Answer America

A prepaid answering service that clients set up themselves

Signing up for this answering service does not involve a sales call. AnswerAmerica is a telephone answering service with live agents inside the United States, and it is built so that a customer can register online and be taking calls within minutes. Most of its customers are small and medium-sized businesses, and the company says it answers tens of millions of such calls every year.

Pay for what is answered

The company's model is pay as you go. It says there is no monthly base rate, no minimum usage, no setup fee and no contract, and that a customer pays only for the calls its agents actually answer. It contrasts this with answering services that charge for extra calls or tie clients to long agreements, and with billing that is hard to follow. Calls, messages and billing are managed from one platform with call logs and message delivery visible at once, and the customer can keep an existing phone number.

Controlled by the customer

Customers decide how their calls are answered. They can change the greeting, the hours in which calls are taken, the details the agent captures and the way messages are sent, whenever they like. Agents answer as instructed, by live people, at any hour of any day, and the company says it specializes in after-hours answering. It also suggests using the service as overflow, so that calls a business cannot take itself are picked up instead of missed.

Messages and records

After each call, the message goes straight to the customer, and the company supplies a full transcript of every call. It says its agents are in the United States and never outsourced, and that they are practiced at staying on message and giving callers a helpful, friendly voice. The company lists enterprise-grade security among the features it highlights, and it points out that the service is useful when an owner is away, busy or simply prefers not to be disturbed.

AnswerAmerica is a prepaid telephone answering service staffed by live agents based in the United States. Customers sign up online and can start taking calls within minutes, without speaking to a sales representative. It is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses that want calls covered without a long contract.

What AnswerAmerica offers

• Live call answering: agents answer as the customer instructs, at any hour, including after hours and as overflow.
• Self-service setup: customers control their greeting, the hours calls are answered and what information is captured.
• Message delivery: messages are sent straight to the customer, with full transcripts of each call.
• Number retention: businesses can keep their existing phone number.
• Single dashboard: call logs, messages and billing are managed in one place.

Who it serves

Small and medium-sized businesses. The site says it answers more than fifty million calls annually for them.

Key facts

• Availability: 24 hours a day, every day
• Agents: US-based, not outsourced
• Billing model: prepaid, with no contract
• Extras: a referral scheme that earns call credits