Questions

No. Calls to Real Receptionist are answered by our own receptionists in Cape Town, South Africa. They're our team, not a subcontractor, and they're trained on your business before they take a single call.

We tell you where they are because it's the reason our hours are long: Cape Town is one or two hours ahead of the UK, so 6am to 9pm UK time is their normal working day, not a night shift.

Real people, every time. Every call Real Receptionist answers is picked up by a trained receptionist. We don't use AI receptionists, voice bots, automated menus or recorded greetings to answer your calls.

Real Receptionist never uses AI to answer calls. A person answers every call, writes every message and makes every booking, and AI never speaks to your callers or makes decisions about anyone.

Yes. Real Receptionist answers every call in your business name, with your greeting, by a receptionist who knows your business and how you like callers treated.

No. Real Receptionist answers in your business name and follows your scripts, tone and processes, so callers reach a professional receptionist who becomes part of your team.

A friendly team of receptionists in Cape Town, South Africa. They're Real Receptionist's own team, not a subcontractor, and they're trained on your business before they take a single call.

Yes. English is the language of business in South Africa, and our team speaks clear, friendly English that UK callers understand easily.

Real Receptionist UK is a division of Automation Resource Communication Technology cc, trading as Arc Technology, registered in South Africa with registration number 2000/029376/23. It was started by Roan, Chenara and Gerhardt, the founders of ARC Technology, a Cape Town telecoms business since 2013, and runs its own cloud phone system.

Real Receptionist answers from 6am to 9pm UK time, Monday to Friday, and from 7am to 9pm UK time on Saturday and Sunday.

Nobody at Real Receptionist answers before 6am or after 9pm UK time on weekdays, or before 7am at weekends. What your callers get outside those hours is agreed with you when we set up your service. Options include voicemail, forwarding to a mobile of your choosing, an IVR menu or a pre-recorded announcement.

Because a normal working day in Cape Town covers the UK's long day. Cape Town is one or two hours ahead of the UK, depending on the time of year, so our team covers UK hours during their normal working day, not a night shift, and you get people who are awake and focused.

Yes. You divert your existing number to Real Receptionist, all the time or only when you can't answer. If you'd rather have a new UK number, we can set one up for you.

Yes. You don't have to send us all your calls: many Real Receptionist clients use us for overflow only, when your line is engaged, after a few rings, or outside office hours.

Real Receptionist's receptionists answer in your business name, put callers through to you, take detailed messages, book appointments into your diary, ask your questions on new enquiries, and make confirmation and payment reminder calls.

Yes. You give us our own login to your booking system, diary, CRM or helpdesk, and Real Receptionist works in it just like a member of your team.

By email, as soon as the call ends. Each message from Real Receptionist has the caller's name, number, what they need and what happens next.

Book a 15-minute call. We learn about your business and callers, set up your greeting and instructions, and then you divert your calls to us.

Real Receptionist costs £70 a month for 100 minutes of live answering. That's 70p a minute, and extra minutes are 70p each. No VAT is added: we don't charge UK or South African VAT to UK clients.

By the second. Real Receptionist never rounds a call up to the next minute, so a 40-second call costs 40 seconds.

Extra minutes are 70p each, billed by the second like the rest.

When you start, we check that your monthly package suits the number of calls you expect. A higher volume may get a lower rate per minute.

Yes. Every call Real Receptionist answers counts towards your minutes, because a receptionist still has to pick it up. Your itemised call log shows every call and how long it lasted.

No long contract. Real Receptionist is month to month, with 30 days' notice.

Yes. We recommend you set the form up in your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace account, or in your own CRM. Real Receptionist's receptionists fill it in for every call, and the answers go straight into your systems, not ours.