Virtual receptionist vs hiring a receptionist: the real costs compared

Is a virtual receptionist cheaper than hiring a receptionist?

For answering calls alone, a virtual receptionist usually costs less than a full-time employee, because you pay for the calls handled rather than for every hour of the working week. But a receptionist does more than answer the phone, so the cheaper option isn't always the better one.

The two options aren't the same product. An employed receptionist is a member of your team: they sit in your office, know your clients by sight, greet visitors, sign for deliveries, keep diaries and pick up admin between calls. A virtual receptionist is a person working for an outside company who answers your phone line using your business name, follows your instructions, takes messages and passes calls or details on to you.

So the honest question is not "which is cheaper?" but:

• How much of a receptionist's day would actually be spent on the phone? If it's most of it, and calls arrive steadily, an employee may be good value.
• Do you need someone physically there? If people walk in, a virtual service can't help with that.
• When do your calls come? Peaks, lunchtimes, evenings and weekends are where an employee is hardest to cover.
• What happens when your receptionist is off? Holidays and sickness leave a gap that you either fill or accept.

The rest of this guide works through the cost of employing someone using figures from GOV.UK, explains how virtual receptionist services are priced, and gives you a way to work out your own numbers.

What does it really cost to employ a receptionist?

As an illustration, a full-time receptionist on 37.5 hours a week at the 2026 National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour costs about £24,850 in pay, plus about £2,980 employer National Insurance and £560 minimum pension: roughly £28,390 a year before any other costs.

The salary is only part of the cost. As an employer you also pay employer (secondary) Class 1 National Insurance and, for staff who are automatically enrolled, a workplace pension contribution. The table below works this through for a full-time receptionist paid exactly the National Living Wage. It's an illustration, not a typical salary: many receptionists are paid more, especially in professional firms and in London, and every pound of extra pay also adds NI and pension.

Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. The 2027 column uses the announced National Living Wage of £13.21; we've used the 2026/27 NI and pension thresholds for both columns because later thresholds weren't set when we checked, so treat the 2027 column as a rough guide.

The National Living Wage applies to workers aged 21 and over. Lower minimum rates apply to younger workers and apprentices, but most businesses hiring an experienced receptionist will be paying at least the National Living Wage. Rates change every 1 April.

What hidden costs come with hiring a receptionist?

On top of pay, NI and pension, you pay to recruit, train and equip a receptionist, give them somewhere to sit, and manage them. These costs vary widely between businesses, so price them from your own figures rather than a rule of thumb.

We haven't put numbers on these because they depend on your business. Get your own quotes or use what you've spent before.

• Recruitment: job board adverts or agency fees, plus the time you spend reading CVs and interviewing. If the person leaves, you pay it again.
• Training and settling in: learning your services, your clients, your systems and how you want calls handled. Expect someone else's time to be taken up too, and calls to be handled more slowly at first.
• Desk and equipment: desk space (which has a rent or opportunity cost), a computer, a headset, phone system licences and software seats.
• Management and payroll: running payroll, pension enrolment, appraisals, absence and the occasional HR issue.
• Pay rises: the National Living Wage has risen each April (from £12.21 in 2025/26 to £12.71 in 2026/27, with £13.21 announced for 2027), and staff paid above it will expect increases too.
• Sickness: Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week (or 80% of average weekly earnings if that's lower), payable from the first day off sick. Employers can't claim it back. Many employers pay more under their own sick pay scheme.

None of this means employing someone is a poor choice. It means the salary figure on a job advert understates what the role costs you.

Who answers the phone when your receptionist isn't there?

A full-time receptionist is away for at least 5.6 weeks a year on holiday, plus any sickness, plus breaks each day. Unless you arrange cover, calls in those times go to someone else in the team, to voicemail, or unanswered.

Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. Employers can choose to include bank holidays in that 28 days. In the example above, holiday pay is already included in the £24,850 salary, but the receptionist isn't at their desk for those 28 days.

Working it through for the illustration:

• 28 days × 7.5 hours = 210 hours a year on paid holiday
• 1,955 paid hours − 210 hours = about 1,745 hours actually at the desk, before any sickness, training days or appointments
• £28,390 ÷ 1,745 hours = about £16.27 for each hour the phone is actually covered (before Employment Allowance and the hidden costs above)

Then there are the gaps that happen every day: lunch, breaks, when the receptionist is dealing with a visitor, or when two lines ring at once. In a small team, those calls usually fall to whoever is nearest, which often means the owner or a fee-earner stopping what they're doing.

The options for those gaps are to accept them, to share the phone around the team, to hire temporary staff for longer absences, or to use an outside call answering service for overflow and cover. That last option is often where small businesses first try a virtual receptionist.

How much does a virtual receptionist cost?

Prices vary between providers and depend on your call volume, call length, opening hours and what you want done on each call. Most services use monthly bundles, per-call or per-minute charges, or a mix, sometimes with set-up fees and extra charges outside office hours. Get written quotes for your actual call pattern.

We don't quote prices because they vary a lot and change often. What matters is understanding how you'll be charged, so you can compare quotes properly. The common pricing models are:

• Monthly bundles: a fixed monthly fee covering a set number of calls or minutes. Check what happens when you go over (an overage rate per call or minute) and whether unused calls roll over.
• Pay per call: a charge for each call answered. Ask what counts as a call: some providers charge for very short calls, wrong numbers or sales calls, others don't.
• Pay per minute: a charge for time spent on your calls, sometimes including the time spent writing up the message. Ask how time is measured and rounded.
• Set-up fees: a one-off charge for building your call script and setting up your account. Not every provider charges one.
• Out-of-hours and bank holiday extras: evening, weekend and bank holiday answering may cost more or need a different plan.
• Add-ons: booking appointments into your diary, transferring calls live, sending messages by text or to a CRM, or answering in other languages may be extra.
• Contract terms: minimum terms, notice periods and whether prices can rise during the contract.

