Telephone answering
Telephone answering service
Every call answered, 24 hours a day, with the job details texted straight to you. No per-call fees — £89 a month, unlimited calls.
Your calls answered, without the per-call bill
A telephone answering service exists for one reason: a ringing phone that nobody picks up is a customer going elsewhere. Most people won't leave a voicemail, and they won't ring twice.
The traditional answer was a call centre charging you for every call. That works, but it gets expensive exactly when you're busiest, and the cover usually stops when the office closes.
TradeRing answers your calls with an AI receptionist instead. It picks up instantly at any hour, uses your business name, works out what the job is, and sends it to your phone as a lead card with the full transcript. One flat fee, unlimited calls.
Your options compared
| Voicemail | Human answering service | TradeRing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours covered | Always, but nobody answers | Usually office hours | 24/7 |
| Cost | Free | Per call, often £1–£2+ | £89 a month, unlimited |
| Cost when you get busy | Free | Rises with call volume | Unchanged |
| Knows your business | No | Follows a script you write | Trained on your business by us |
| What you receive | A voicemail, maybe | A short message | Lead card, job details, transcript |
| Waiting on hold | n/a | Possible at peak times | Never |
What's included for £89 a month
- Unlimited calls answered, 24/7
- A fully managed service — we write and train your agent
- Your own business greeting in a British voice
- Job, location and urgency captured on every call
- Full written transcript of every conversation
- Instant text and email summaries
- Optional appointment booking
- Ongoing tuning based on your real customer calls
Who it's for
TradeRing is built for UK trades and small service businesses run off a mobile — builders, plumbers, electricians, roofers, landscapers and everyone in between.
If you're on a job, up a ladder or driving, the phone still gets answered properly. You see the whole conversation afterwards and decide who's worth calling back first.
Nothing for you to set up
This is a managed service. You tell us your trade, your area and your hours when you start the trial, and a TradeRing specialist writes and trains your receptionist from that. Your number arrives within 24 hours.
After you go live, we keep reviewing real calls and improving the agent. You never have to configure anything again.
Telephone answering service questions
What is a telephone answering service?
It's a service that answers your business calls when you can't. The caller speaks to a receptionist instead of hitting voicemail, and you get the message. Traditionally that receptionist was a person in a call centre; increasingly it's an AI that answers instantly and never closes.
How much does a telephone answering service cost in the UK?
UK human answering services usually charge per call or per minute, often around £1 to £2 a call, sometimes with a monthly minimum on top. TradeRing is a flat £89 a month paid monthly, or £79 a month paid annually, with unlimited calls — so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one.
Is a call answering service worth it for a small business?
If you miss calls, almost certainly. Most callers won't leave a voicemail — they ring the next business on the list. One recovered job a month usually covers the cost several times over for a trade business.
Do I keep my own phone number?
Yes. You keep your number and set a divert so unanswered calls go to the answering service. Your customers carry on ringing the number they already have.
Human or AI — which is better?
A human is better at unusual, emotionally delicate calls. AI is better at being there: it answers on the first ring at any hour, never queues, costs the same however busy you get, and gives you a full written transcript of every call. For trade enquiries, that reliability usually matters more.
What happens after a call is answered?
You get a text straight away and a lead card with the caller's name and number, what the job is, where it is, how urgent it is, and the full transcript. Urgent jobs are flagged so you can act first.
Can it answer calls out of hours and at weekends?
Yes. Cover is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends and bank holidays, at no extra cost.