If you run a trade or a small business in Ireland, the phone is where the work comes from. It's also the one thing you can't answer when you're up a ladder, under a sink or driving between jobs. So sooner or later you look at getting help with it, and the first question is what that help costs.
There are four realistic options. Leave it to voicemail, hire someone part-time, pay a live answering service, or use an AI receptionist. I've put real 2026 numbers on each one below so you can do the sums for your own business.
Option 1: voicemail, the free one
Voicemail costs nothing on most plans. That's the appeal. The cost shows up somewhere else.
Plenty of people won't leave a message for a tradesperson they've never used. They hang up and ring the next name on Google. You never see that as lost work because there's nothing to see. A missed call with no message tells you nothing about whether it was a €90 job or a €9,000 one.
The ones who do leave a message leave it on their terms. Half a name, a number read out too fast, "it's about the thing at the house". You ring back that evening and they've already booked someone else. Voicemail is fine as a backstop. As your main way of handling calls it can be the dearest option on this list. You just never get the bill.
Option 2: a part-time receptionist
Hiring someone is the gold standard if you can keep them busy. Here's what it costs at the legal minimum.
The national minimum wage went up to €14.15 an hour on 1 January 2026 under the National Minimum Wage Order 2025. On top of wages, the employer pays PRSI. From 1 October 2026, employer Class A PRSI is 9.15% on weekly earnings up to €552 and 11.4% on earnings above €552, according to Citizens Information.
For someone on 20 hours a week at minimum wage:
- •Wages: 20 hours at €14.15 is €283.00 a week
- •Employer PRSI at 9.15%, because €283 is under the €552 threshold: €25.89
- •Total: €308.89 a week, or about €1,339 a month
Full-time at 39 hours comes to €551.85 a week in wages, just under the €552 line, so PRSI stays at the lower rate. Add €50.49 of PRSI and you're at €602.34 a week, about €2,610 a month.
That's the floor. It's before holiday pay, sick cover, a desk, a phone and your own time managing them. And a part-time receptionist covers 20 hours. There are 168 hours in a week, and a lot of the calls that matter to a trade come in the evening and at the weekend.
If you've enough office work to keep someone busy, hire. If you just need the phone covered, it's a lot of money for a narrow slice of the week.
Option 3: a live answering service
A live answering service puts a person in a call centre on your line. They answer in your business name, take a message and pass it on. Some providers publish their prices and some only quote on request. Here's a sample of what's published on providers' own websites in Ireland and the UK:
- •An Irish provider advertising tariffs from around €40 to €44 a month, charged per message passed on rather than per call. The per-message rate isn't published
- •A UK provider with packages from £14.99 a month plus VAT, built around a set number of messages
- •A UK pay-as-you-go service at £2.20 per call plus VAT, with no monthly fee
- •A UK 24/7 package at £180 a month for 100 calls, then £2.10 for each extra call
So the entry price can look low, but it's usually a starter bundle. What you actually pay depends on how many calls you get, how long they run, whether evenings and weekends cost extra, and whether wrong numbers and sales calls count. At 100 calls a month, that 24/7 package is £180.
What you get for that is a polite human who takes a message. They won't know your trade, your area or your prices, and most won't book the job in. You still ring every caller back.
Option 4: an AI receptionist
This is what we built Ringvox to do, so read this section knowing that. I'll stick to what it does and what it costs.
Ringvox answers your calls 24/7 in an Irish voice. It takes the caller's name, what they need, the address with Eircode and a callback number. Within a couple of minutes you get a summary on WhatsApp and by email. Every call is logged in your portal with the recording and transcript, and new enquiries go on a job board so nothing gets lost in a WhatsApp thread. If you want, it can book appointments into Google Calendar or Calendly.
You keep your existing number. You set your phone to divert unanswered or busy calls to the receptionist, so you still pick up when you can and it catches the rest. Here's how to divert calls on each Irish network.
The Trades plan is €59 a month with 100 call minutes included, then €0.25 a minute. There's no long-term contract and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. The details are on the pricing page for tradespeople.
What it doesn't do: it doesn't send SMS, and it doesn't connect to job management tools like Jobber or Tradify. Summaries come by WhatsApp and email, and enquiries live in the Ringvox portal.
The four options side by side
- •Voicemail: €0 a month. On all the time, but plenty of callers won't leave a message and you rarely get details you can act on
- •Part-time receptionist, 20 hours a week at minimum wage: about €1,339 a month including employer PRSI. Covers 20 hours of the week
- •Full-time receptionist, 39 hours at minimum wage: about €2,610 a month including employer PRSI. Covers office hours
- •Live answering service: published entry prices from around €40 a month, rising with call volume. One published 24/7 package is £180 a month for 100 calls
- •AI receptionist (Ringvox Trades): €59 a month with 100 call minutes, then €0.25 a minute. Covers 24/7
Which one makes sense for you
If you're a sole trader or a small crew and the problem is calls you can't get to, voicemail is costing you work and a receptionist is too much money for the hours you'd use. That's the gap an AI receptionist fills.
If your callers want a long chat, or you need someone making judgement calls on the phone, a live service or a real person will suit you better. Some businesses use both: a person in office hours, and AI for evenings, weekends and the overflow.
If you're not sure, ring it yourself. You can hear it answer a call before you sign up, and there's more on how Ringvox works for Irish businesses.
FAQ
Q: How much does a phone answering service cost in Ireland?
A: Live answering services publish entry prices from around €40 a month, but most charge per call or per message once you go past the bundle. An AI receptionist like Ringvox is €59 a month with 100 call minutes included.
Q: What's the difference between a virtual receptionist and a call answering service?
A: People use the two names for the same thing: someone, or something, that answers your business line when you can't. A live service uses people in a call centre. An AI receptionist uses a voice agent that answers straight away, at any hour.
Q: Do I need a new phone number?
A: No. You keep your number and divert unanswered or busy calls to the receptionist.
Q: What does a part-time receptionist cost an Irish employer in 2026?
A: At the €14.15 minimum wage, 20 hours a week costs about €309 a week including 9.15% employer PRSI, before holiday pay and the other costs of having staff.