To compare quotes fairly, give every provider the same information: roughly how many calls a month, how long they tend to last, which hours you want covered, and what you want done on each call.

When is hiring an in-house receptionist the better choice?

Hiring is usually the better choice when you need someone physically present: greeting visitors, handling post and deliveries, doing admin between calls, or answering a high and constant volume of calls that would keep a person busy all day.

An employee is likely to be the better fit if several of these apply:

• People walk in. Clients, patients or customers arrive at your premises and need greeting, signing in or looking after. No phone service can do this.
• There's real admin to do. Post, deliveries, filing, diary management, invoicing, ordering supplies or preparing meeting rooms fill the gaps between calls.
• Calls are high and steady all day. If the phone rings constantly from opening to closing, a person dedicated to it may be fully used, and paying for usage elsewhere could cost as much or more.
• Calls need deep knowledge of your work. If most callers need detailed answers that only come from working inside the business, an employee who learns over months will usually handle them better than a script.
• Relationships matter on the phone. Some businesses value regular callers speaking to the same familiar voice every time.
• You want a team member, not a service. A receptionist can grow into an office manager or administrator role. A service won't.

Even then, think about what happens when that person is on holiday or off sick. That's where the hybrid approach below comes in.

When does a virtual receptionist make more sense?

A virtual receptionist tends to make sense when your calls are too few or too uneven to fill a full-time role, when nobody is at a desk to answer, when calls come outside office hours, or when you're a sole trader or small team who can't keep stopping work to pick up the phone.

Signs a virtual service may fit better than an employee:

• Your calls come in bursts. Busy mornings, quiet afternoons, seasonal peaks or deadline rushes. You pay for the calls, not for the quiet hours.
• You don't have an office or a desk to fill. Many trades, consultants and home-based businesses have nobody at a fixed base.
• You're on site, in appointments or with clients. Solicitors in meetings, therapists in sessions or plumbers under a sink can't answer, and a message taken properly is more useful than a voicemail.
• You need cover outside 9 to 5. Paying an employee to cover evenings and weekends is expensive; many virtual services offer longer hours.
• You want to test demand first. A monthly service can be easier to change or stop than a permanent employment contract, though check notice periods.

Be realistic about what a virtual receptionist does. They answer in your business name, follow the instructions and script you agree, take messages, book appointments if you set that up, and pass urgent calls on in the way you've asked. They don't give legal, financial, medical or technical advice, and they can only be as good as the information you give them. Keep your script and contact instructions up to date.

Can you have an in-house receptionist and a virtual one?

Yes. Many businesses keep an employed receptionist for visitors, admin and most calls, and use a virtual service only for overflow, lunch breaks, holidays, sickness and out-of-hours calls.

The hybrid approach uses each option where it's strongest. Your own receptionist handles the work that needs someone in the building and the calls that need inside knowledge. An outside service picks up the gaps:

• Overflow: calls divert when your receptionist is already on a call or with a visitor.
• Lunch and breaks: the line diverts for a set period each day.
• Holiday and sickness: you switch on full answering for the days your receptionist is away, instead of finding a temp at short notice.
• Out of hours: calls after closing, at weekends and on bank holidays are answered and messages passed on the next working day, or urgently if you've agreed that.

To make a hybrid work, decide in advance how calls will divert (your phone system or provider can usually set this up), give the outside service the same script your receptionist uses, and agree how messages reach your team. Ask providers whether they offer low-volume or cover-only plans, as pricing for occasional use can differ from full answering.

How do I decide which option is right for my business?

Answer a few questions about visitors, admin, call volume, call timing and cover. If most of your answers point to needing someone on site, hire. If they point to phone-only cover at uneven times, a virtual receptionist is likely to fit. A mix of answers often points to a hybrid.

There's no score that decides it. If you're split, the hybrid route lets you start with one and add the other, and you can review it after a few months with real call figures.

How do I work out my own costs for each option?

For an employee, work out annual pay, add employer NI and pension, then add recruitment, equipment and cover costs, and divide by the hours they'll actually be at the desk. For a virtual service, get quotes based on your real call volume and hours, and add set-up fees, overage and extras over a year.

Use your own salary figure and quotes. The sums are simple enough to do in a spreadsheet.

Then compare the totals against what each option actually does. An employee who also handles visitors and admin is doing more than a phone service, so a higher total may still be the right choice. A virtual service that covers evenings and weekends is doing more than a 9-to-5 employee.

Related guides

Virtual receptionist vs hiring a receptionist: frequently asked questions

Sources

We checked the facts on this page against these sources on 11 November 2026:

• National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (GOV.UK)
• Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (GOV.UK)
• Employment Allowance: check if you're eligible (GOV.UK)
• Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay (GOV.UK)
• Holiday entitlement (GOV.UK)
• Contracts and liabilities between controllers and processors (ICO)

This guide is general information for UK businesses, not legal, regulatory or financial advice. Call Answering Hub is an independent guide. We don't answer calls ourselves and we're not a call answering company. If you ask us to, we'll put you in touch with one call answering provider from our partners.

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