Virtual Secretary Answering Service

The idea is simple: your callers reach a trained assistant instead of voicemail, and you get the details afterward. With AllDayDesk, the assistant answers calls around the clock using the business information you save. It can answer questions about your hours, services, and pricing when it knows the answer, and it takes a message whenever an answer, price, or appointment time is unknown.

Setup follows a short path. You choose your business or enter its website, check the details the service pulled in, hear a personalized sample call, and then choose how to connect your phone. You keep your public number the whole time. Forwarding instructions depend on your phone service, so the right steps vary by carrier and product.

After setup, your dashboard becomes your record. Calls, transcripts, summaries, and new bookings all appear there. New appointments go on the built-in AllDayDesk 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.

• You keep your existing business number and forward calls to the service.
• The assistant learns your business from your website or the details you confirm.
• Unknown answers, prices, or appointment times become messages for you.
• Calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings are visible in your dashboard.
• Booking uses the built-in calendar by default, with optional Google Calendar in Settings.

A virtual secretary answering service covers the routine phone work that eats up a solo owner's day. Typical tasks include greeting callers, answering questions from your saved business details, describing services and prices you have listed, taking detailed messages, and booking new appointments into your calendar.

There are honest limits. Changes to existing appointments are passed to you as requests, not confirmed changes, so you stay in control of your schedule. If a caller needs something the assistant cannot answer, it takes a message rather than guessing. Transfers to you are possible, but you must configure a destination and the rules for when transfers happen, and neither pickup nor an immediate response is guaranteed.

AllDayDesk does not connect to dispatch software, CRM systems, health records, or industry scheduling tools. The only external calendar supported is the optional Google Calendar connection in Settings.

• Answers routine questions using your saved business information.
• Takes clear messages when an answer or price is unknown.
• Books new appointments once services and availability are configured.
• Passes existing-appointment changes to you as requests.
• Transfers calls only when you have set a destination and rules.

When people search for a virtual secretary, they often weigh an AI service against a human virtual receptionist company. Both answer calls remotely. The differences come down to coverage, cost structure, and scope. Human services such as Ruby advertise plans starting at $245 per month, while Smith.ai sells human receptionist plans with per-call pricing; both figures come from those companies' own pricing pages, and actual quotes depend on included minutes or calls, overage rates, hours, and contract terms.

AllDayDesk is this site's own product, an AI virtual secretary answering service available around the clock. This comparison covers documented features from public pricing pages, not hands-on testing, so treat it as a starting framework rather than a verdict.

An in-house receptionist is a different category entirely. Federal occupational data shows in-house receptionists also greet visitors and handle office tasks beyond the phone, so a phone service is not a full employee replacement. If you need front-desk duties, hiring still matters.

• Human virtual receptionists: people answer, pricing often starts around $245/month (Ruby) or uses per-call rates (Smith.ai); verify current quotes.
• AI services like AllDayDesk: available around the clock, priced by plan minutes, with transcripts and bookings in a dashboard.
• In-house receptionist: full employee scope including visitors and office work, with salary and overhead to budget.
• Compare included allowance, overage rates, hours, and contract length before choosing any option.

You keep your public number by forwarding calls, and the exact instructions depend on your phone service. Some carriers use star codes, others use an online portal or app. Identify your exact product first, because codes differ even within one carrier's lineup.

Verified examples: Verizon mobile uses *72 plus the destination for all-call forwarding and *73 to disable, while unanswered-call forwarding uses *71 (verizon-wireless). T-Mobile uses **21*1 plus the destination and # for unconditional forwarding, with **61*, **62*, and **67* for no-reply, unreachable, and busy cases (tmobile). AT&T Phone for Business uses *72 for all calls, *92 for no answer, and *90 for busy (att-business). Spectrum Business Voice manages forwarding through the SpectrumBusiness.net portal under Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager (spectrum-business).

One important exception: Google Voice does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so a Google Voice number is not a compatible path (google-voice-routing). If your carrier is not listed here, check its support pages for your exact product, or contact AllDayDesk support for help identifying your setup.

• Verizon mobile: *72 + destination to activate, *73 to disable; *71 for unanswered calls.
• T-Mobile: **21*1 + destination # for all calls; **61*, **62*, **67* for no-reply, unreachable, busy.
• AT&T Phone for Business: *72 all calls, *92 no answer, *90 busy; each with a matching disable code.
• Spectrum Business Voice: enable forwarding in the online portal, not with star codes.
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to an automated answering system.

This kind of service fits owners who handle their own phones and lose workable hours to interruptions. Contractors, home-service providers, and appointment-based businesses often use it so callers reach a helpful assistant instead of voicemail while they are on a job. It also works as a catch-all outside the hours you personally answer.

It is less of a fit if you need someone to handle sensitive intake that requires licensed judgment, or if you need deep integrations with industry software. AllDayDesk takes messages for anything outside its scope rather than improvising, and it does not connect to dispatch, CRM, or health-record systems.

If your main problem is only the busiest hours rather than full coverage, an overflow setup may be a simpler starting point.

• Good fit: solo owners and small teams who answer their own phones.
• Good fit: businesses that want messages, summaries, and bookings in one dashboard.
• Less fit: needs requiring licensed advice, software integrations, or front-desk tasks.
• Alternative: overflow answering if you only need help at peak times.