--- title: "Message Taking Service: How It Works in the UK | Ant Assist" description: "What a message taking service does for a UK business, what a good message contains, how it compares with voicemail and what changes the price." url: "https://ant-assist.com/resources/message-taking-service/" --- RESOURCES · CUSTOMER SERVICE · MESSAGE TAKING # Message taking service for UK businesses If callers mostly need a call back, a message taking service is enough and beats voicemail. If they need bookings, transfers or answers, choose a fuller answering service. Tools our VAs use for this - Updated 23 October 2026 - 8 min read - By Ant Assist [Calculate your savings](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/) · [Book a free 15-min call](https://ant-assist.com/book/) In short A message taking service answers calls you cannot take, records the caller's name, number, reason and the best time to call back, and sends that message to you by email, text or app. Callers speak to a person instead of a voicemail beep, and you call back with the context in front of you. It suits a business whose callers mostly need a call back. If they need bookings, transfers or answers, you need a fuller answering service. If callers need more than a message, a [dedicated customer service assistant](https://ant-assist.com/services/customer-service/) can cover the rest. On this page Customer Service Virtual Assistant [Book a free 15-minute discovery call](https://ant-assist.com/book/) On this page [Book a call](https://ant-assist.com/book/) · [Calculate your savings](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/) Part 2 ## What a message taking service is ### How it works You forward your phone to the service when you are busy, out or closed. A person answers with your greeting, takes the caller's details and the reason for the call, tells the caller when to expect a call back, and sends you the message. You call back when you are free. We provide a message taking service as part of a dedicated receptionist's day, alongside call handling and diary work. From forwarding your phone to calling back. ### Message taking versus call answering Message taking stops at the message. A full call answering service can also put calls through to you, book appointments, answer common questions and screen callers. Many providers sell message taking as their entry plan and charge more for the rest. Our guide to [what a virtual receptionist does](https://ant-assist.com/resources/what-does-a-virtual-receptionist-do/) covers the fuller role. Part 3 ## Why businesses use one ### Calls that go unanswered Every business misses calls: when you are on another call, driving, with a customer or closed. To see how many you miss, check your phone system's call log over a normal fortnight and count calls missed and calls sent to voicemail. Then count how many of those callers left a message. The gap is the number of callers who gave up. ### Customer loyalty A caller who reaches a person and gets a call back at the time promised has been looked after. A caller who reaches voicemail twice may try someone else. Message taking does not solve the problem for you, but it makes sure the caller is still waiting for you when you ring back. The work ## Benefits for the business ### Time and focus You stop breaking off from a job, a client or a meeting to answer the phone, and you return calls in one batch when it suits you. ### Fewer missed calls Callers who will not leave a voicemail will usually give their details to a person. Calls that would have rung out become messages. ### Caller experience The caller hears your business name, speaks to someone polite and is told when you will call back. That is a better first impression than an unanswered phone, and it sets an expectation you can meet. Part 5 ## How messages are delivered ### Email, text or app Most services send each message by email, text or their own app, and some do all three. Choose the one you actually check. A message that arrives in an app you never open is no better than a voicemail you never play. Ask whether messages can go to different people depending on the call, and whether you can search past messages. ### Contents of a good message A good message lets you call back without ringing the caller to ask what they wanted. Here is an example layout: **Example message** Caller: full name, and company if they gave one Number: the number to call back on, read back to the caller Reason: one or two lines in the caller's own words Urgency: whether the caller said it was urgent, and why Best time: when the caller said they are free Promised: what the caller was told, for example "a call back this afternoon" Taken: the time and date of the call The example message as a card: seven fields. Give the service your own version of this, with any extra fields you need, such as a booking reference or postcode. For written follow-ups, our [customer service email templates for ecommerce](https://ant-assist.com/resources/customer-service-email-templates/) may help. ### Urgent messages Not every message can wait for your next break. Tell the service what counts as urgent for your business, such as a customer who cannot get in, a job cancelled today or a complaint, and how you want those messages sent: a call to your mobile, a text marked urgent, or a message to a second person if you do not answer. Everything else can arrive as a normal message or in a summary at the end of the day. Review the urgent list after the first few weeks, because what callers say is urgent is not always what you would choose. ### Accuracy of names and numbers One wrong digit in a phone number turns a message into a lost