcript and recording. On Pro and Business, press Won it on a call and put in what the job was worth.
What that sounds like
An example call to an electrician
Steve runs Kemp Electrical on his own. He is in a loft in Nottingham with the power off when this call comes in, so after 20 seconds it diverts to his receptionist.
Notice the handling decisions. One question finds out how urgent the fault is, the postcode tells Steve it is in his area, and the number is read back. It does not guess a price, because Steve has not set one.
Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Kemp Electrical. Steve’s out on a job, so I’m the automated assistant taking the details for a call back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?
Caller: It’s Rachel. Half the sockets in the house have gone off and the switch in the fuse box won’t stay up.
Receptionist: Thanks, Rachel. Is anything important off, like a fridge freezer?
Caller: Yes, the fridge freezer’s on that side.
Receptionist: Right, I’ll mark this as urgent so Steve sees it first. What’s your postcode?
Caller: NG2, in West Bridgford.
Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Steve to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 611.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 611. Is that right?
Caller: Yes, that’s it.
Receptionist: Thanks, Rachel. Steve will ring you back as soon as he can, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
Steve’s text: URGENT. Rachel, 07700 900611, NG2 West Bridgford. Half the sockets off, switch in the fuse box will not stay up, fridge freezer off.
Trades
Call handling for trades
Calls come while your hands are full, the caller usually has a problem right now, and the useful questions are what, where and how urgent. Evening and weekend calls are a big share of the work, so the out of hours rule matters most.
Offices
Call handling for offices
Calls come to a desk, often for a named person, so the question is who gets which call. Suppliers, existing clients and sales calls each need different treatment, and a message for Sam has to reach Sam with the time of the call on it.
Your rules
What to put in your call handling rules
Whoever handles your calls, write the rules down: a set-up form, a page for the bureau or a note by the phone. Copy this list and change it for your trade.
Questions to ask on every call
- Their name, and how it is spelt if it is unusual
- The number to ring back, read back to check it
- Where they are: the postcode for a trade, the town for most other businesses
- What they need, in their own words
- How urgent it is, and when they are free for a call back
What counts as urgent
- For a plumber: water coming through a ceiling, a burst pipe, no heating in winter, a gas smell
- For an electrician: no power, a burning smell, exposed wiring
- For a salon or a driving school: a problem with today’s appointment or lesson
- For any business: a caller who says it cannot wait
When to put a call through, and when to ring back
- Put through: urgent calls in working hours, if you can safely take them
- Ring back: everything else, with a time the caller can rely on
- Out of hours: emergencies straight away, the rest in the morning, with the caller told so
What never to do
- Quote a price you have not set in advance
- Take card details over the phone
- Promise a date or a time that has not been checked
- Pass a sales call on as if it were a customer
- Let an automated assistant pass itself off as a person
If you use While You Work, this list is the set-up form: your hours, your area, what counts as urgent, your prices if you want them given, and anything else callers should be told, such as a Gas Safe number.
Questions
Call handling FAQs
What is call handling?
Call handling is how a business manages its incoming calls from the greeting to the record kept afterwards: who answers, what they ask, how urgent calls are spotted, whether the call is put through or returned, and what happens out of hours. It can be done by you, by staff, by a human bureau or by an AI receptionist.
What is the difference between call handling and call answering?
Call answering is one step: picking up the call and taking a message. Call handling is the whole process around it, including screening, urgency rules, transfers, out-of-hours rules and logging. A call answering service handles your calls to the rules you give it.
What does a call handling company do?
It answers your calls in your business name, follows your rules for screening, messages, urgency and transfers, and passes the details to you by email, text or an app. A human bureau works from a script; an AI receptionist from the questions set up for your kind of business.
How much does call handling cost in the UK?
Human bureaux publish prices from 99p to £2.20 a call, usually plus VAT, or bundles such as ReceptionHQ’s £25 for 25 calls plus VAT. AI answering starts at £10 a month plus 85p a call at Answer.co.uk. While You Work is £39, £69 or £129 a month + VAT for 50, 150 or 400 calls.
Can a call handling service put calls through to me?
Human bureaux usually can. While You Work can put urgent calls through to your phone on Pro and Business if you switch that on. Otherwise it texts you straight away for urgent calls and tells the caller you will ring back.
How does call handling work out of hours?
You set a separate rule for evenings, weekends and bank holidays. The usual one for a trade is that emergencies are texted straight away and everything else waits until the morning, with the caller told so. While You Work answers at any hour at the same price.
Should callers be told the call is handled by an AI?
Yes. While You Work’s greeting says it is the automated assistant for your business and that calls are recorded, and it says so again if anyone asks.
Have your calls handled to your rules
Plans from £39 a month + VAT for 50 calls, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 + VAT for 12 months. No contract.