24 7 Telephone Answering Service

A 24 7 telephone answering service handles your incoming calls at any hour. Instead of a caller hearing voicemail at 9 p.m. or on a Sunday, they reach a receptionist that greets them, answers questions about your business, takes messages, and can book appointments. The service runs continuously, so the same coverage applies during business hours, after hours, weekends, and holidays.

AllDayDesk is an AI receptionist built for this job. It answers calls around the clock using the business information you save, so it can share your hours, services, and pricing details when it knows the answer. When it does not know an answer, a price, or an available appointment time, it takes a message instead of guessing.

• Greets callers with your business name and answers common questions
• Takes a message whenever an answer, price, or appointment is unknown
• Records calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings in your dashboard
• Books new appointments on the built-in AllDayDesk calendar by default once you have configured services and availability
• Can transfer calls to you when you configure a destination and rules; pickup is not guaranteed

You do not need a new number. You keep your public number and forward calls to AllDayDesk. The forwarding steps depend on your phone service, so check which product you have before following any instructions.

Examples from published carrier guides: Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the 10-digit destination for all-call forwarding and *73 to disable, while Verizon business landline uses *72 and *73 from the same line. T-Mobile uses **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding, and ##21# to disable. Optimum Business Phone uses *72, wait for dial tone, then the destination, with *73 to turn it off. Spectrum Business Voice manages forwarding through the SpectrumBusiness.net portal rather than star codes. Always confirm the exact steps for your own service with your provider.

• Identify your exact phone product first; codes differ between a carrier's wireless, landline, and hosted products
• All-call forwarding sends every call to the service; conditional forwarding (busy or no-answer) is a separate feature that not every plan supports
• Google Voice does not support forwarding calls to an automated system, so it is not a compatible path
• Test forwarding with a real call from another phone after activation

Setup starts by choosing your business or entering its website. AllDayDesk pulls together your business details, and you check them for accuracy before anything goes live. You then hear a personalized sample of how your receptionist will sound and choose your phone setup method.

The sample is a preview only and creates no real booking. Once you are live, everything the receptionist does — calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings — appears in your dashboard. New appointments land on the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar by default, once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer Google Calendar, you can optionally connect and authorize your Google account in Settings.

• Choose your business or enter its website to start
• Review the pulled business details for accuracy
• Listen to a personalized sample before going live
• Choose your phone setup and forwarding method
• Configure services and availability so booking works

Full-time coverage generally comes in two forms: human-staffed services and AI receptionists. Human services such as AnswerConnect offer 24/7 live answering by people, and Ruby advertises live virtual receptionist plans starting at $245 per month as of October 9, 2026. Smith.ai sells human receptionist plans with per-call pricing, plus a separate AI receptionist product. Starting prices alone are not a full comparison; you need each quote's included minutes or calls, overage rates, contract terms, and hours.

AllDayDesk, the product on this site, is an AI receptionist that answers around the clock using your saved business information. This comparison is based on documented features from each provider's own pages, not hands-on testing. An in-house receptionist is a different option again: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, receptionists also greet visitors and handle office tasks beyond phone answering, so a phone service replaces the phone part of the role, not the whole job.

• Human services: real people answer, with plans and per-call pricing that vary by provider
• AI receptionists: software answers using your saved business details, often priced as a flat monthly subscription with included minutes — compare quotes directly
• Compare included minutes, overage rates, and contract terms on every quote
• An in-house receptionist covers front-desk work a phone service does not

Around-the-clock answering makes sense when callers contact you outside normal hours and expect a response. Service businesses like plumbers, HVAC contractors, and electricians get calls evenings and weekends. Appointment-based businesses like salons, dentists, and law firms can miss bookings when nobody picks up. Solo owners who answer their own phones may benefit most, since the service covers the hours they cannot.

Decide what you want covered before choosing a plan. If you only need help after closing, an after-hours-only setup may be enough. If you want one continuous service for every call, day and night, a 24 7 plan fits. Also decide how appointments should be handled: AllDayDesk books new appointments on its built-in calendar by default, with optional Google Calendar connection in Settings, while changes to existing appointments are passed to you as requests rather than confirmed changes.

• Choose 24 7 coverage if callers reach out at all hours
• Choose after-hours-only coverage if daytime calls are handled in-house
• Configure services and availability before enabling booking
• Remember existing appointment changes arrive as requests for you to approve