In need of a temporary answering service?
Our virtual receptionists can provide the short-term help your business needs, answering your calls 24/7 if needed. Whether you are facing a staffing issue, need holiday cover or expect higher call volumes than usual, you’ll find our services are reliable, flexible and cost-effective.
Affordable short-term receptionist support that ensures your inbound business calls continue to be answered
US receptionists
The majority of our receptionists are in the US, with bilingual answering options and overflow support available.
24/7 live call answering
We operate all day, every day, so we can seamlessly answer your calls around the clock if you want us to.
Custom call greetings
We answer your calls with your custom greeting to ensure your callers enjoy a seamless experience.
Instant emails or texts
Receive email or SMS messages after each call, containing caller details and their reason for calling.
Your tools are our tools
We can input leads, book appointments, raise support tickets and more using your preferred software.
No lock-in contract
No long-term contracts or cancellation fees gives you flexibility to use our services for the time period you need.
Help is at hand, whatever your situation
Illness & ad hoc coverage
Are staff absences making it hard to maintain productivity while ensuring the phone is answered? We can provide same-day service coverage!
- Staff off sick
- Staff on breaks
- Staff in meetings
- Staff in training
- Staff at conferences
- Staff working remotely
Periods of peak demand
Swamped with calls and don’t have the capacity to handle them effectively in-house? We can assist during unusually busy periods, whatever the cause.
- Promotions or campaigns
- Class actions for law firms
- Tax time for accountants
- Seasonality factors
- Event registrations
- Product recalls
- Fundraisers
Vacation & leave coverage
Need someone to answer the phone while you’re out of town or your in-house receptionist is away? Enjoy peace of mind that we have it covered.
- Vacations
- Federal holidays
- Other holidays
- Personal leave
- Medical leave
- Funeral leave
Events and office closures
Is your office shutting for a period of time? Whether a planned or sudden unforeseen event, we can answer your calls remotely.
- Staff functions
- Renovations
- Moving offices
- Holiday shutdowns
- Conferences or other events
- Pandemic lockdowns
- Natural disasters
How our call answering services work
Black Friday special
Limited-time offer: New customers save 30% on the standard call answering subscription pricing shown below for their first 3 months.
* Conditions apply.
Black Friday special
Limited-time offer: New customers save 30% on the standard call answering subscription pricing shown below for 3 months.
* Conditions apply.
Black Friday special
Limited-time offer: New customers save 30% on the standard call answering subscription pricing shown below for their first 3 months.
* Conditions apply.
Our virtual receptionist services
A temporary answering service is like having a casual receptionist who is available 24/7, whenever the need arises! Best of all, it’s risk-free as you only pay for what you use.
Whatever your industry, complexity of calls or call volumes, if you need a short-term phone answering service, we can provide the solution.
* Plus relevant sales tax. Refer to Terms & Conditions.
MessageExpress
Call answering and message taking for one individual or team.
- US-based receptionists
- No lock-in contract
- Personalized greeting
- Instant email or SMS messages
- One person or team listed as message recipient
- Mobile app & portal
- 24/7 service upgrade option
- Toll-free number upgrade option
ReceptionistPlus
Messages, support and call transfers for multiple staff or departments.
All MessageExpress features plus- US-based receptionists
- No lock-in contract
- Instant email or SMS messages
- Mobile app & portal
- 24/7 service upgrade option
- toll-free number upgrade option
- Fully customized greeting
- Warm call transfers
- Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
- Collect 5 pieces of info
- Advise business hours/location
MyAssistant
Tailored scripting and virtual assistance for unlimited staff or departments.
All ReceptionistPlus features plus- US-based receptionists
- No lock-in contract
- Instant email or SMS messages
- Mobile app & portal
- 24/7 service upgrade option
- toll-free number upgrade option
- Fully customized greeting
- Warm call transfers
- Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
- Advise business hours/location
- Collect 11 pieces of info
- Custom scripting or FAQs
- CRM input or online form submissions
- Quote fees & take payments
MyDiary
Appointment booking and diary management using your preferred software.
All MyAssistant features plus- US-based receptionists
- No lock-in contract
- Instant email or SMS messages
- Mobile app & portal
- 24/7 service upgrade option
- toll-free number upgrade option
- Fully customized greeting
- Warm call transfers
- Multiple staff or departments listed as message or transfer contacts
- Advise business hours/location
- Collect 11 pieces of info
- Custom scripting or FAQs
- CRM input or online forms
- Quote fees & take payments
- Appointment scheduling
- Calendar management
A reliable solution to short-term problems
You can use ReceptionHQ’s service for an hour, a day, a week … whenever you need our assistance.
Many clients use our live call answering for short-term needs, such as when their own in-house receptionist is away, when staff are at events or to cope with seasonal demands. We offer temporary relief without the HR headache.
It’s even possible to switch our service on and off as needs dictate. Be sure to ask about our pause package!
FAQs
Let us manage your calls so you can manage your business
You can easily manage the receptionist’s greeting, call transfer availability and message preferences in real-time, plus add additional staff of departments as contacts for transfers or messages, using our online client portal or mobile app (iPhone and Android).
Answering service add-ons
+ Phone numbers
Add multiple additional local numbers or toll-free numbers to the local number you receive for free with your live call answering package.
+ Voicemail to email
Have voicemails instantly emailed to you both for convenience and to ensure no important communications are ever missed.
What our customers love
Trusted by more than 25,000 businesses
Find out more
Have questions? Please fill in your details and we’ll be in touch.
Want to try our call answering services for free?
Put America’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.
Want to try our call answering services for free?
Put America’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.
What does the free trial include?
The trial is based on our ReceptionistPlus service, with our team of virtual receptionists able to take messages and transfer calls based on your availability settings.