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AI receptionist UK: answers your calls and books them, 24/7.

Ringmere is an AI receptionist built in the UK for UK service businesses. It picks up under your name day and night, quotes only what you approve, books the appointment into your calendar during the call and puts urgent callers through to you. Plans from £49 a month, with a UK number included.

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Hear it first: ring our own AI receptionist on 07888 870150, or try the live demo on our home page.

An AI receptionist is software that answers your business phone 24/7 in a natural voice, answers questions from information you approve, books appointments into your calendar during the call and puts urgent callers through to a person. Ringmere is a UK one: plans are £49, £99 and £249 a month, each with a UK number, customer records stored in the UK and a 7-day free trial.

This page is the short, checkable version: what Ringmere does on a UK phone line, what it costs, how it compares with the other AI receptionists sold in the UK, and where to hear it before you decide. The longer reads are linked as you go, starting with how it works, the pricing page and our comparison of ten UK AI receptionists.

What it does on a call

Answers on the first ringAnswers the questionBooks the slotPuts urgent callers through

Answers under your name, in a natural voice, at 3pm and at 3am, in 30+ languages or the caller’s own.
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 rather than inventing one.
Books during the call. It checks live availability in Google Calendar, Outlook or its built-in diary, confirms the slot and texts the caller a confirmation. Reschedules and cancellations too.
Takes restaurant reservations, takeaway orders and hotel room bookings on the same line, against your real menu or live availability.
Takes messages when there is nothing to book, with the caller’s name, number and reason, sent to you by email and text, or to your own WhatsApp if you link it.
Puts urgent callers through to you live. Emergencies, complaints and anyone who asks for a person go to a number you choose, on every plan. How live transfer works.
Screens the junk. Repeat nuisance and spam callers are recognised and turned away without troubling you.
Replies on WhatsApp and text too, on Growth and Pro: the same receptionist answers questions, books and takes orders by message.

After the call, every plan can send your alerts and a daily summary to WhatsApp, remind you of quotes still waiting, list each week the questions callers asked that it could not answer, and text each customer once after a visit asking for an honest review. The features page has the full list, and how it works walks through the three-step setup.

Built for your trade

One receptionist, taught your business.

Each trade page shows what Ringmere does with that trade’s calls, call by call, and what it must never do.

Pricing

What an AI receptionist costs in the UK.

Three flat plans, each with a UK number and a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Starter

£49 /month ex VAT

150 call minutes included

UK phone number included, or keep your own
Answers your calls 24/7
In-call booking into Google Calendar or Outlook
Reschedules & cancellations on the call
Text & email booking confirmations and text reminders
Table reservations & takeaway orders
Call transcripts, summaries & lead capture
Email and text alerts to your team
Live call transfer to your team
“Who is this” card on calls and chats
Weekly FAQ suggestions from your calls
Quote reminders for you when a quote request is still open
Honest review requests after appointments (100 texts a month)
Public API and signed webhooks
Owner alerts on WhatsApp, with a daily summary

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Growth

£99 /month ex VAT

240 minutes across calls & chat

Everything in Starter
Speaks 30+ languages, or auto-detects the caller's
Two-way WhatsApp AI chat (SMS on text-enabled numbers)
Multi-staff scheduling
Call routing to up to 5 departments, by voice or keypad
Hotel room bookings with channel manager sync (Beds24, Cloudbeds)
News texts to customers who were offered an opt-out at booking (300 a month)
300 review request texts a month

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Pro

£249 /month ex VAT

700 minutes across calls & chat

Everything in Growth
Unlimited staff & services
Unlimited call departments
Lower overage rate
Freephone (0800) number option
Priority support
1,000 news texts and 1,000 review request texts a month

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Agency & Enterprise

White-label Ringmere under your own brand and domain, and manage every client from one dashboard. Built for resellers, franchises and multi-location groups. Volume pricing on request.

Contact sales

Extra minutes billed at £0.25/min (£0.20 on Pro). Prices exclude VAT. No setup fee. Full pricing details → The UK cost guide works out what six providers charge at 50, 100 and 200 calls a month.

The alternatives

How Ringmere compares with other UK AI receptionists.

We build one of these, so read the order as ours. The prices are each provider’s own.

Provider	Starts at	Billing unit	Books on the call?	Trial
Ringmere	£49/mo	Minutes (150 included)	Every plan	7 days, card at the start
Hey Jodie	£49/mo	Unlimited minutes (fair use)	From the £99 plan	7 days, no card
IONOS and Fasthosts	£39/mo	Calls (30 included, then £0.49)	From the £69 plan	1 month free
Cyberstaff	£30/mo	Minutes (100 included, then £0.30)	Every plan	7 days, no card
Answer.co.uk (AI)	£10/mo plus £0.85 a call	Calls	From the £120 plan	Free test call, £25 deposit
Moneypenny	AI from £25/mo; human answering quote-led	Priced to your needs	Listed	Quote, then managed setup
RingCentral AIR	£32/mo per account	Minutes (100 included, then £0.40)	Listed as coming soon	UK add-on to RingCentral phones

Entry prices as shown on each provider’s own UK site on 10 October 2026, the date our full comparison last checked them. Ringmere, Hey Jodie, IONOS, Fasthosts and Answer.co.uk say their prices exclude VAT or tax; Cyberstaff and RingCentral do not say on the pages we read, so ask. Confirm current pricing on each provider’s own site before you buy.

