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An AI answering service that books the appointment, not just the message.

A telephone answering service picks up under your name and takes a message. Ringmere picks up under your name, answers the question, books the slot and puts urgent callers through to you, 24/7, for a flat monthly fee.

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An AI answering service answers your business calls with conversational AI instead of an operator or voicemail. Ringmere answers 24/7 under your business name, answers questions from information you approve, books appointments into your calendar during the call, takes messages when there is nothing to book, and puts urgent callers through to a person. Plans are £49, £99 and £249 a month with a UK number included and a 7-day free trial.

Answering service, virtual receptionist, AI answering service: the difference

Telephone answering serviceVirtual receptionistAI answering service (Ringmere)
Who picks upA team of operators under your nameA person working remotelyConversational AI, under your name
What happens nextA message for you to ring backA message, sometimes a bookingThe booking made on the call, or a message if there is nothing to book
HoursOffice hours, or 24/7 at a premiumTheir working hours24/7 on every plan
PricingPer call or per minute plus a monthly fee, or quotedHourly or a retainerFlat monthly fee with included minutes
Questions from callersFrom a scriptFrom their knowledge of youFrom the information you approve, never invented
Messages and WhatsAppPhone only, usuallyDepends on the personPhone on every plan; WhatsApp and SMS on Growth and Pro

The longer version, with costs, is in AI receptionist vs answering service. The short version: an answering service stops calls being missed; Ringmere stops bookings being missed.

What it does on a call

Answers on the first ringAnswers the questionBooks the slotEscalates what matters
  • Answers under your name, in a natural voice, at 3pm and at 3am.
  • Quotes only what you approve. Services, prices, opening hours and policies come from your settings. If the answer is not there, it says so and takes a message.
  • Books during the call. It checks live availability in Google Calendar, Outlook or its built-in diary and confirms the slot, then texts the caller a confirmation.
  • Takes messages when there is nothing to book, with the caller’s name, number and reason, sent to you by email and text.
  • Puts urgent callers through. Emergencies, complaints and anything sensitive go live to a number you choose, or to your team by text with the caller’s number.
  • Turns away the junk. Repeat nuisance callers are recognised and blocked without troubling you.

An answering service for your trade

The same receptionist, taught your business. Searchers ask for a salon answering service, a veterinary answering service, a chiropractic or physio answering service, private clinic call handling or call answering for a garage, and each of those pages shows what Ringmere does with that trade’s calls, one by one. All industries are listed together.

What it costs against a human answering service

Human answering services charge per call or per minute on top of a monthly fee, or price to your volume on a call, which means a busy month costs more than a quiet one and you find out afterwards. Ringmere is a flat monthly plan: £49 for 150 call minutes with a UK number included, £99 for 240 minutes across calls and chat with WhatsApp and SMS, £249 for 700. Extra minutes are £0.25 (£0.20 on Pro), and a safety ceiling stops a runaway month. What an AI receptionist costs in the UK compares the pricing models across the market, and the missed call cost calculator shows what the unanswered phone is costing you now.

Questions

About AI answering services.

What is an AI answering service?
An AI answering service answers your business phone with a conversational AI instead of a human operator or voicemail. The better ones do the receptionist’s job rather than the message-taker’s: they answer questions from information you approve, book appointments into your diary during the call, and put urgent callers through to you. Ringmere does all three, 24/7, from £49 a month.
Is an AI answering service the same as a virtual receptionist?
A virtual receptionist is usually a person working remotely; a telephone answering service is a team of them taking messages under your business name. An AI answering service replaces the person with software, which is why it can run 24/7 for a flat monthly fee and never keeps a caller on hold. Ringmere is all three in effect: it answers under your name, takes messages, and books.
How much does an answering service cost in the UK?
Human answering services are typically priced per call or per minute on top of a monthly fee, or quoted to your volume. AI answering services with public UK prices run from about £10 a month plus a per-call charge to £99 a month for unlimited calls. Ringmere is £49 a month for 150 call minutes with a UK number included, £99 for 240 minutes across calls and chat, and £249 for 700, all excluding VAT.
Will callers know it is AI?
By default Ringmere opens by saying it is an automated assistant, and that disclosure stays under your control in Settings. In practice callers care whether they got what they rang for, and a booking confirmed in twenty seconds is what they wanted.
Can it just take messages?
Yes. With nothing bookable configured, Ringmere works as an answering service: it answers questions from what you approve and takes the caller’s name, number and reason as a message, sent to you by email and text. Add services later and it starts booking too.
Does it work for my trade?
Ringmere has pages for salons, barbers, dental practices, physio and chiropractic clinics, vets, aesthetics clinics, garages, plumbers, electricians, cleaning companies, dog groomers, restaurants, hotels and private clinics, and it is not limited to those. If your business takes bookings, enquiries or orders by phone, the 7-day trial is the honest test.

Keep reading

Compare before you choose.

AI receptionist vs a phone answering service

One takes a message. The other books the appointment. Here is the honest comparison on cost, coverage and results for a UK service business.

Read more

Moneypenny alternative

Public pricing from £49 a month, bookings completed on the call, and the switching steps. Plus when Moneypenny is still the right choice.

Read more

What an AI receptionist actually costs in the UK

Most UK plans start around £49 a month, but the headline price is only half the story. Here is how the pricing really works and what to check before you buy.

Read more

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Call answered2:47am · first ring
Booked in your calendarCut & blow dry · 2:30pm
£42 recoveredWhile you slept
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