Voice support and telephone agents can be difficult to hire for because they are literally putting your brand’s reputation on the line.

Whether you’re looking for customer service representatives, virtual receptionists, or even outbound sales support, there are a number of companies built to help solve those needs.

best virtual receptionist services

Advantages of Working with Virtual Receptionists

Hiring a virtual receptionist instead of an in-house one presents a lot of benefits, making them a reliable option for some of the businesses today. Below are some of them:

Lower Costs

Working with an in-house receptionist can be expensive! You’re looking at office space, professional benefits like Health Insurance and Dental Plans, as well as office supplies, and more.

This is a major factor that has companies looking to virtual receptionists instead.

Virtual receptionists are not salaried employees either which means you only need to pay them for the monthly plan you choose.

Availability

If your business’ phone support is critical to its success, hiring virtual receptionists is the more appropriate choice because you’ll never have to worry if someone’s going to be there to answer calls.

With no leaves, breaks, or any other forms of time off to consider, virtual receptionists can potentially provide you with 24/7/365 service.

With virtual receptionists at the helm, there’s a smaller chance of calls getting missed.

Experience and Skills

Having an impressive professional image is crucial to business success which is why having a trained specialist answer your call is essential.

Unlike in-house receptionists whose experience and professionalism varies, with virtual receptionists, you are assured that you are hiring someone who came from a wide array of professional backgrounds.

You can also save a lot of money on training because virtual receptionists no longer require them. Just give them your script and make them understand what your goals are and they’re ready to go.

Easier Communication

One of the perks of working with someone remote is that you can make technology work to your advantage.

Tools like Slack, Skype, or Google Voice not only allow you to communicate, they also facilitate the quick and convenient sharing of files and other information.

This will come in handy in case of urgent concerns that an exchange of emails cannot quickly address.

Ruby ReceptionistsGabbyvilleDaVinci1-888-GoAnswer
Customer Rating not rated not rated
Established 2003 2013 2006 2003
Minimum Monthly Cost $299 for 100 minutes $229 for 150 minutes $99 for 50 minutes $110 for 100 minutes
Price per Minute $2.99 $1.53 $2.00 $1.10
Set-Up Fee $99 $95 $75
Trial 14-Day Free Trial 14-Day Free Trial 30-Day Risk-Free
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Drawbacks to Hiring a Virtual Receptionist

As great as hiring virtual receptionists are, they also come with a couple of downsides because of the whole “virtual” setup.

Communication Can Be Less Personal

We all know how important building relationships with customers is. It’s one of the things that can help convert occasional customers to loyal ones.

Connecting with customers on a personal level is good for the business in so many ways but when you have a receptionist working for you virtually, there’s a bigger chance that this opportunity might get missed.

While this doesn’t happen all the time, on-site receptionists tend to engage deeper, making them the better option when it comes to this department.

May Not Have All the Answers When Needed

Working from home make virtual receptionists less “plugged in” to the business’ daily operations compared to their on-site counterparts.

Though they are considered experienced professionals, they may not have all the answers readily available until they receive additional instructions.

This will not only take a hit on your image, but it will also cost you more since you are paying them by the hour.

Larger Workload Costs More

If the nature of your business requires you to take a higher volume of calls than usual, hiring virtual receptionists may become more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

A relatively bigger call volume means more hours of work which also means that you have to pay a bigger fee. This is true especially if they begin getting behind work which is not impossible when you’re faced with a huge volume of calls.

How Much Do Virtual Receptionists Cost?

A full-time receptionist can cost you more than $30,000 per year excluding benefits, paid vacations, and other bonuses which is relatively higher compared to what you pay for virtual receptionists.

In contrast, a virtual receptionist package can cost you somewhere between $25 to $1300 per month which can be a savings of 50% or more over an in-house hire.

Each package usually comes with a set number of receptionist minutes and other perks like additional talk time and a number of users.

Either way, you’ll still be paying for less compared to having on-site receptionists without sacrificing quality.

Which Virtual Phone Support Service is Best for You?

