AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) vs Answer AI
The short answer
- Answer AI costs least at both 100 and 500 calls a month.
- AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) has the lowest advertised price ($10), but costs $90 via sales at 100 calls.
- Only AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) transfers calls on every plan.
 AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)small businesses wanting cheap AI answering with a human receptionist still on the callVisit site |  Answer AIUK sole traders and SMEs that miss calls out of hours, from locksmiths to law firmsVisit site | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| At 100 calls a month | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$90 via sales | Answer AI72.50 GBP via salesLowest |
| At 500 calls a month | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$450 via sales | Answer AI300 GBP via salesLowest |
| Advertised from | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)$10 a month | Answer AI$10 a month |
| The advertised plan covers | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not counted | Answer AIThe 10 GBP plan covers 0 of 100 calls. Growth costs less for all 100. |
| Bills | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)per call | Answer AIper call |
| Keeps answering past your allowance | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesCalls past the plan allowance keep being answered and are billed as overage at $1.10… | Answer AIYesEach plan bundles a call allowance and extra calls simply continue at £0.85 each… |
| Free trial or plan | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyA seven-day AI call answering free trial runs on your real diverted line… | Answer AINoThere is no free plan or free trial on your own line: the cheapest plan is a paid monthly… |
| Month to month, cancel online | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesBilling is a rolling monthly subscription with no lock-in and no cancellation fee… | Answer AIYesPlans are monthly with no long-term commitment… |
| On the call | ||
| Books appointments | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyThe AI product is described as message-taking and transferring only | Answer AIPartlyThe vendor says appointment scheduling is a core capability but only on the two upper… |
| Transfers to a person | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesThe AI can transfer a caller through to you, and the vendor states its human… | Answer AIPartlyLive transfer is excluded from the cheapest Lite plan… |
| Human receptionists as backup | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA live receptionist takes over whenever the AI is stuck or a caller asks for a person… | Answer AIYesCalls can be routed to the company's own human answering operators rather than only to… |
| After-hours rules | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyThe AI answers around the clock, so there is no out-of-hours gap… | Answer AIPartlyRound-the-clock answering is stated plainly for every plan… |
| Urgent calls escalated | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not stated | Answer AIPartlyUrgency recognition is claimed for emergency trades… |
| Texts your callers | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoOutbound SMS exists only to deliver messages to your own listed staff mobiles and is… | Answer AINot stated |
| Call summary by text | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA full call summary with caller name, contact details and reason for calling is sent by… | Answer AIYesMessage delivery is by email and the online portal as standard… |
| Language, privacy and trying it | ||
| Languages | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyEnglish and Spanish | Answer AIPartlyThe vendor claims 32 supported languages but publishes no list and gates multilingual… |
| HIPAA, with a signed BAA | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)Not stated | Answer AINot stated |
| Hear it before you buy | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesA dedicated live demo number lets you talk to the Ginger AI agent about the service… | Answer AIYesA public number is published to call the AI receptionist… |
| What it connects to | ||
| Google Calendar | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoGoogle Calendar and Outlook are not named anywhere | Answer AINot stated |
| Outlook | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)NoGoogle Calendar and Outlook are not named anywhere | Answer AIYesBooking into a calendar is possible where an integration is configured… |
| Calendly | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesCalendly, Acuity Scheduling, Setmore and Square Appointments are supported… | Answer AIYesBooking into a calendar is possible where an integration is configured… |
| Your trade’s software | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)PartlyTrade tools named are Clio for law firms and ResDiary for hospitality | Answer AINot stated |
| Keep your number | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)YesYou keep your advertised business number and divert it to the receptionist number issued… | Answer AIYesYou keep your existing line and divert to the dedicated number supplied at no extra cost… |
| In short | ||
| What it is | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)AnsweringService.com SmartMessage is an AI phone receptionist that answers calls 24/7 in English or Spanish, takes messages and transfers callers. A live receptionist takes over any call the AI cannot handle.All answers for AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup) | Answer AIAnswer AI is a UK AI virtual receptionist from Answer.co.uk that answers calls around the clock, handles FAQs from your website or documents, captures caller details and sends messages by email or SMS. It is sold on four monthly plans with per-call charging.All answers for Answer AI |
| Checked | AnsweringService.com SmartMessage (AI Call Answering with Live Receptionist Backup)October 14, 2026 | Answer AIOctober 14, 2026 |
Costs are for 100 or 500 calls a month of 2½ minutes each, on the cheapest public plan. How we price