Business Continuity Call Answering for UK Businesses
If your office cannot open, your phone system fails or the people who normally answer your calls suddenly become unavailable, customers may still keep ringing.
A business continuity call answering service gives those calls somewhere useful to go. Our UK receptionists can answer in your company name, follow agreed instructions, take messages and transfer selected callers to staff who are still available.
The important part is planning the call handling before you need it, so everyone already knows what should happen when your normal arrangement is disrupted.
What does business continuity call answering actually mean?
It means having an agreed alternative way of dealing with incoming calls if your normal reception, office or telephone setup becomes unavailable.
Depending on your phone system, calls might already be configured to divert when unanswered, or you may activate a divert when a disruption occurs. Once the calls reach us, our receptionists follow the instructions agreed for your business.
It does not fix the underlying incident. We do not restore your broadband, reopen your office or repair your telephone system. The role of call answering is to keep the customer-facing telephone side of the business functioning while you deal with whatever has happened.
When might you need a continuity answering service?
Business continuity does not have to mean a major disaster. Anything that prevents the normal team from dealing with incoming calls can create the same problem for the person trying to contact you.
- Office or building closure Flooding, fire, access problems, building maintenance or another incident may leave staff working elsewhere.
- Telephone or internet failure Your normal handsets or VoIP setup may be unavailable even though the rest of the business can continue operating.
- Power failure Staff may be unable to use the normal office systems or receive calls at their usual desks.
- Unexpected staff absence Illness or another sudden staffing problem can leave nobody available to cover reception.
- Severe weather or travel disruption Staff may be working remotely or unable to reach the normal workplace.
- Planned disruption Office moves, telephone-system work, maintenance or other planned changes can also justify temporary continuity arrangements.
A divert on its own is not a continuity plan
Sending calls somewhere else is the easy part. The answering team also needs enough information to know what to do with those calls when your normal staff, systems or processes may not be available.
Before relying on outsourced answering as part of a continuity plan, these are the practical details worth agreeing.
Decide what callers should be told
You may simply want calls answered exactly as normal. In other circumstances, receptionists may need an approved explanation such as a temporary office closure or limited availability. Keep the wording clear and avoid giving operators information they are not authorised to confirm.
Decide which calls really need transferring
If staff are working remotely, establish who can still take calls and which types of caller justify an attempted transfer. There should also be a clear fallback if that person does not answer.
Agree what information must be captured
A name and telephone number may be enough for some callers. Others may require an account reference, location, reason for calling, urgency or another piece of information before the message is useful to your team.
Choose where messages go during the disruption
Sending every message to an office inbox is not much use if nobody can access it. Messages can be delivered by email, SMS or WhatsApp, so make sure the nominated recipients will still be reachable during the type of disruption you are planning for.
Know how the calls will reach us
The ability to redirect an existing number depends on your telephone provider and setup. If the failure affects the network or system used to control your diverts, changing the routing after the event may not be possible. This is one reason continuity routing is better considered in advance rather than for the first time during an outage.
How continuity call answering works
The precise route depends on your phone system and the instructions agreed for your account, but the call-handling side is straightforward.
The caller uses your normal business number
You do not normally need to advertise a completely different emergency number to customers. Calls are routed or diverted according to the continuity setup available through your telephone provider.
Our receptionist sees which business the call is for
Your company name, greeting and agreed handling instructions are available before the call is dealt with.
The receptionist follows the continuity instructions
That may mean taking a detailed message, answering agreed straightforward questions, screening the call or attempting a transfer to somebody who is working remotely.
Your available team receives what it needs
Messages can be sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp. If a transfer is unsuccessful, the fallback can be to take the caller’s details rather than leave them ringing or send them unexpectedly to voicemail.
Business continuity, overflow or an outsourced switchboard?
These services can use much of the same call-handling technology, but they solve different problems.
| Service | Usually used when | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Business continuity call answering | Your normal way of answering calls has been disrupted or may become unavailable. | A planned fallback designed to keep incoming calls dealt with while your normal operation is affected. |
| Overflow call answering | Your own team is still operating but cannot answer every call. | Your staff normally answer first and our receptionists catch calls when they are busy or unavailable. |
| Outsourced switchboard | You want an external reception team routinely routing callers across staff, departments or locations. | This is generally an ongoing front-line reception arrangement rather than something activated because of a disruption. |
If callers also need appointments booked while your normal team is unavailable, our online diary management service can be used where suitable booking rules and system access have been agreed in advance.
Business continuity needs realistic limits
A continuity service is more useful when everybody understands exactly what it is designed to cover.
- Live receptionist hours are 8am-6pm, Monday-Friday. We do not provide 24/7 live human answering.
- Outside live hours, our interactive out-of-hours receptionist can collect structured messages and agreed information. It is not a live receptionist.
- We deal with incoming calls. We do not provide a general outbound service to telephone staff, customers or suppliers with incident updates.
- We do not repair telephone systems, broadband connections, power failures or other infrastructure problems.
- We follow agreed call-handling instructions. We do not act as your incident-management team or make operational decisions on your behalf.
- Call diversion depends on your telecoms setup. If a fault prevents you from changing routing, the answering service cannot itself regain control of your existing telephone number.
How much does business continuity call answering cost?
The cost depends mainly on how much call handling you need and how involved the instructions are.
Our standard telephone answering packages start from £14.99 + VAT per month. Straightforward continuity cover may fit within a standard message-taking arrangement, while plans involving more detailed scripts, multiple transfer destinations or more involved call handling may need a different package.
Our normal pricing is primarily based on genuine messages rather than simply charging for every ring or every minute. Sales calls, wrong numbers and misdials are not treated as chargeable genuine messages.
You can see the current packages on our call answering pricing page.
Test the process before you depend on it
Businesses considering an ongoing arrangement can try the service for up to 30 days or 100 messages, whichever comes first.
For continuity planning, the useful part of a trial is not waiting for something to go wrong. It is checking that the greeting, message format, transfers and delivery methods work as intended while everything else is still normal.
The free trial is intended for businesses considering an ongoing service rather than one-off emergency cover after an incident has already occurred.
Business continuity call answering FAQs
Do I have to divert my calls to you all the time?
Not necessarily. Depending on your telephone setup, calls can be routed to an answering service permanently, only when unanswered or busy, or when you choose to activate a divert. The important point for continuity planning is knowing in advance how the routing will be changed if your normal operation fails.
Can calls still be transferred if our office is closed?
Yes, where somebody is available elsewhere to receive them. Calls can be transferred to agreed landline or mobile destinations. You should also decide what the receptionist should do if the transfer is not answered.
Can you activate the service at night or over a weekend?
Our live UK receptionists answer between 8am and 6pm, Monday-Friday. We do not provide 24/7 live human call answering. Outside those hours, our interactive out-of-hours receptionist can collect agreed information and messages.
What happens if the actual telephone network fails?
That depends on how your numbers and diverts are configured. If the fault prevents you from accessing or changing the routing for your number, an answering company cannot override your telecom provider. Continuity routing should therefore be considered as part of the telephone setup before an incident occurs.
Can business continuity answering be used alongside our normal reception team?
Yes. Some businesses use outsourced answering as a permanent fallback rather than keeping it completely dormant. If the main requirement is simply to catch calls that your own team cannot answer during an ordinary working day, our overflow call answering service is the more relevant option.
What would happen to your calls if normal reception stopped tomorrow?
We can help you work out what should happen to incoming calls, which information needs to be captured and how messages or transfers should reach the people who are still available.