Telephone answering service: the short answer
A telephone answering service picks up your business phone line when you can't, greets callers in your business name, takes the message or booking, and sends you the details straight away. In Australia you have two real choices today: a human telephone answering service, where trained receptionists in a call centre answer your diverted calls, or an AI receptionist, where conversational AI answers the line instantly, any hour.
Neither is automatically better. Humans handle emotion and odd requests well but are priced per call or per minute and often limited to business hours. AI answers every call at once, 24/7, for a flat monthly fee, but needs a clear knowledge base and a human to hand off to for the tricky ones. This guide focuses on the phone-line side: how your number actually gets to the service, what it costs, what hours you get, and when each option fits.
Miyai is an Australian AI receptionist. The AI voice receptionist on the Growth plan starts at $199 AUD/month, and website chat starts at $19 AUD/month, both paid through Stripe before access. See pricing or Get started.
How a telephone answering service connects to your phone line
Whichever service you pick, it only works if calls reach it. Most Australian businesses keep their existing number and use call diversion (call forwarding) so the service answers instead of voicemail. You choose when calls divert:
| Divert type | When it kicks in | Common use |
|---|---|---|
| Divert all calls | Every call goes straight to the service | Sole traders on the tools, after-hours mode |
| Divert on no answer | After your phone rings for a set number of seconds | You answer first, the service catches what you miss |
| Divert on busy | When you're already on a call | Second callers aren't sent to voicemail |
| Divert when unreachable | Phone off or no signal | Job sites, flights, rural areas |
On most Australian mobile networks these are set with standard GSM codes dialled from the handset, for example \*\*21\*number# (all calls), \*\*61\*number# (no answer), \*\*67\*number# (busy) and \*\*62\*number# (unreachable), and ##002# cancels all diverts. Landlines, NBN voice services, 1300/13 numbers and cloud phone systems set diversion in the provider's portal or app instead. Check two things with your carrier before you go live:
- Diverted call charges. Some plans bill the forwarded leg as a call from your service. Many unlimited plans include it, but confirm.
- Ring time before divert. The default on many mobiles is around 15–20 seconds. Shorten it if callers hang up before the service picks up.
Then ring your own number from another phone and test each divert. It takes five minutes and catches most set-up problems.
Human telephone answering service: how it works
With a traditional telephone answering service, your diverted call lands with a receptionist in a shared call centre. They see your business name and script on screen, answer as if they work for you, take a message, sometimes book into your calendar or transfer the call, and send you the details by SMS or email.
Where humans are strong
- Upset, confused or elderly callers who want a real person
- Complex or unusual requests with no clear script
- Sensitive conversations where tone matters as much as information
- Businesses whose brand promise is "you'll always speak to a person"
Where humans struggle
- Peaks. Receptionists answer for many businesses at once. When several clients' lines ring together, you queue.
- Hours. Many plans cover business hours only, with after-hours, weekend and public holiday cover as an extra or a higher tier.
- Depth of knowledge. Operators read your script; they rarely know your services, pricing or job types in detail.
If you want the full picture of operator-led services, including scripts and what to ask a provider about where calls are answered, read our guide to the live answering service. This post stays on the telephone side: connection, cost and hours.
AI receptionist: how it works on a phone line
An AI receptionist answers the same diverted line, but with conversational AI instead of a person. It picks up on the first ring, answers questions from your knowledge base (services, areas, hours, pricing guidance), captures the caller's name, number and job details, books appointments if you allow it, and sends a summary to your phone or CRM. If a caller needs a human, it can transfer the call or flag an urgent callback.
Where AI is strong
- Every call answered instantly, including simultaneous calls; there's no queue
- Genuine 24/7 cover at the same price, including weekends and public holidays
- Consistent answers to the questions you get every day
- Clean, structured lead summaries rather than "please call Sarah back"
Where AI struggles
- Callers who refuse to talk to software
- Highly emotional or unusual situations that need judgement
- Businesses with no written information for it to learn from
For a deeper walk-through of call flow, set-up and limitations, see our AI phone answering service in Australia guide.
