By Jad Salman · · All guides
If you're a tradesperson losing work to missed calls, you'll quickly come across two kinds of help. There are telephone answering services, where a person in a call centre picks up for you, and there are AI receptionists, where a voice assistant does it. Both stop the phone ringing out. They work very differently, though, and suit different businesses.
I run Slotby, which is an AI receptionist, so I'm not neutral. I'll be as fair as I can, including where a human service is the better choice. I'll use plumbers as the main example because that's who I talk to most, but the same applies to electricians, heating engineers, locksmiths and most other trades.
What a Telephone Answering Service Does
A traditional answering service gives you a team of receptionists, usually based in the UK, who answer calls in your business name. When a customer rings and you don't pick up, the call diverts to them. They take a message and send it to you by text or email.
Some will also book appointments if you give them access to your diary, though that's often an extra or only on higher plans. Pricing is commonly per call or per minute, sometimes with a monthly minimum, so a busy month costs more.
Where it shines:
- A real person, which some callers prefer.
- Good with unusual, emotional or complicated calls.
- Established British providers with years of experience.
Where it falls short for many trades:
- It's usually message-taking, so you still have to ring everyone back.
- Costs rise as you get busier, which is exactly when you need it most.
- Receptionists cover many businesses at once, so they won't know your prices, towns or the jobs you don't do unless you brief them well.
What an AI Receptionist Does
An AI receptionist answers the call with a natural voice and has a proper conversation. It asks what the problem is, where the caller is and when suits them. Because it can be connected to your diary, it can offer a time you actually have free and book the job there and then. It then texts you the details.
Where it shines:
- It can book the work, not just take a message.
- It answers any hour, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
- It never gets busy. Three people ringing at once all get answered.
- It can be trained on your exact prices, postcodes and the jobs you take.
- A fixed monthly price is usually easier to budget for.
Where it falls short:
- Some callers would simply rather speak to a person.
- It's less flexible than an experienced human on a truly unusual call.
- It needs clear rules, especially for emergencies, gas and 999 calls.
A Plumbing Example
Say you're a sole trader plumber in the middle of a boiler swap. Your phone rings three times in an hour.
With an answering service, all three callers speak to a friendly receptionist who takes their details. At 6pm you have three messages and three calls to make. One has already found someone else.
With an AI receptionist, the dripping tap is booked into Thursday morning, the bathroom quote is booked for a survey next week, and the caller from a town you don't cover is politely told so. You get three texts and have nothing to ring back about.
That's the real difference. One gives you messages, the other gives you booked work.
Cost: How They Compare
Prices vary widely, so always check what's actually included. As a rough guide:
| Answering service | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Often per call or per minute | Usually a fixed monthly plan |
| Books jobs | Sometimes, often extra | Usually built in |
| Out of hours | Often extra or limited | Typically included |
| Busy months | Cost goes up | Covered up to your minutes |
Slotby starts at £79 a month for 140 minutes, with no setup fee and a 14-day money-back guarantee. You can compare all the plans on the pricing page.
Which Should You Choose?
A human answering service is probably better if most of your calls are complex, you want a person on every call, or your customers are likely to be put off by talking to an AI.
An AI receptionist is probably better if most calls are straightforward bookings, you miss calls in the evenings and at weekends, and you'd rather wake up to jobs in the diary than a list of people to ring back.
Plenty of trades end up somewhere in between. They let the AI handle routine bookings and have urgent or tricky calls put through to their mobile.
Questions to Ask Either Kind of Provider
- Will you book jobs into my diary, or only take messages?
- What happens with emergencies, gas smells and 999 calls?
- Are callers told who, or what, they're speaking to?
- How do you charge when I have a busy month?
- Can I choose which jobs and areas you accept?
- Who do I speak to if something goes wrong?
Try Before You Decide
The easiest way to judge is to hear it. Ring our demo line on 07476 959334 and book a pretend job. You can read more about how Slotby works for UK tradespeople and for plumbers, or send an enquiry and I'll get back to you.
Jad, Founder of Slotby