A telephone answering service for small businesses, at one flat price.

A service that answers your business calls when you can't, in your business name, and passes the caller's details to you. Human services use receptionists working from notes about your business. AI services, Sayora included, use an AI receptionist working from your business information, and Sayora can book appointments too, once your calendar is connected and bookings are set up.

Very much so, and they've changed. A call nobody answers can go to whoever picks up next, so businesses still pay to have their phones covered. What's new is who answers: alongside human receptionists, AI receptionists like Sayora now answer day and night, and Sayora charges one flat monthly price.

Human services charge per call, by the minute or for a monthly bundle of calls, depending on the provider, so the bill moves with your call volume. Sayora is £49 a month with no VAT added and unlimited minutes under fair use. Our answering service cost guide works through the bills at different call volumes.

The one that suits what your callers need. If they often need putting through to you, choose a human service with call transfer. If most calls end with a question answered, a booking or a call back, Sayora covers them for a flat £49 a month. We make Sayora, so we're not neutral. Our shortlist of UK answering services gives each provider a clear best fit.

Start with what your callers need to happen next, then compare who answers, how you pay and what reaches you after the call. Put the six questions on this page to each provider, then ring every service on your shortlist with the same test calls, like the ones in our trial checklist for AI receptionists.

Sayora, an AI receptionist working from your website and the answers you add. Sayora tells new callers it's AI at the start of the call. If you'd rather every caller spoke to a person, a human answering service will suit you better, and our comparison pages say where each one is strongest.

No. Sayora doesn't do live call transfer. When a caller needs you today, Sayora marks the lead urgent in your text and email, so you know who to ring first. Unless you've chosen to send every call straight to Sayora, your phone rings first, so you can still pick up the calls that need you. If callers often need putting through, a human service with call transfer suits you better.

No. You keep your number and divert calls to Sayora whenever you can't pick up, whether you're busy or it's after hours. From a mobile, you can send every call straight there instead. Sayora comes with its own dedicated UK number too, if you'd rather hand that out.

No. Sayora answers day and night, weekends and bank holidays included, for the same £49 a month. If you answer your own phone in the day and only want cover after that, see after-hours answering for how the divert works.

If the caller leaves an enquiry, the summary reaches you by text, email or both when the call ends: who called, what they want and how to reach them, with urgent leads marked. Every call is recorded and transcribed too, so you can hear it back before you ring.

No. Sayora is month to month, and you can cancel anytime from your Sayora app.

Sayora suits small businesses whose calls are mostly enquiries, questions and bookings that someone follows up, from trades to estate agents, accountants and garages. Sayora isn't the right fit for emergency dispatch or clinical lines, where a caller needs a person to act there and then, so keep a person on those calls. Our sector guides show Sayora at work for estate agents, solicitors, accountants and car dealerships.