After-hours answering service
An after-hours answering service for nights, weekends and holidays
While You Work is an AI receptionist that answers your business line when you have finished for the day. It picks up in your business name, asks what the caller needs, flags the urgent ones and emails you every call within a minute. The price is the same at 2am as at 2pm.
The first 50 US businesses get Pro for $59 a month for their first 12 months. 14-day money-back guarantee, no contract. US sign-ups open in November.
When the calls come
After hours covers more than overnight
Weekday evenings
People get home, find the water heater leaking or the AC blowing warm air, and start calling. By 7pm most small businesses have stopped answering, so the caller keeps going down the list.
Saturdays and Sundays
Homeowners are around to notice problems and have time to call about the remodel they keep putting off. If your phone goes to voicemail all weekend, those calls are waiting for you on Monday, or they have gone to someone else.
Holidays
A full house at Thanksgiving puts extra load on the drains and the furnace. Your receptionist works every day of the year, holidays included.
The middle of your workday
After hours is also 11am when you are in a crawl space. Forward only the calls you miss and the same line catches those too.
Emergencies
You set the rules for the night
In your setup you say whether you take emergency calls after hours and what counts as urgent for your business. A burst pipe might be worth a 2am call to you. A dripping faucet can wait for the morning.
- Gas smell: the caller is told to leave and call the gas utility or 911 first
- Sparks or a burning smell: the caller is told to leave the area and call 911 if there is smoke or fire
- Prices are given only if you have put them in your setup
- The caller's number is read back so you are not calling a wrong digit at 7am
2am, no heat
Receptionist: Hi, you've reached Northfield Heating and Air. I'm Ellie, their AI assistant. This call is recorded so they get your details right. How can I help?
Caller: Our furnace stopped and the house is down to 55 degrees. We've got a newborn.
Receptionist: I'm sorry, that's a hard night. I'm marking this as urgent for Dan and I'll try to put you through to him now. Can I get your name first, in case the line drops?
Caller: Megan Walsh.
Receptionist: Thanks, Megan. And the address, with the zip code?
An example with a made-up business, not a recording of a real call. Here the owner has switched on call transfer for no-heat calls with a baby or an older person at home.
What happens to each call
Four kinds of after-hours call
| The call | What the assistant does |
|---|---|
| Urgent, call transfer on | The assistant tells the caller it is putting them through and rings your cell. If you pick up, you are talking to the customer. If you don't, it takes the details and the call reaches you marked URGENT. |
| Urgent, call transfer off | The assistant takes the details and tells the caller the call is marked urgent. You get an URGENT email and a notification on your phone within a minute. |
| Routine, like a quote or a booking | The caller is told when you will call back, in the words you chose in your setup, for example "after 8am tomorrow". The details are in your inbox when you start the day. |
| Sales and spam | Ended politely, at any hour, and never sent to you as a job. |
Call transfer comes with the Pro and Business plans and is off until you turn it on. It works when you forward only the calls you miss. If you forward every call, urgent calls reach you as an URGENT email and notification.
Cost
What after-hours answering costs
Live answering services pay people to staff the phones overnight, and many bill by the minute. Ruby, a live receptionist service, listed its lowest plan at $250 for 50 minutes when we checked its pricing page on October 26, 2026. That works out at $5 a minute, so a four-minute call about a no-heat job costs $20.
Starter: $39 a month
50 calls a month at any hour, then $0.75 a call.
Pro: $79 a month
150 calls a month at any hour, then $0.65 a call.
Business: $149 a month
400 calls a month at any hour, then $0.50 a call.
We count answered calls, not minutes. A call counts once, however long it lasts, up to 10 minutes, so on Starter each call works out at about $0.78. If you want a person to answer through the night, a live service is the right choice; ask how it bills nights, weekends and holidays before you sign. Full plan details are on the pricing page, and the Pro plan, which adds urgent call transfer, is $79 a month.
Set up
Setting it up for after hours
You keep your cell number. Calls are forwarded to a local number we give you, using one code on your phone. Most owners forward only the calls they don't answer: the phone rings as normal, and when you are asleep, driving or on a job, the call goes to your receptionist. Our call forwarding codes page has the codes for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
If you would rather not hear the phone at all after a certain time, forward every call when you finish for the day and turn it back to missed calls only in the morning. On Pro and Business there is also an answering on and off switch in the app.
Still using voicemail at night? Our business voicemail greetings page has scripts you can copy, and a comparison of what voicemail and a receptionist each get you.
Questions
After-hours answering questions
What is an after-hours answering service?
A service that answers your business calls when you are not working: evenings, overnight, weekends and holidays. The caller gets your business name and a few questions instead of a voicemail beep, and you get the details. While You Work does this with an AI receptionist that answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and emails you each call within a minute.
Does it answer on weekends and holidays?
Yes. It answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. You choose what after-hours callers are told about when you will call back.
Can it put emergency calls through to me at night?
Yes, on the Pro and Business plans, if you switch on call transfer. You decide what counts as urgent for your business. Transfer works when you forward only the calls you miss. If you forward every call to us, urgent calls reach you as an URGENT email and notification instead.
Can it answer only after hours?
Yes. You can forward only the calls you don't answer, so your phone rings first in the day and the receptionist picks up the rest. Or forward every call when you finish for the day, or use the answering on and off switch in the app.
Does it cost more at night or on weekends?
No. Every plan answers around the clock, and a call counts once whatever time it comes in, up to 10 minutes long. Starter is $39 a month for 50 calls.
What does a caller hear at 2am?
The same as at 2pm: your business name, then the assistant says it is an AI assistant and that the call is recorded, then asks what they need. There is no hold music and no queue.
Will it text me when an urgent call comes in?
Not yet in the US. Text alerts need carrier registration, which is in progress. Until then you get every call by email within a minute and as a notification on your phone.
Trades with their own setup: plumbing answering service, HVAC answering service and answering service for contractors.
Hear what it does with your own missed calls
Call (866) 977-5432 toll-free and hear our own receptionist answer, or talk to Ellie in your browser. Priced per call, not per minute: Starter $39 and Pro $79 a month, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. US sign-ups open in November.