Each of the virtual phone support services below come with their own sets of plans and pricing. We suggest you go through each one of them thoroughly to help you narrow down your choices and ultimately decide which one you’ll use to hire a virtual receptionist.

The reviews should give you a better idea of how each service can help you and if they actually fit your requirements.

Overall Rating4.944.944.944.944.94
Quality of Work4.944.944.944.944.94
Communication4.944.944.944.944.94
Value4.944.944.944.944.94
TaskVirtual (Task Virtual) Task Virtual is an India-based virtual assistant company. The company is 8+ years old and has industry experience of more than 15+ years. The company offers a wide range of services, carried out by fully-vetted, skilled assistants, and being based […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
RemSource Need full time availability but don’t have a full time workload? RemSource is built for solo & small business; it’s US-based (Maryland), and staffed with “#VirtuallyAwesome” (their words) Admins & Bookkeepers wired for business owners with more tasks than time. […]
Overall Rating2.672.672.672.672.67
Quality of Work2.672.672.672.672.67
Communication2.672.672.672.672.67
Value2.782.782.782.782.78
Outbounders Outbounders.com is a virtual marketplace for telemarketing professionals. The company was founded in 2010 as an offshoot of Global Sky Inc., a call center operation in the Philippines. Behind the scenes are CEO James Rick Stinson and CTO Rob Rawson (same guy […]
Overall Rating4.734.734.734.734.73
Quality of Work4.674.674.674.674.67
Communication4.734.734.734.734.73
Value4.674.674.674.674.67
Equivity Equivity offers virtual assistants who provide administrative, marketing, and paralegal services. Clients work with a dedicated virtual assistant or team of virtual assistants.  Each virtual assistant has specialized experience in their area of expertise and holds a bachelor’s degree.  In […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
VAFromEurope VAFromEurope is a virtual assistant company with their headquarters in Austin, Texas, and their team of virtual assistants are based in Lviv, Ukraine. Alternatively, you may see or hear the company referred to as European Virtual Assistant Agency or EVAA. […]
Overall Rating4.334.334.334.334.33
Quality of Work4.334.334.334.334.33
Communication44444
Value4.564.564.564.564.56
Gabbyville   GabbyVille is a virtual receptionist service provider based in Nashville, TN. The company was founded in 2013 when a business owner realized his software product sales were suffering because clients were always getting voice mail instead of a live […]
Overall Rating4.674.674.674.674.67
Quality of Work4.834.834.834.834.83
Communication4.674.674.674.674.67
Value4.334.334.334.334.33
Wishup Wishup is a platform created to connect business owners with carefully vetted and proficient virtual assistants. The platform connects businesses with virtual assistants who can help with bookkeeping, customer service, lead generation, administrative tasks, data entry and much more. The […]
Overall Rating4.674.674.674.674.67
Quality of Work4.674.674.674.674.67
Communication55555
Value55555
Task Papa Task Papa is a virtual assistant company based in Mumbai, India. The company was founded in 2012, but have been flying under my radar until recently. Their company philosophy is to provide virtual assistants, or ‘task officers’ as they call […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
Virtually Yours Virtually Yours is an Australian-based virtual assistant network providing training and support for virtual assistants and business owners in Australia. The owner, Rosie Shilo is located in Melbourne, AU. Most of the VAs and businesses joining the membership program are […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
Sigrid Sigrid is a subscription-based, professionally managed virtual assistant service that is available across different time zones and tailored to your preferences. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with additional offices in Denmark and the Philippines. The Virtual Assistants (VAs) and […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
IdeasUnlimited IdeasUnlimited is a unique virtual assistant company headquartered in Texas (USA), with multiple call center locations in the Philippines and remote workers all around the world. The business was founded in 2010 and has grown to more than 350 active workers. […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
GetCallers GetCallers is a US-based virtual assistant company providing specialist telemarketing and virtual receptionist services and general VAs to companies all over the world. The company is headquartered in New York. GetCallers has seven call center offices in the Philippines and […]
Overall Rating2.752.752.752.752.75
Quality of Work44444
Communication3.753.753.753.753.75
Value22222
Ruby Receptionists Ruby Receptionists, sometimes referred to as Call Ruby, is a Portland, Oregon based virtual answering service for small businesses. The company was founded in 2003 by Jill Nelson, who remains on as CEO. All the virtual receptionists work out of the […]
Overall Rating55555
Quality of Work55555
Communication55555
Value55555
