"I Cannot Find Anyone to Answer the Phone" — Your Options
Operations · June 25, 2026 · 5 min read
Hiring and keeping reception staff is hard and expensive. Ways to handle call traffic without adding headcount.
Plenty of businesses share the same problem: finding someone reliable to answer the phone is hard, and keeping them is harder. Between salary, taxes, holiday, sick days and training, employing a person purely for the phone is a serious cost.
Where the usual options fall short
- Full-time reception: expensive, and still leaves lunch breaks, evenings and weekends uncovered.
- Call centre / virtual assistant: does not know your business, cannot go off script, never feels personal.
- Voicemail: most callers do not leave a message, and callback rates are poor.
The cost comparison
A full-time employee costs an employer a large fixed sum every month — and covers one line, during business hours only. An AI receptionist works 24/7, takes several calls at once, and never calls in sick.
The alternative: an AI receptionist
OZVA answers your phone like a member of staff, without the staffing problem:
- Speaks naturally, books appointments, records orders and requests, transfers when needed.
- Works 24/7 and handles multiple calls simultaneously.
- Records and transcribes every conversation to your dashboard.
- Sets up in minutes; no number porting.
For businesses that want out of the hire-train-retain cycle and want the phone solved once, an AI receptionist is the most practical route.
Never miss a call again
OZVA answers your business calls 24/7 with AI — books appointments, logs requests. Set up in minutes.
Try free