24/7 daycare answering service
Focus on caring for your children while our daycare answering service handles every call, day or night.
Try for free
How it works
Sign up, tell us about your daycare center, and let Upfirst handle your calls.
Share details about your daycare business, and tell us how you’d like your calls handled, including any special instructions. We follow them every time.
We’ll pick up each call on the first ring, no matter the hour of the day. Your callers will always reach a helpful voice. No more frustrating voicemails.
Receive call recordings and summaries directly to you via SMS or email. You save time while we pick up your calls.
The affordable daycare answering service
Operating a daycare service takes a lot of energy to run. On top of handling kid drop-offs, planning curriculums, snack time, and more, making sure every caller reaches a friendly voice, not voicemail, is easier said than done.
That’s why administrators turn towards daycare answering services to help handle the calls they might otherwise miss. Here are just a few ways an answering service helps:
Discover how our daycare answering services can make a difference in your business.
Parents never stop worrying about their little ones, and calls can come in at any hour—6 a.m. drop-off questions, 8 p.m. schedule changes, or weekends when they just need reassurance. With our daycare answering service, someone is always on the line to offer answers and calm nerves. No more missed calls or frustrated parents wondering if you’re even open.
Watching over a room full of toddlers means you can’t always dash to the phone in between snack time and nap time. That’s okay—our friendly virtual receptionist answers as if they’re part of your in-house team. Every caller experiences the same warm, expert touch they’d get if you could greet them yourself.
First impressions matter, and a fast response builds trust from day one. Our daycare center answering service picks up quickly, listens closely, and gives parents the information they need without the “please hold” music. The result? Happy families who feel heard and confident in choosing your center.
Imagine never manually noting down enrollment questions or appointment requests again—our service handles it all. From scheduling tours to screening out spam calls, we automate the busywork so you don’t have to. You’ll reclaim hours each week to focus on what’s most important.
We make powerful call handling features affordable for small businesses, so you can run yours with less worry and more time.
Never send parents to voicemail again—our agent picks up every call, any time of day or night.
Automatically book tours, enrollment calls, or meet-and-greets in your calendar.
Get detailed messages with caller info, purpose, and urgency level.
Speak to families in English, Spanish, and more. Give friendly support in customers’ native language.
Gather emergency contacts, enrollment details, and special instructions on every call. Follow up on qualified leads.
Filter out spam calls and low-priority inquiries so your team can stay focused on only real calls.
Review any conversation for training or quality assurance. Get transcriptions and summaries in your inbox.
Send customized texts with calendar links, pricing info, and more while live on the call.
quick, easy setup
Get your own dedicated virtual receptionist for your daycare in just a few minutes. No complicated onboarding or technical software.
Create your account—it’s free to try. Answer a few questions about your daycare service, set up your greeting, and choose your AI receptionist’s voice. You can choose to use your existing business number or grab a new local or toll-free 800 line later on.
Fill out the AI’s Knowledge Base with details about your services, FAQs, policies, and any specific call handling instructions, like how to handle new callers, current clients, or emergency situations. Make a few test calls until everything sounds just right.
Once you’re happy with the setup, it’s time to go live! Forward calls from your existing business to your new Upfirst number, or just use it directly for your business. You can decide whether we handle all inbound calls, just the ones you miss, or after-hours only. Within minutes, every ring is answered.
Use cases for daycare services
See how daycare centers use our answering service daily to help run their business.
Each day when someone calls wondering about things like half-day options or weekend tours, our agent steps in with the exact answers you’ve provided. That way, you save time and parents get the clarity they need without waiting.
Parents looking to tour your daycare or set up enrollment interviews can book right away without bouncing back and forth by phone. Our daycare answering service can send them a customized text while live over the phone with a calendar link to book a tour, so you can focus on daycare activities without stopping to take a routine call.
If a parent has billing questions or wants to check in with their child, our agent can route them straight to the appropriate person instead of leaving you to track down messages later. This keeps every question in the right hands and ensures faster resolutions every day.
Whether you need to pass a lead to Mailchimp or schedule an appointment in Calendly, you can use Zapier to pass caller info from Upfirst to any app.
Have a question about our daycare answering service that you don't see here? Get in touch with our team.
How does a daycare answering service benefit my business?
An answering service means every parent call is picked up quickly and professionally, which immediately builds trust and shows you truly care about their concerns. You’ll stop missing enrollment inquiries during busy drop-off and pick-up windows, turning more calls into new families. Freeing your team from the phone lets them focus on engaging with kids and keeping the day running smoothly, instead of pausing activities to take messages. Plus, a consistent, polished phone presence builds your brand reputation and gives a professional image.
How much will I save compared to hiring an in-house receptionist?
The average salary of a full-time receptionist runs about $37,000 per year (not including benefits). That’s a price not many small businesses can afford. Even other traditional answering services can run businesses about $300 per month just to answer a small handful of calls.
Upfirst has plans that start at $24.95 per month, making it affordable for small businesses to answer calls around the clock.
What situations would I need a daycare answering service for?
Peak drop-off and pick-up times, after-hours emergencies, holiday closures, or any moment your in-house team is unavailable. If being unavailable and missing calls is a constant issue for your daycare service, then having a service to help answer calls will make for happier parents and give yourself a more professional image.
How are emergency calls handled?
You can give us your protocols for emergencies, and our receptionist will follow your guidelines. Set your rules on when to transfer urgent calls to yourself or the appropriate staff.
Do you take calls after-hours?
Yes! Our team is live 24/7, 365 days a year, so you never miss important calls.
How long does setup take?
Most daycare centers are up and running in under 15 minutes to a few hours. Plus, our team is always available to help set it up exactly how you need.
How easy is it to update my plan?
Log in any time to upgrade or modify your plan—no long-term contracts required.
Never let a call go unanswered. Let our specialized daycare answering service handle every ring with care and professionalism.
