Always On Call Answering Service

An always on call answering service covers your phone line continuously instead of only after hours. When a call comes in and you are busy, closed, or simply cannot reach the phone, the call is forwarded to the service and answered using information you have saved about your business.

AllDayDesk answers calls at any hour using your business details. Callers can ask questions, leave a message, or book a new appointment. You keep the same public phone number your customers already know — forwarding simply sends the call somewhere else when it rings.

One important limit to understand up front: around-the-clock availability describes when the service is ready to take calls, not a promise that every single call connects. Phone networks, forwarding settings, and call volume all play a role.

• Answers using your saved business name, services, hours and policies
• Takes messages when a caller's question needs you personally
• Books new appointments once you have set up services and availability
• Keeps your existing public phone number — no number change for callers

The difference between an always-on service and an after-hours service is continuity. An after-hours plan picks up at 5 pm; an always-on plan covers the whole day, including the moments you miss a call at 10 am because you are under a sink, on a ladder, or with another customer.

With AllDayDesk, the same setup handles all of it. There is no separate night script to maintain. If you are available, you answer your own phone as usual. When you cannot, the forwarded call is handled with the same business information either way.

Holidays work the same way. The service does not take the day off, and callers hear your business details rather than a generic recording.

• Daytime: catches calls you miss while working or busy with someone else
• Nights and weekends: same handling, same business information
• Holidays: covered like any other day
• You still answer your own phone whenever you pick up — forwarding only applies when the call goes unanswered or is sent over

When a forwarded call arrives, the service greets the caller in your business's name and answers using the details you saved. If a caller asks something the saved information does not cover — an unusual price, a policy question, a special request — the service takes a message instead of guessing.

New appointments can be booked during the call. By default these go into the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar, which works once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer, you can optionally connect Google Calendar in Settings after connecting and authorizing your Google account. Changes to existing appointments are different: those come to you as requests to approve, not confirmed edits.

Everything is visible in your dashboard: the calls that came in, transcripts, summaries, and any bookings. If a caller needs a person urgently, the service can transfer the call to you once you have configured a transfer destination and rules — though pickup is not guaranteed, since it depends on you answering.

• Questions answered from your saved business information
• Messages taken when the answer is unknown
• New appointments booked into the dashboard calendar (or optional connected Google Calendar)
• Existing appointment changes sent to you as requests
• Optional call transfers to a destination you configure

Setup starts in AllDayDesk, not with your phone company. You choose your business or enter its website, check the details the service found, and hear a personalized sample of how your calls would be answered. The sample is a preview only — it does not create a real booking. Then you choose your phone setup option.

The last step is forwarding your calls, and the instructions depend on who provides your phone service. Many mobile and landline carriers use star codes. For example, Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination number for all-call forwarding and *73 to turn it off, while T-Mobile uses **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding. Business VoIP products often use a web portal instead — Spectrum Business Voice, for instance, manages forwarding through Voice Settings in the online account.

Because codes and portal steps differ by carrier and even by product within the same carrier, check the guide for your exact provider before dialing anything. If your line is a Google Voice number, note that Google does not support forwarding from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so that path will not work.

• Step 1: Choose your business or enter its website
• Step 2: Check the business details found
• Step 3: Hear a personalized sample of your answering
• Step 4: Choose phone setup and forward your number using your provider's instructions
• Verify forwarding worked by placing a test call from another phone

Always-on coverage makes the most sense when missed calls cost you real work. Solo operators and small teams in trades, appointments-based services, and urgent-response fields often fit this profile, because a caller who cannot reach anyone may simply call the next name on the list.

If nearly all your calls come during set office hours and someone is reliably at the desk, an after-hours-only plan or a well-written voicemail greeting may be enough. The honest way to decide is to look at when your missed calls actually happen, not at the biggest possible plan.

Cost is the other factor. Human-staffed 24/7 services exist — AnswerConnect offers live answering around the clock, and Ruby's plans start at $245 per month as of October 2026 — while AI-based services like AllDayDesk and Smith.ai's AI receptionist are priced differently. Compare included minutes, overage rates, and contract terms on any current quote rather than relying on a single starting price.

• Good fit: callers expect a quick answer at any hour, and you are often unreachable during the day
• Possibly unnecessary: most calls arrive when someone is already at the phone
• Compare: included minutes, per-minute overages, and whether the service books appointments or only takes messages
• Remember you keep answering your own phone — the service covers the calls you miss

AllDayDesk plans include a monthly allowance of answered minutes, with a per-minute rate for time beyond that. The Solo plan includes 200 minutes, the Starter plan includes 600, and the Pro plan includes 1,200. Current pricing is displayed on the plans section of this site, separate from this page.

Every plan includes the same core service: around-the-clock answering with your business details, message taking, dashboard access to calls, transcripts, summaries and bookings, and new appointments in the built-in calendar once your services and availability are configured.

• Choose a plan based on your typical monthly call minutes
• Overage minutes are billed at the plan's per-minute rate
• Core answering features are the same across plans
• Optional Google Calendar connection available in Settings after authorization