Virtual Receptionist: What It Does, Costs and Setup

A virtual receptionist is a service that handles customer enquiries when your team cannot, using website chat, phone answering or both. It can answer common questions, collect lead details, arrange appointments and pass urgent or complex requests to the right person.

For a small business, the practical benefit is fewer missed enquiries without hiring someone to sit at a desk all day. The right service should use your business information, follow clear rules and make every enquiry easy to act on.

What is a virtual receptionist?

A virtual receptionist is a remote digital or human service that performs reception tasks for a business. Instead of greeting visitors in an office, the virtual receptionist responds through your website, telephone line, messaging channels or a combination of these.

Some services are staffed by people working from a remote contact centre. Others, such as Lyla, provide automated website chat and optional phone answering. The important distinction is not the label. It is what happens to the enquiry after the first response: whether the service gives an accurate answer, captures useful details and sends the lead somewhere your team will see it.

What does a virtual receptionist do?

The exact duties depend on the service and your instructions. A well-configured virtual receptionist can:

• Answer questions about services, locations, opening hours, prices and availability using your approved business information.
• Ask for a caller or visitor's name, contact details, requirements and preferred time.
• Capture every enquiry as a lead instead of leaving it in an unmonitored inbox.
• Book appointments, consultations or call-backs when booking is enabled.
• Give clear next steps, such as requesting photos, sending a form or waiting for a qualified team member.
• Recognise when a question is outside its information and route it for human follow-up.
• Send lead data to a CRM, spreadsheet or other workflow through Zapier or Make.

For example, a plumber could use one to ask about the fault, postcode and urgency before alerting the business. A dentist could answer questions about treatments, collect patient contact details and offer available appointments. A salon could handle opening-hours questions and take booking requests outside working hours.

What can a virtual receptionist handle for a small business?

Website chat is often the simplest starting point. It can work 24/7, answer from your own information and ask consistent qualifying questions. This suits businesses that receive enquiries while working on site or after the phone is closed.

Phone answering is more useful when customers prefer to speak, when a missed call is likely to mean lost work, or when the business serves people who are less likely to use web chat. Check whether the service provides a dedicated number, call transfer, messages and a written record of each call. Lyla can provide dedicated numbers in 22 countries and support conversations in more than 25 languages.

There are limits. A virtual receptionist should not promise a diagnosis, quote a complex job without the required information, give legal or medical advice, or claim that an appointment is confirmed when it is not. Your setup should specify which questions it can answer and which need a person.

Virtual receptionist compared with other options

A virtual receptionist is not automatically better than a person. It is usually most useful for repetitive first-line work, while staff deal with jobs, treatment, sales conversations and exceptions.

How much is a virtual receptionist?

UK costs vary according to whether you need chat, phone calls, live staff, bookings and the number of conversations. Basic automated website services commonly range from about £20 to £100 per month. Human answering services often start around £50 per month but may charge per minute, per call or per message. A dedicated full-time receptionist costs considerably more once salary, National Insurance, holiday cover and equipment are included.

When comparing quotes, ask what is included in the monthly allowance. A plan covering 300 chat conversations is not directly comparable with one covering 100 phone minutes. Also check setup fees, number rental, call charges, transcripts, CRM connections, booking features and overage rates.

Lyla starts at £30 per month for around 300 conversations, with a higher £70 per month plan for around 1,000. Setup and testing are free, and payment begins when the service goes live. Optional features include phone answering, booking and image understanding, so you can compare the total cost with the specific reception work you want covered.

How to set up a virtual receptionist

1. List the enquiries you receive. Review calls, emails and contact forms from the past month. Group them into common questions, sales leads, bookings and urgent issues.
2. Prepare the source information. Include services, service areas, opening hours, prices where appropriate, cancellation rules, access instructions and contact details.
3. Choose the channels. Start with website chat, phone answering or both. Decide whether customers need a dedicated number and whether calls should transfer to your team.
4. Define qualification questions. For a tradesperson this might include postcode, job type and urgency. For a clinic it may include the requested service and preferred appointment time.
5. Set escalation rules. State which situations require a call-back, a transfer or an urgent human response. Do not leave these decisions implied.
6. Connect lead delivery. Send captured details to email, a CRM, a spreadsheet or a workflow in Zapier or Make. Assign ownership so someone is responsible for follow-up.
7. Test real scenarios. Try a straightforward question, an unclear question, an urgent request, an out-of-hours enquiry and a request for something the business does not offer.
8. Review the first month. Check unanswered questions, incomplete lead details, missed bookings and conversations that should have been escalated. Update the information and rules.

Questions to ask before choosing one

• Does it answer from our own information, and can we update that information?
• Does it capture every enquiry with the details our staff need?
• Are phone calls charged by minute, call or monthly allowance?
• Can it book appointments and follow our availability rules?
• What happens when it cannot answer confidently?
• Can leads connect to our CRM or workflow tools?
• Is there a test period, and when does billing begin?

The best choice is the one that fits your actual enquiry pattern. Start with the questions that interrupt your work most often, measure how many leads are captured and expand the service only when the process is reliable.

Frequently asked questions

What is a virtual receptionist?

A virtual receptionist is a remote service that handles first-line customer communication for a business. It can respond through website chat, phone or both, answer routine questions, collect lead details and arrange follow-up or bookings.

How much is a virtual receptionist in the UK?

Automated services commonly cost about £20 to £100 per month, while human answering services may charge a monthly fee plus per-call or per-minute costs. The final price depends on conversations, phone usage, booking and CRM requirements.

What does a virtual receptionist do outside opening hours?

It can answer approved questions, collect contact details, record the reason for an enquiry and explain the next step. If phone answering is included, it can handle calls using the instructions and escalation rules you provide.

Can a virtual receptionist book appointments?

Yes, some services can book appointments when connected to a suitable booking system. You should test availability, cancellation rules and confirmation messages before allowing customers to book without staff review.

Is a virtual receptionist suitable for a small business?

It can suit plumbers, dentists, salons, clinics, trades and other local services that receive repetitive questions or miss enquiries while staff are busy. It works best when the business has clear services, opening hours and follow-up responsibilities.