They solve different problems
A virtual landline fixes where the call rings: one business number that can ring several phones, with voicemail-to-email and out-of-hours rules. It doesn't answer for you. An answering service fixes who picks up: a real person takes the call in your company name and sends you a message. A receptionist does that plus everything else, on payroll.
The mistake is comparing headline monthly prices. Compare cost per answered call, then ask how many answered calls actually turn into work.
Cost per answered call
| Option | Typical cost | Who answers | Effective cost per call | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual landline | £19 per user / month, calls included | You or your team answer | Pence per call once you're past a handful of calls a week | You can answer most calls yourself but need one shared number, cover and voicemail-to-email |
| Telephone answering service | Small bundle plus a per-call fee | A person answers in your company name | Typically a few pounds per answered call, more for message-taking or diary booking | Calls arrive when nobody can physically pick up, and each enquiry is worth a lot |
| Part-time receptionist | Salary, NI, pension, cover | In-house, knows the business | The most per call unless the phone rings constantly | High call volume plus admin, quoting and diary work to fill the rest of the day |
Answering-service pricing varies by provider and by what you ask them to do, so get your own quote rather than trusting a comparison table — including ours. The pattern holds though: per-call pricing is cheap at low volume and expensive at high volume; a flat per-user price is the reverse.
The rough break-even
- Under ~10 calls a week and you can usually answer. A virtual landline on its own is almost always the cheapest thing that works.
- You genuinely can't answer — on site, in theatre, driving, on a ladder — and a booked job is worth hundreds. An answering service pays for itself on one recovered enquiry a month.
- Consistently busy phone plus admin to do. Once per-call fees pass roughly a day's wage a week, a part-time person is usually better value and better service.
When you shouldn't buy any of it
If nearly all your work comes from repeat customers and referrals who text or WhatsApp you, an answering service will mostly answer sales calls on your behalf. Track a fortnight of calls first: how many were new enquiries, how many rang out, and what a job is worth. Our missed-call ledger does that arithmetic in about a minute.
Using both
The setup most small firms land on is a virtual landline as the advertised number, ringing the team first, with an answering service or voicemail-to-email as the safety net after a few rings. You keep the number, so you can add, change or drop the answering service without reprinting a van — as long as you own the number, which isn't always the case when the answering service supplies it.
Questions people ask
At very low call volumes, often yes, because you pay per call. As soon as you're taking calls most days, a flat per-user virtual landline is usually cheaper — and you keep control of the number.
Next steps
If the answer is "answer more calls ourselves, more reliably", start with how a virtual landline works or go straight to pricing.