Integrating a virtual receptionist into your phone system can help you manage your calls more effectively and efficiently route them to the right people.
Below, we have explored what solutions are available.
The table below gives a quick price comparison of the top UK providers for virtual receptionists.
| Company | Price |
|---|---|
| Stream Networks | £20 |
| Telecoms World | £1 per day extra |
| Voipfone | From £5 per month extra |
| Vonage | From $13.99 |
| RingCentral | Included in plans costing £19.99 or more |
| Mitel | Not stated |
| Dialpad | £5 |
* The facts and figures included here come from each company’s website and were accurate at the time of writing but may have since changed. Also, please keep in mind these may not be apples-to-apples comparisons as each provider offers different solutions. This guide should be used as a starting point for more research on your part.
Below we profile each of the companies’ services and features in a bit more detail.
Note companies are ranked in no particular order and this no way indicates one solution is better than another.
1. Stream Networks
- Offers a 3CX phone system that provides a host of features
- Core features include a digital receptionist or auto attendant
- Delivers a multi-level interactive voice response
- Managing call queues and voicemails
- It can log your calls as well as park and pickup calls
- Provides a phone directory and ring groups
- Supports video calls and cloud-based web conferencing
- Provides a plug-and-play phone provisioning
- Can be integrated with Microsoft 365 and fax servers
- Supports desktop softphone, IOS and Android apps
2. Telecoms World
- Offers a virtual receptionist service as an add-on
- Integrates with their phone services
- It enables you to have professionally recorded welcome, busy and out-of-hours messages
- Supports the identification of business calls with the use of whisper messages
- They offer voicemail to email audio capture for busy and out-of-hours calls
- Offers upgrades for professional voices and a choice of AI voices
- Choice of male and female voice artist recordings
- The system can be used with mobile phones
- They are a UK-based provider that offers increased security
- Provides a dedicated support service
3. Voipfone
- Offers an interactive voice response (IVR) switchboard to support their clients’ businesses, as well as a call forwarding service called Voipfone PA that acts as a receptionist
- Choice of single or multi-menu IVR switchboards
- It allows you to add personalised greetings and phone options for callers
- Can support you in routing calls to the most appropriate person or team
- Choice of uploading your own recorded greetings or recording professional voice artists
- Design your IVR menus to support your customer journeys
- Allows you to manage your calls in call queues
- Can be integrated with other channels, including website, chat and mobile apps
- Single-menu IVR switchboard and multi-menu IVR are included in some plans, or charged as an add-on.
- Choice of business phone plans to suit your needs, or you can select the Flex plan to build your own service
4. Vonage
- They offer a virtual receptionist that operates through their easy-to-use auto attendant
- Automated answering system that reduces the burden on staff and IT
- It can answer incoming calls for you and route them to the right person quickly
- The system can ensure that no calls are left unanswered
- You can set up a preconfigured menu with a list of options for calls to select
- The system can be customised to meet your requirements
- It provides flexible options for call management, allowing you to change your call routing based on availability and schedules
- They offer text-to-speech options that enable you to record or type in your greetings
- You can choose from three plans, which include a range of phone features
- Plans can feature SMS, MMS, voicemail, mobile and desktop apps, team messaging, meetings, call groups, call recording, and more
5. RingCentral
- Offers a virtual receptionist that is an auto-receptionist to help manage your incoming calls
- Provides a call management tool that can be customised to your business’s needs, whether you are a small business or an enterprise
- You can create simple call flow menus, advanced rules and multi-level virtual receptionist menus
- The system is designed to improve your customer experience by providing a reliable and prompt call answering service
- The virtual receptionist can streamline your reception service
- It can greet your callers and route them to the employee or department
- You can use customised greetings, which can also announce employee and department extensions
- You can utilise a dial-by-name directory to help callers find the right person
- The system can be customised with features including answering rules, customised greetings, special handling for numbers/IDs, multi-level menus, and more
- Virtual receptionist is included in all plans except the Essential plan
6. Mitel
- They offer a virtual receptionist service through Mitel Voice Assist
- It is designed to assist you in answering and routing calls without the need for human intervention
- The system can support companies that don’t have contact centres
- It is an easy-to-use system that doesn’t require coding or advanced programming knowledge
- You can manage your inbound call flows and improve customer experience
- They offer a customisable solution which includes scheduled activity, greetings, dial-by-name, endpoint ringing and more
- It includes text-to-speech and speech rec to help you create greetings and dial menus
- You can add Mitel Voice Assist with your existing platform, apps and devices
- It can be integrated with other apps to create a unified communication solution and collaboration tools
- Mitel offers a range of phone solutions which Mitel Voice Assist can be added to
7. Dialpad
- Offers a virtual receptionist service to help you improve your customer service
- It can assist you in automatically routing your calls based on the menu that you set up
- You can get set up in minutes easily with no need for IT support
- The system is simple to manage and make changes in a few clicks on the dashboard
- They provide simple rules for routing your calls during your open and closed hours
- It can take voicemail messages when your business is closed, or staff are unavailable
- Also includes call forwarding to other landlines or mobile numbers
- They provide built-in call analytics so you can monitor your call volumes and trends
- As part of the VoIP phone system, you can also access video conferencing, SMS/MMS messaging, and more
- You can trial the service for 14 days for free