Affordable call answering services for small businesses
Struggling to always answer the phone? Feeling burnt out? Wish you had a receptionist but hiring is cost-prohibitive? OfficeHQ’s small business answering services can help you thrive by preventing missed calls and lost opportunities, all for a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee.
Save precious time, get more done and never miss a lead with a PAYG virtual reception from just $25 a month
Australian receptionists
Our local virtual reception teams answer your calls, with overflow support to ensure a fast speed of answer.
24/7 availability
After-hours, weekends, public holidays … we can answer day or night, 365 days a year, so you never miss opportunities.
Custom call greetings
Calls are answered with your preferred greeting to ensure your callers enjoy a consistent experience.
Instant emails or texts
Receive email or SMS messages after each call, containing caller details and their reason for calling.
Screening & transfers
Call screening and transfer options for unlimited staff or departments, so you only take the most important calls.
Short-term flexibility
With no lock-in contract, you can use our services temporarily to cope with staff shortages or seasonal demand.
How our virtual receptionist service works
Set up within minutes
Tell us about your small business, your preferred greeting and how you’d like us to interact with your callers. Then simply confirm who should receive messages or, depending on your plan, call transfers when they’re available.
Customer calls you
By forwarding your small business phone to the unique number we provide, we’ll know when an incoming call is for you. You’ll have flexibility to send all calls to us or only unanswered calls.
We answer for you
Our small business virtual receptionists will answer your calls with your preferred greeting, 24/7 if you wish. Depending on your plan, we can take messages, transfer selected calls, answer FAQs, submit leads into your CRM, take orders, process payments, schedule your appointments and more.
We deliver your messages
After each call you’ll immediately receive a message by email, SMS or both (as chosen by you) including details such as the caller’s name, phone number and, of course, the reason for their call.
We answer in less than 4 rings
We take great pride in answering calls in less than 15 seconds on average, which means you avoid losing frustrated callers to your competitors.
We answer in less than 4 rings
We take great pride in answering calls in less than 15 seconds on average, which means you avoid losing frustrated callers to your competitors.
We answer in
less than 4 rings
We take great pride in answering calls in less than 15 seconds on average, which means you avoid losing frustrated callers to your competitors.
Stay in control of your reception
Stay in control of your reception
Every live call answering service includes full access to our customer portal
Access Anywhere
Manage your communications wherever work happens. The portal works seamlessly on your desktop, laptop or mobile so you stay connected in the office or on the move.
- Desktop & mobile compatible
- Accessible from multiple devices
- Multi user access
- Real time updates
No extra setup or learning curve required.
Your tools are our tools
While we have a simple message-taking service available, our small business answering services have myriad inclusions, including assistance with quoting fees, taking payments and inputting data into CRMs on MyAssistant plans and scheduling appointments using your preferred online calendar or other software on MyDiary plans. There’s so much we can help with!
Reclaim the hours in your day
Small business owners have many hats to juggle, but trying to answer every call yourself can quickly result in burnout.
OfficeHQ’s 24/7 virtual receptionists answer your calls as though they work for your business, leaving you free to focus on your business priorities or spend uninterrupted time with your family.
Best of all, with no lock-in contract, you can just as easily use our services long-term or short-term, to fill an urgent need.
- No phone ringing at all hours
- No pesky voicemail hangups
- No stress over lost opportunities
- No HR or training headaches
- No massive wage cost
- No-obligation free trial
Our call answering solutions
*Plus GST. Additional charges may apply for add-ons. Refer to Terms & Conditions.
Our call answering solutions
Compare Plans
- Fully customised greeting
- Unlimited contacts/departments
- 5 details requested
- Warm call transfers
- Advise business hours and location
- Answer common questions
- Personalised greeting
- Single contact/department
- 3 details collected
- Fully customised greeting
- Unlimited contacts/departments
- Unlimited details taken
- Advise business hours and location
- Answer common questions
- Scripted questions and responses
- Quote fees and take payments
- CRM input or submit online forms
- Outbound calling
- Fully customised greeting
- Unlimited contacts/departments
- Unlimited details taken
- Warm call transfers
- Advise business hours and location
- Answer common questions
- Scripted questions and responses
- Quote fees and take payments
- CRM input or submit online forms
- Outbound calling
- Appointment scheduling
- Diary management
*Plus GST. Additional charges may apply for add-ons. Refer to Terms & Conditions.
Claim your $30 signup bonus
Sign up by 30 June and quote code EOFY2026 to claim your account credit.
Claim offer
The true cost of call handling for Australian businesses
Every unanswered call is a potential customer who moves on. Around three-quarters of callers who reach voicemail won’t leave a message – they’ll simply try the next business on the list. Before deciding how to handle your phones, it’s worth understanding what each option actually costs.
| In-house receptionist | OfficeHQ virtual reception | |
|---|---|---|
| 24/7 availability | ✗ |
✓ |
| Overflow call handling | ✗ Calls go unanswered when staff busy |
✓ Calls flow to us when you can’t answer |
| Cover for leave and illness | ✗ You arrange separately |
✓ Here when you need us |
| Easy to scale | ✗ Recruit or let go |
✓ Change plan any time |
| No lock-in contract | ✗ Employment agreement |
✓ Month-to-month |
| Superannuation required | ✗ 11.5% on top of wages |
✓ Not applicable |
| Recruitment and training | ✗ Your cost and time |
✓ Handled by us |
| Typical annual cost |
$71,000-$85,000+/year
(incl. salary, super, leave loading and WorkCover)
$71,000-$85,000+/year
(incl. salary, super, leave loading etc)
|
From $300/year
(around $2,220/year on our most popular plan)
From $300/year
(most popular plan around $2,220/year)
|
Australian small businesses can save more than $70K a year more than $70,000 a year by switching to OfficeHQ – while preventing missed calls that hurt your bottom line
In-house costs based on ABS Employee Earnings data for administrative and secretarial workers, plus the current ATO Superannuation Guarantee rate (11.5%), Fair Work Australia annual leave loading provisions, average WorkCover insurance, and estimated recruitment and training costs amortised over a two-year average tenure. Costs vary by state, industry and individual circumstances.
OfficeHQ pricing based on MessageExpress entry plan ($25/month) and MyReceptionist 50 ($185/month), excluding GST. Actual costs depend on call volume and plan selected.
Small business answering service add-ons
Bundle your small business answering service
Phone numbers
Set up virtual inbound numbers for different states, a 1300 number or a free call 1800 number.
Automated messaging
Have voicemails instantly emailed to you for convenience and so no important communications are ever missed.
Virtual address
Choose a virtual business address to expand your presence geographically, without relocating or office overheads.
What our customers love
What our
customers love
Trusted by thousands of small business owners across Australia
FAQs
Find out more
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Try our small business call answering services for free!
Put Australia’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.
Try our small business call answering services for free!
Put Australia’s leading virtual receptionist solution to the test! We’re ready to answer your phone FREE for 7 days.
What does the free trial include?
Our free trial is based on our MyReceptionist service, with remote-working receptionists able to take messages and transfer calls based on your availability settings.