TeleDirect TeleDirect is a telecommunications company offering a range of inbound and outbound call handling services. All of their phone agents are based in their offices in Sacramento, California. The company was founded way back in 1961! As you’d expect, they’ve […]
Overall Rating4.334.334.334.334.33
Quality of Work44444
Communication4.334.334.334.334.33
Value44444
Conversational Conversational is the industry leader in providing friendly and professional live virtual receptionists and call answering services. Ensure your company never misses another call and take advantage of our 30-day free trial today. Conversational has been in operation since 2014, […]
Overall Rating33333
Quality of Work3.53.53.53.53.5
Communication3.253.253.253.253.25
Value33333
Vicky Virtual Receptionists Vicky Virtual Receptionists is a virtual telephone answering service for small businesses. They have a team of receptionists available to handle your calls, help you schedule appointments, and help you to make sure you don’t miss any calls, which can […]
Overall Rating33333
Quality of Work33333
Communication44444
Value2.52.52.52.52.5
20four7VA 20four7VA (EconMobile LLC dba 20four7VA) is an American-owned virtual staffing agency licensed and insured in Maryland, USA. Their staff and virtual assistants (VAs) are based all over the world and work remotely. Read on for a detailed 20four7va review. 20four7VA […]
Overall Rating11111
Quality of Work1.61.61.61.61.6
Communication1.41.41.41.41.4
Value1.41.41.41.41.4
ReceptionHQ ReceptionHQ is a virtual receptionist service provider specializing in handling calls, customer support, messaging, and all inbound telecommunications for businesses of all sizes. The company has been operating since 2007, and their head office and their team of receptionists are […]
Overall Rating11111
Quality of Work11111
Communication11111
Value11111
Davinci Virtual Receptionists Davinci Virtual is an award-winning virtual office and receptionist service company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They currently have around 100 well qualified American employees who work to virtually serve more than 15,000 clients representing businesses large and small […]
Overall RatingNo Ratings
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Agentology Agentology is a lead engagement and qualification platform for real estate agents. They have a developed mobile and web referral networks to help real estate agents to engage and convert their leads. The company is based in San Diego, US, […]
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DocVA DocVA is one of the prominent virtual medical staffing services. They focus on providing top-notch Virtual Medical Assistants (VAs) to healthcare practitioners in the United States of America such as dentists, vets, and medical doctors. In essence, their target is […]
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24H Virtual 24H Virtual is a 24/7 virtual receptionist, live call answering, and virtual assistant provider working with small to medium-sized businesses all over the world. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Their agents are based in Canada, the US, the […]
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Abby Connect Abby Connect is a family-owned virtual receptionist service provider based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company was founded in 2005 by Nathan Strum who remains with Abby Connect as their CEO. Using a virtual receptionist service allows business owners to […]
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Smith.ai Smith is virtual call answering service for small business and individuals. They answer your inbound calls, take messages, arrange appointments, and more, so you don’t have to. The company was founded in 2015, their headquarters are in Palo Alto, CA, […]
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AnswerConnect AnswerConnect is a live answering service based in Portland, US. They provide virtual receptionist services so you always have someone available 24/7 to answer your calls, respond to live chat messages, and schedule appointments. AnswerConnect helps you maximize your ROI […]
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Reps Direct Reps Direct is virtual employee company specializing in providing virtual employees to handle contact center needs like call answering, appointment setting and confirmation, and order processing. The company is headquartered in the US, while most of the virtual receptionists work […]
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WELLReceived WELLReceived is a US-based virtual receptionist service that specializes in helping medical practices and other healthcare businesses ensure every phone call is answered by a live person 24/7. The company is headquartered in Oregon and employs live agents across the […]
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PATLive PATLive is a 24/7/365 live answering service, specializing in handling all types of inbound calls for thousands of businesses across the U.S.  The company has been in business since 1990. They started out as a small hosted services company, later […]
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LEX Reception (Previously LexReception) LEX Reception is a virtual receptionist service specializing in legal answering. They provide a range of virtual call answering services to law firms of all sizes across the US and Canada. The company was founded in 2011. Their virtual receptionists […]
