Answering Company Phone

When a call comes in, AllDayDesk answers using the business details you saved, so the caller hears your company name and gets help with the questions customers usually ask. If the receptionist knows the answer — like your hours, what a service includes, or a listed price — it shares it. When an answer, price, or appointment time is unknown, the receptionist takes a message so you can follow up.

For new appointments, the receptionist can book directly into the built-in AllDayDesk dashboard calendar once you have configured your services and availability. If you prefer, you can connect Google Calendar in Settings after connecting and authorizing your Google account. Changes to existing appointments are passed to you as requests, not confirmed changes, so you stay in control of your schedule.

Everything is visible in your dashboard: each call, its transcript, a summary, and any booking that was made. You can review what was said without listening to recordings.

• Calls answered around the clock using your saved business information
• Messages taken whenever an answer or price is unknown
• New appointments booked into the dashboard calendar by default
• Optional Google Calendar connection available in Settings after authorization
• Transcripts, summaries, and bookings visible in your dashboard

You do not need a new number to start answering your company phone with AllDayDesk. You keep your public number and forward calls to the service. The exact forwarding steps depend on your phone service, so AllDayDesk gives you instructions matched to your provider during setup.

For example, Verizon mobile lines activate all-call forwarding by dialing *72 plus the 10-digit destination, and *73 turns it off. T-Mobile uses **21*1 followed by the destination and # for unconditional forwarding. Comcast Business, Spectrum Business Voice, and Vonage Business Communications manage forwarding through their account portals or feature settings. Because every provider is different, check which product you actually have before entering any code — a wireless code will not work on a business landline product and the other way around.

• Keep your public business number and forward calls to AllDayDesk
• Forwarding instructions depend on your phone provider and product
• Forwarding is set up from your phone line or your provider's portal

Getting started is straightforward. First, choose your business from a list or enter your website, and AllDayDesk builds its understanding of your company from that information. Next, check the details it learned — your services, hours, and contact information — and correct anything that is off. Then hear a personalized sample of how the receptionist would answer for your business. The sample is a preview only; it does not create a real booking.

Finally, choose your phone setup option and follow the forwarding instructions for your provider. After that, calls to your existing number are handled by AllDayDesk, and you can watch calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings appear in your dashboard.

• Choose your business or enter its website
• Check and correct the business details it learned
• Hear a personalized sample call (no real booking is made)
• Choose phone setup and forward your existing number

Sometimes a caller needs to reach you directly. AllDayDesk can transfer calls to you, but you need to configure a transfer destination and the rules for when transfers happen first. Transfers are not guaranteed to connect — if you are unavailable, the receptionist handles the call according to your settings and takes an ordinary message when it does not have an answer for the caller.

Message taking is the reliable baseline: whenever a question, price, or appointment request is outside what the receptionist knows, it collects the caller's information and the reason for the call, and you see it in your dashboard with the call summary and transcript.

• Configure a transfer destination and rules before transfers are used
• A transfer connecting is not guaranteed
• Unknown answers, prices, or appointment requests become messages you review

Most owners answer their own phone, which means calls go unanswered whenever you are busy, on another line, or closed. An answering service fills those gaps without hiring. An in-house receptionist does more than answer phones — greeting visitors and handling office tasks — so compare scope, not just cost, if you are weighing a hire against a service.

Human answering services exist too, and pricing varies widely by provider and plan. Ruby, for example, advertises live virtual receptionist plans starting at $245 per month, and Smith.ai uses per-call pricing for its human receptionist service — but starting prices alone are not a complete comparison, since included minutes, overage rates, and hours differ. AllDayDesk uses an AI receptionist, so it is available around the clock and its plans are priced by included minutes. This comparison covers documented features, not hands-on testing of any provider.

• An answering service covers calls when you cannot pick up
• In-house reception includes duties beyond the phone — compare full scope
• Human services and AI services differ in price structure and availability
• Compare included minutes, overages, and hours on any current quote