customer. Ask how the service checks details: does the person read the number back, spell unusual names, and confirm the email address letter by letter? Ask what happens if a caller's number is withheld. Part 6 ## Message taking versus voicemail and full call answering What each option does for a caller. ### Voicemail and answering machines Voicemail costs nothing extra and records whatever the caller chooses to say. Many callers say nothing, or leave a message without a number. A message taking service gets the same details every time, because a person asks for them. If you choose between voicemail and automated options, our guide to [AI receptionist vs human receptionist](https://ant-assist.com/resources/ai-receptionist-vs-human-receptionist/) explains the difference. ### When to step up to call answering and transfers Move beyond message taking when callers regularly need something on the call itself: a booking, an answer, a quote or to speak to you now. Our guide to the [best answering service for small business](https://ant-assist.com/resources/best-answering-service-for-small-business/) explains the types of service and how to choose one. If your callers are online shoppers, see [what is ecommerce customer service](https://ant-assist.com/resources/what-is-ecommerce-customer-service/) for the wider picture. If most of your messages come in the evening or at weekends, see our guide to the [after-hours answering service](https://ant-assist.com/resources/after-hours-answering-service/). Better than voicemail Have one receptionist take your messages properly Your dedicated receptionist records the name, number, reason and best call-back time, and sends each message in the format you choose. [See virtual receptionist support](https://ant-assist.com/services/customer-service/virtual-receptionist/) · [See your savings](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/) Costs ## Pricing for message taking ### Entry plans and what they include Message taking is usually a provider's cheapest plan, priced by the month with a set number of calls or minutes, or by the call. There is no reliable published average for the UK, so compare quotes on the same basis: your real number of calls in a month. ### Set-up fees and extras to check Ask about set-up fees, charges for calls over your allowance, for wrong numbers and sales calls, for sending messages by text, and for out-of-hours calls. Ask for the minimum term and notice period too. Because a provider hears your callers' details, it handles personal data on your behalf. The ICO's guidance on [what needs to be included in the contract](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/accountability-and-governance/contracts-and-liabilities-between-controllers-and-processors-multi/what-needs-to-be-included-in-the-contract/) sets out what that processor contract must cover under UK GDPR. Ask for it before you start. This is general information, not legal advice. [See the numbers for your own hours](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/) Part 8 ## Message taking by a dedicated virtual receptionist At Ant Assist, a [dedicated virtual receptionist](https://ant-assist.com/services/customer-service/virtual-receptionist/) handles message taking as part of the role, alongside answering calls, booking your diary and covering chat and email between calls. You get one person, never shared with another client, who learns your callers and sends messages in the format you choose. Your receptionist is a person, managed and supervised in Ant Assist's own office in Cairo under a UK-managed service, working UK business hours, 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, with extended hours and weekend cover at additional cost. Every VA signs NDAs and data-processing agreements. The introductory rate is £5 per hour for the first 6 months on the Entry tier; after that, customer service Entry is £5.95 per hour full time or £6.50 per hour part time. Try your own hours in the [calculator](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/), and see [virtual receptionist pricing UK](https://ant-assist.com/resources/virtual-receptionist-pricing-uk/) for the full comparison. The same role sits within our [customer service virtual assistant](https://ant-assist.com/services/customer-service/) service. Rated 5.0 on Google. · Trusted by our clients FAQ ## Questions about call messages ### Do answering services still exist? Yes. Answering services still answer calls for businesses of every size, now alongside automated systems and chat. Many businesses still want a person to answer when they cannot. ### Can a service just take messages? Yes. Many providers offer message taking as a plan on its own, without transfers or bookings. Check exactly what the plan includes before you sign. ### Can a service answer just some of our calls? Yes. Most businesses forward calls only when they are busy, away or closed, and answer the rest themselves. Your phone system can usually forward on a schedule or when a call is not answered. ### Why choose a full answering service over message taking? Choose a full service when callers need something done on the call: a booking, a quick answer or to be put through to you. If callers only ever need a call back, message taking is enough. Didn't find your answer? Browse [more common questions](https://ant-assist.com/help/) in the Help Center. Get Started No more lost messages. A dedicated receptionist on your line, from £5 per hour. Book a call. [Book a free 15-min call](https://ant-assist.com/book/) · [Calculate your savings](https://ant-assist.com/calculator/) Discovery call · Role brief · VA matched · Onboarded into your tools