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Nexa Nexa is a US-based virtual receptionist provider. They have offices in Phoenix, AZ, Lake Havasu, AZ, and Richmond, VA. All of their virtual receptionists are located in their Phoenix offices. The company has been in business since 1982. They provide […]
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Hit Rate Solutions Hit Rate Solutions is a telecommunications company offering a range of virtual receptionist services. They serve businesses of all sizes looking for a cost-effective solution to outsourcing their inbound and outbound calls. The company started operations in 2011. They have […]
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AnswerFirst AnswerFirst is a telecommunications company based in Tampa, FL. They offer a range of virtual receptionist services and provide phone cover to businesses of all sizes across the country. The company started operations in 1998. All of their call agents […]
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A Virtual Receptionist A Virtual Receptionist is a telecommunications company offering a range of virtual receptionist and call answering services to businesses in the US. The company has been operating since 1998. Their offices are located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and all of […]
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Sunshine Communications Sunshine Communications is a telecommunications and phone answering business based in Coral Gables, FL. They provide a range of call answering services in both English and Spanish, 24/7, 365 days a year. The company has been in business since 1975. […]
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Upcall Upcall is a telecommunications company offering a range of virtual phone services. They help clients qualify leads, carry out cold calling campaigns, and perform other telemarketing services. The company was founded in 2016, and their headquarters is based in San […]
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Moneypenny Moneypenny is a telecommunications and phone answering business based in the UK. The core of their business is providing virtual receptionists, they also provide live web chat support, switchboard services, and a pocket phone system. The company has been in […]
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1-888-Go-Answer 1-888-Go-Answer is a family-owned virtual telephone answering service. They provide a wide range of virtual call handling services for companies of all sizes. The company handles inbound and outbound calls for more than 5,000 companies across North America. About 1-888-Go-Answer […]
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Virtual Assistant Canada Virtual Assistant Canada is a Canada-based virtual assistant company. They have offices and virtual assistants in three locations; Vancouver and Port Alberni in Canada, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. About Virtual Assistant Canada With virtual assistants across their offices in Canada […]
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Answer1 Update: Answer1 has re-branded to Nexa. Please see my review of their site here.   Answer1 is a US-based virtual receptionist service based in Phoenix, AZ. The company has been in business for more than 30 years providing virtual receptionist […]
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AnswerForce AnswerForce is a 24/7 live call answering service with live web chat support. The company supports over 2,500 small and medium-sized businesses with customers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. About AnswerForce Virtual telephone answering services allow […]
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Scalable Outsourcing Scalable Outsourcing is a virtual assistant company based in Ottawa, Canada. The company has been operating for more than 5 years and they provide a wide range of virtual assistant services. Their central support staff are based in Canada, they […]
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BPO American BPO American is a virtual telecommunications company offering a variety of telephone answering and web chat services for busy professionals who need assistance with their customer service. The US-based company has been operating since 2001. About BPO American The company […]
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VoiceNation VoiceNation is a virtual telephone answering and messaging service provider for businesses looking for a cost-effective solution to handling high call volume. The company has been operating since 2003, and all of their team members are based in their offices […]
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LiveAnswer LiveAnswer is a call center support platform. They offer a cloud-based solution for companies in need of extra call center support to launch or expand their call center campaigns. The company has been in business since 2014, and was acquired […]
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Answering Legal Answering Legal is a virtual receptionist service provider specializing in handling calls for law firms, attorneys, and solo law practitioners across the US. The company is based in Nesconset, New York. They have been in business since 2013, and already […]