Where Ringmere is not the right fit: a full office phone system with desk extensions and call queues, a business that wants human agents on the line, a diary that must live inside practice software it does not connect to, taking payments over the phone, and anything outside the UK for now. The full comparison says who each of the others suits, and the Moneypenny alternative page covers the switch from a human answering service.

Built for the UK

UK number, UK data, UK rules.

A UK number, or keep yours

Every plan includes a UK local number, or you forward the number your customers already know. Billed in pounds, by a company registered in England and Wales.

Customer records stored in the UK

Encrypted, with every sub-processor named in our privacy policy and a data processing agreement on every account. ICO registration ZC192829.

Disclosure on by default

Callers are told they are speaking to an automated assistant, and that the call may be recorded when recording is on, as UK rules expect. The setting stays in your control.

A person when it matters

Emergencies, complaints and vulnerable callers are put through to your team live, with context, and the receptionist never gives medical or legal advice.

How we know it behaves: how we test Ringmere publishes the live evaluations and release checks behind every change, with dates and what we have not done yet.

Hear it before you buy

Three ways to judge it in ten minutes.

Ring our own line, try the live demo, or set up your own receptionist and talk to it before you add a card.

Ring our receptionist

Our public line, 07888 870150, is answered by Ringmere AI, our own AI receptionist. Ask it anything about Ringmere and it can book a call back.

Try the live demo

On our home page, pick a salon, dental practice, vet or garage and have a real conversation in your browser, by voice or by text.

Hear your own

Set it up free and hear your own receptionist on a real call in your browser before you add a card. Then forward your number and ring your own line.

Prefer to watch? The whole product in 73 seconds.

Choosing

Guides for choosing an AI receptionist.

Best AI receptionist UK (2026): 10 compared

We build one of the products on this list, so this is not a neutral review. It is an honest one: published prices, real differences, and who each provider genuinely suits, including when the answer is not us.

What an AI receptionist actually costs in the UK

A plan that books on the call costs about £30 to £120 a month for most small businesses, but the headline price is only half the story. Here is what six providers really cost at your call volume, and what to check before you buy.

How to choose an AI receptionist: 8 questions to ask any provider

AI receptionists are not interchangeable, and the market has grown crowded fast. Here are the 8 questions worth asking any provider before you commit, and how Ringmere answers each one.

Compared

Side by side with the alternatives.

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.

AI receptionist vs in-house staff: the real cost comparison

An in-house receptionist is brilliant, and expensive, and only there 40 hours a week. Here is the honest cost comparison for a UK service business, line by line, and when each one wins.

Ringmere vs Moneypenny: which should answer your phone?

One is the UK’s best-known answering brand, with people at its heart. The other is a flat-fee AI built for small appointment businesses. We make Ringmere, and here is the honest comparison, including when Moneypenny is the right call.

Questions

About AI receptionists in the UK.

What is an AI receptionist?

Software that answers your business phone in a natural voice, 24 hours a day. It listens to the caller, works out what they want, and acts on it using only the information you approve: it answers questions, quotes your prices, books appointments into your calendar during the call, takes a message when there is nothing to book, and puts urgent callers through to a person. Ringmere is one, built in the UK for UK service businesses.

How much does an AI receptionist cost in the UK?

Published UK prices run from about £10 a month plus a per-call fee 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, WhatsApp and SMS, and £249 for 700 minutes. Extra minutes are £0.25 (£0.20 on Pro). Prices exclude VAT. There is no setup fee and no contract beyond the month.

Is an AI receptionist the same as a virtual receptionist?

No. A virtual receptionist is usually a person working remotely, and a telephone answering service is a team of them taking messages under your name. An AI receptionist replaces the person with software, which is why it can run 24/7 for a flat monthly fee, never keeps a caller on hold, and books the appointment rather than handing you a message to ring back.

Will callers know they are speaking to AI?

Yes, by default. Ringmere opens the call by saying it is an automated assistant, and that the call may be recorded when recording is switched on, as UK rules expect. The disclosure is a setting in your control, and we recommend leaving it on. Most callers care whether they got what they rang for, and a booking confirmed in twenty seconds is what they wanted.

Can I keep my existing phone number?

Yes. Forward the number your customers already know to Ringmere, or use the UK number included free with every plan. Nothing changes for your customers, and you can switch back by changing the forwarding.

Is it GDPR compliant, and where is my data stored?

Ringmere is operated by a UK company registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (reference ZC192829). Customer records are stored in the UK and encrypted. Live call audio is processed by named sub-processors, including Twilio and OpenAI in the United States, under UK GDPR transfer safeguards, and every sub-processor is named in our privacy policy. A data processing agreement comes with every account.

Which UK businesses is it for?

Single-site service businesses that take bookings, enquiries or orders by phone: salons and barbers, dental and physio practices, vets, aesthetics and private clinics, garages, plumbers and the other trades, cleaners, restaurants and takeaways, hotels and B&Bs. There is a page for each on the industries hub, and it is not limited to those.

Can I try it before I pay?

Yes. Set it up free and hear your own receptionist on a real call in your browser before you add a card. Every plan then starts with a 7-day free trial: you add a card when the trial starts, nothing is charged for 7 days, and you can cancel before then.

Read all FAQs →

Put an AI receptionist on your line today.

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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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