Cost: per-call pricing vs flat monthly fees
Pricing models differ more than headline prices do, so compare them on your own call volume.
Human telephone answering services in Australia usually charge in one of these ways:
- A monthly base fee that includes a set number of calls or minutes, then a charge for each extra call or minute
- Pure pay-per-call or per-minute packages
- Extra charges for after-hours cover, appointment booking, call transfers or custom scripts
Prices vary widely by provider and inclusions, so get a written quote that spells out the per-call or per-minute overage rate and what happens in a busy month. A quiet month can look cheap; a month with a burst of storm-damage calls or a marketing campaign can cost several times more.
An AI receptionist is normally a flat monthly subscription. Miyai's Growth voice plan starts at $199 AUD/month, paid through Stripe before access; see pricing for what's included at each level. The useful comparison is your realistic monthly call count multiplied by the human service's per-call or per-minute rate, plus any after-hours fee, versus the flat AI fee.
Also count the cost of not answering. Our post on the cost of missing business calls shows how to estimate what each unanswered call is worth to you.
Hours: business hours, after hours and public holidays
Hours are where the two options differ most on a telephone line.
- Business hours. Both work. A human service is a good fit if call volume is modest and callers expect a person.
- After hours and weekends. Human services often charge more or route to a smaller night team. An AI receptionist answers at 9pm Sunday exactly as it does at 10am Tuesday. If evenings are your problem, see our guide to an after-hours phone answering service.
- Public holidays. Australia's national and state public holidays, plus regional show days, are when many owners switch off. Check whether a human plan charges a holiday rate; AI cover doesn't change.
- Overflow. If you answer most calls yourself, a "divert on busy / no answer" set-up sends only the missed ones to the service. Our overflow call answering service post covers that pattern.
When each one fits
Choose a human telephone answering service if:
- Most callers are distressed, vulnerable or need careful handling
- You get a small, steady number of calls in business hours
- Your brand depends on every caller speaking to a person
Choose an AI receptionist if:
- Calls come in bursts, after hours or while you're on the tools
- Most calls are bookings, quotes, FAQs or lead capture
- You want predictable monthly cost regardless of call volume
Choose a hybrid if:
- You want AI to answer instantly and qualify, then transfer the calls that genuinely need a person to you or your team
- You're moving away from a per-call human service gradually: put AI on after hours first, compare the results, then decide
Many Australian service businesses land on the hybrid. Tradies, clinics, real estate offices and law firms use AI for first response and keep a human for escalation. Industry examples are in our posts for contractors and allied health.
Questions to ask any telephone answering service before you divert your line
- What happens when several of my calls come in at once?
- Exactly what hours are covered, and what does after-hours or public holiday cover cost?
- What's the per-call or per-minute overage rate, and how is a "call" counted?
- How do messages reach me: SMS, email, app or CRM? How fast?
- Can calls be transferred to me live, and on what rules?
- Where are calls answered and where is call data stored? (Our data security post explains why this matters.)
- What's the minimum contract, and how do I cancel and take my diverts back?
Frequently asked questions
What is a telephone answering service? It's a service that answers your business phone line when you can't, using your business name, and passes on messages, bookings or transfers. It can be run by human receptionists or by an AI receptionist.
Do I need a new phone number? Usually not. You keep your number and set call diversion to the service, either for all calls or only on busy, no answer or unreachable.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a human answering service? Often, once call volume or after-hours cover goes up, because AI is a flat monthly fee while human services usually charge per call or minute. Compare quotes against your real call numbers.
Can an AI telephone answering service transfer calls to me? Yes. Miyai can transfer callers or flag urgent callbacks based on rules you set, so a person still handles the calls that need one.
Does a telephone answering service work with 1300 numbers? Yes. Set the diversion or answer point in your 1300 provider's portal so calls reach the service.
Next step
If your phone line still goes to voicemail when you're busy or after hours, start with one divert, test it, and see how many calls you've been missing. Compare plans on pricing or Get started. Growth voice starts at $199 AUD/month and chat at $19 AUD/month, paid through Stripe before access.