Phone answering services for retail & ecommerce

ReceptionHQ is based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and is a subsidiary of OfficeHQ, a global virtual reception company headquartered in Australia.

Yes, our receptionist can answer calls you’d usually miss.  You may be on another call or simply unable to answer because you’re busy at the time. Our receptionists will take a detailed message and send to you instantly by email or SMS. Many clients who subscribe to our service are surprised when they learn how many calls they’d been missing prior to having their calls answered by ReceptionHQ.

Forwarding your business phone calls to ReceptionHQ is easy. To have our team of virtual receptionists answer your calls, simply:

1. Decide whether you wish to forward calls immediately to ReceptionHQ (the best solution for most businesses) or have delayed call forwarding.
2. Identify the call forwarding codes for your telecommunications provider. Most providers publish these codes on their websites.
3. Use the codes to enable call forwarding to the local or toll-free number you choose to have allocated to you (aka your Assigned DID).

For more information, check out our article Forwarding Inbound Calls to Our Team of Receptionists, which outlines:

• Immediate and delayed call forwarding options
• Specific instructions for forwarding from providers such as BT, EE, Virgin Media, Vodafone and others.

Yes. This is referred to as “call overflow”.

A lot of companies require their phone calls to be answered only when they are unable to take the call themselves. For example, if you step out of the office for an hour or your in-house receptionist goes to lunch, is on leave or is busy on another call and you have multiple calls coming in at the one time.

You can set your business phone number to divert (to the unique local phone number we allocate your business during the Free Trial setup process) only when the phone rings for more than a specified period (such as after 5 rings) or if your line is busy/engaged.

In such instances our receptionists will then answer the phone as if we were in your office. You’re always in control and can relax knowing you will never miss another important call again! 

Yes.  We have receptionists available around-the-clock and 24/7 coverage is included as standard on any ReceptionHQ live call answering plan subscription, without any after-hours surcharges.

Whether your calls come in during UK business hours (9:00am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday) or out-of-hours, there is no extra cost.

If you opt out of after-hours call answering, our receptionists will answer your calls only between 9:00am and 5:30pm on weekdays; outside of these standard business hours, including weekends and bank holidays, calls will then go to voicemail and your voicemail message recordings will be emailed to you free of charge.

Yes, you are able to use our service for an hour, a day, a week, whenever you need our assistance. Many clients use our live call answering for short-term needs, for example, when their own in-house receptionist is at lunch, sick or on annual leave.  Some clients use the service during their busy periods only, as call overflow or for campaigns.  Our live call answering service is like having a casual receptionist who is always available.  It’s reliable and risk-free, as you only pay for what you use.

If you prefer to use our service seasonally, you can take advantage of our pause package.

Yes, we are able to transfer calls to any staff member on any phone (landline or mobile).  With our innovative software, we can record availability preferences for each staff member and only transfer when requested.  Individual details can be updated at any time via our online client portal or mobile application.

We pride ourselves in offering ‘warm transfers’, that is, callers are always announced to you before the transfer takes place.  If you’re unavailable, or if you don’t answer the call, our receptionist will go back to your caller, let them know you’re unavailable, take a message then forward it to you.

We do not blind transfer calls (transfer unannounced) unless you request this.

ReceptionHQ offers a month-to-month agreement, which can be cancelled by giving us at least three days’ notice prior to your monthly renewal date.

Yes, messages can be sent to multiple email addresses and mobile numbers – it’s your choice.  We can also attempt to transfer calls to multiple people in sequential order.  How your calls are managed can be updated instantly via your ReceptionHQ online client portal or mobile application at any time.

Yes.  Each staff member and/or department can set their own availability status and decide whether to have their calls transferred or a message taken.  All settings can be updated individually and instantly via the ReceptionHQ client portal or mobile application.

Yes.  We are able to answer basic questions such as your location, directions to premises, fax number, website, pricing and other general questions. Depending on your plan, you can provide us with detailed call scripts or answers to FAQs to assist your callers.  Just let us know your needs and we’ll set up your account according to your preferred process.

Yes.  You can subscribe just to live call answering plan or you can bundle with a phone number, voicemail-to-email or IVR service.

Set up can take as little as a few minutes.  For a MessageExpress or MyReceptionist service, you can start using the service almost instantly. Simply set up an account yourself, using the free trial webform or have our customer service team do this for you.  Either way, it only takes a few minutes to get started.  Once your account is set up, you simply need to forward your phone line to us and we’ll start answering your calls.

If you’re interested in a MyAssistant or MyDiary plan, a short setup may be required, depending on complexity, to train our receptionists on your preferred software, business information or webforms.  Please contact us to find out more.