Upfirst’s answering service for small business makes sure calls are professionally answered at any time of day or night — 24/7 — and captures the information you need.
"With Upfirst, someone who would’ve been on hold now gets help right away. Whether they just want to know the exam fee or refill a prescription, the AI can handle it. Clients love that."
"We’re often busy with pets and can't always get to the phone. Now every call gets answered and we get a clear summary so we can respond fast."
"Your AI, she’s amazing. She sounds great and is very responsive. Residents love it because they feel heard, and prospects get the information they need right away."
"Upfirst fit our non-profit's budget and ended up giving us more flexibility and control over calls than we got with our previous answering service."
Introduction
Whether you're a solo attorney, or a busy catering business, you can't afford to miss your calls. Customers hate going to voicemail, and you don’t like missing opportunities.
According to online review statistics, 37% of negative reviews stem from poor communication. But being there around-the-clock is hard. Front office staff may be busy with other work, or simply out to lunch. You may not be large enough to dedicate the necessary back office staff, or just don't want to manage the complexity of running a phone answering service.
Upfirst's phone answering service makes sure every call is answered while you run and grow your business. It’s easy to set up and made to be affordable for small businesses, no matter what industry you work in.
Quick, easy setup
Here’s how to get started with your virtual receptionist answering service and answer every incoming call.
Sign up for a free trial with our call answering service. Then, you can choose your AI agent's voice, set up a welcoming greeting, and fill it in on the details about your business.
Our phone call answering service can do more than just pick up calls. You can also connect it to your scheduling system or CRM and have it automatically create appointments or log customer information. Just like an outsourced receptionist. Only faster, because it's AI.
It's easy to train our call answering service. Once you've given it instructions about how you'd like it to answer calls, give it a ring and test it out. We generally recommend a few practice calls to fine-tune responses. Just like a human-based call answering service, you'll want to provide guidelines for the different things your callers ask about. This way you can rest assured knowing your AI will only provide approved information.
Ready to launch your AI answering service? Just forward your calls to our answering service and enjoy the extra time you'd have on your hands now that you don't have to be glued to the phone.
Our business answering service will automatically send you easy-to-read call summaries. You can even listen to the recording within your dashboard. And if you'd prefer important calls to be forwarded to you, you can do that too.
With our live answering service, you can provide a better customer experience for less money. It's powered by AI, which means it's more affordable and learns quickly.
Capture every call. Nights, weekends, and holidays, so you never lose a potential customer to a competitor.
Let your AI receptionist book appointments and consultations directly to your calendar so you can focus on running your business.
Pre-screen callers with custom questions so you only spend time on leads that are ready to move forward.
Serve English, Spanish-speaking, and other callers in their preferred language to reach more customers in your community.
Route calls to the right person or department automatically so customers get answers without the runaround.
Set custom call flows for different situations, and update them instantly as your business needs change.
Text callers helpful links during the call automatically to keep them engaged.
Handle call surges during busy periods so every caller gets a professional greeting instead of a voicemail.
Filter out robocalls and telemarketers automatically so you only deal with real customer inquiries.
Capture detailed messages with caller needs, timelines, and contact info, delivered straight to your inbox.
Get a quick recap of every call via text/email so you can prioritize follow-ups at a glance.
Scale your plan up or down as your business evolves, with month-to-month billing and zero commitment.
Sync caller details and leads directly to your CRM via Zapier so you can skip the manual data entry and follow up faster.
With a live answering service, you get 24/7 availability, bilingual support, message taking, appointment scheduling, plus call screening and forwarding.
Every missed call is a missed opportunity. A new customer, a booking, a sale. Upfirst picks up every call, day or night, so you never lose business just because you couldn't get to the phone. No voicemail, no "sorry we missed you." Just every caller taken care of, even at 2 a.m.
No more mystery missed calls. No more rambling voicemails missing the one thing you actually need. Upfirst gets the right information from every caller (name, number, what they need) and sends you a clean summary you can skim in seconds. You'll always know exactly who called and why.
When callers are ready to book, Upfirst handles it on the spot. No back-and-forth, no delays. Connect to the tools you're already using or send callers a text message during the call with a link to your calendar. You stay focused on your work while your schedule fills itself.
Not every call needs your attention right away, but some do. Set the rules for which calls get forwarded to you, and Upfirst handles the rest. Important leads and VIP customers reach you directly. Everything else gets taken care of by your call handling service so you can stay in the zone.
Most answering services can take a message. That's about it. Upfirst actually knows your business: your services, your hours, your pricing, your FAQs. It can help callers the way a great front desk employee would. Fewer callbacks for you, and a better experience for the people reaching out.
Integrations
Connect your AI receptionist to the tools your business already uses.
Who we serve
At Upfirst, call answering service isn't your average virtual receptionist. It's AI-driven, so it learns the ropes of any industry fast. You can have it up and running in minutes, and it gets smarter about your business with every call.
Have a question about our answering service that isn't answered here? Get in touch with our team.
How much does your answering service cost?
Our answering service has simple, transparent pricing with no setup fees or long term contracts. You can try it free for 14 days. Plans start at $24.95 per month for 30 calls, $59.95 per month for 90 calls, $159.95 per month for 300 calls, and $299 per month for 600 calls. Every plan includes full access to the Upfirst virtual receptionist features, call routing, and call handling workflows.
How do I set up your answering service?
Getting started is quick. After you start your free trial, you'll customize the AI agent's greeting and choose its voice. Then, you'll add some information about your business in the AI's Knowledge and add any rules for handling calls. If you need, you can set up call transferring, scheduling, or text sending rules. Test some calls to make sure everything sounds just the way you like, and then go live by forwarding calls from your existing business phone to your Upfirst agent.
I don't want to change my business phone number. Do I have to change it?
You can absolutely keep your existing business phone number. When you sign up, you'll choose a phone number for your Upfirst agent, and then simply set up call forwarding with your phone provider so that calls are forwarded to and answered by your receptionist.
Can Upfirst schedule appointments to my calendar?
Yes. Upfirst can book appointments through Google Calendar or Outlook, text callers a link to your booking page, or collect contact details so you can follow up and confirm times later.
How does Upfirst handle spam calls?
Upfirst automatically filters spam and unwanted calls. You are never charged for spam calls, short calls, quick hang ups, or calls that last less than 15 seconds.
Does Upfirst's answering service support multiple languages?
Yes. Upfirst can speak and understand more than 30 languages. It can switch languages automatically when it detects what the caller is speaking, and it can translate call transcripts into your preferred language.
Am I able to use Upfirst just some phone calls, like after hours or overflow?
You can. Many businesses use Upfirst strictly for after hours support or as an overflow answering service during busy times. You control when calls are sent to Upfirst through simple routing rules through your phone provider.
Can your answering service transfer calls?
Yes. Upfirst offers call transfers based the rules that you set up. You can set what scenarios a call should transfer to you or someone else on your team, and create a call transferring schedule so calls aren't transferred to you in the middle of the night. Upfirst can also transfer only real callers to you, and prevent spam or sales calls from reaching you.
Be one of the first to try Upfirst — an AI-powered virtual answering service that picks up the phone for you. Try for free today!
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