24 hour answering service for small business: every call, answered by AI
Julius Answer by DealsFlow is an AI phone answering service. It answers every call in your business's name, day and night, books appointments, takes messages and puts callers through, for one monthly price instead of per-call fees.
An answering service answers your business phone when you can't, so callers reach someone instead of voicemail. Julius Answer is an AI answering service for small businesses: it picks up every call 24/7 in your business's name, answers from your own information, books appointments, takes messages and puts urgent callers through to you, from $79 a month.
At a glance
- Answers every call, day and night, with your business's name and greeting.
- Books appointments and estimate visits into your open times, as requests you confirm with one tap.
- Takes complete messages and emails you a summary of every call.
- Puts callers through to the right person on your team, and marks emergencies urgent.
- From $79/month for 300 minutes, every feature on every plan, 7-day free trial.
Why small businesses use an answering service
Because most callers who don't reach you don't wait. In CallRail's September 2025 survey of 1,000 US consumers, only 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer, 21% immediately call another business, and 82% said they would call a competitor.
A small team can't be on the phone and on the job at the same time. An answering service covers the gap: lunch, a busy hour, a job site, evenings and weekends. The question is how it's staffed and how it's billed.
Live answering service or AI answering service?
Both answer in your business's name. A live answering service routes your calls to agents in a call center and bills by the minute or by the call. An AI answering service answers with a voice AI that knows your business, so it costs less and never puts a caller on hold.
| Question | Live answering service | Julius Answer (AI) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Ruby from $250 a month for 50 minutes; Smith.ai live from $300 a month for 30 calls | $79 a month for 300 minutes |
| Billed by | The minute or the call, often with overage fees | Call minutes, rounded up; extra minutes from $25 that never expire |
| Hours | 24/7 on most plans | 24/7 on every plan |
| Callers at once | As many as the call center staffs | 1 on Starter, 3 on Pro, 10 on Business |
| Knows your prices and policies | From a script | From your information, and it learns what it didn't know |
| A real person on the line | Yes | No: an AI that says so |
For a fuller comparison, including voicemail and an in-house receptionist, read AI receptionist vs answering service.
What the answering service does on every call
Answers in your name
Your greeting, your business name, a natural voice. It says it's an AI assistant and that the call is recorded, and never pretends to be human.
Answers real questions
Hours, services, prices you share, service area, policies: only from your information. If it doesn't know, it says so and takes a message.
Books the appointment
Checks your open times, offers up to three, and books the caller's choice as a request you confirm with one tap. With Google Calendar connected, it never offers a time you're busy.
Takes messages that make sense
Name, number, what it's about and when to call back, read back to confirm. "Before 3 today" becomes a real due time on your list.
Puts callers through
"Billing goes to Sam": it connects the caller to the right person and takes a message if nobody picks up.
Sends you every call
An email summary after each call, alerts for urgent messages and booking requests, and Slack or webhooks if you use them.
Answering service pricing, without per-call fees
Every plan has every feature, a local number and 24/7 answering. Plans differ only in minutes and in how many callers can be answered at once. If your calls average three minutes, 1,000 minutes covers about 330 calls a month.
| Feature | Starter | Pro | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $79 | $199 | $399 |
| Yearly price (two months free) | $790 | $1,990 | $3,990 |
| Call minutes included | 300 | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Effective price per minute | $0.26 | $0.20 | $0.13 |
| Calls answered at the same time | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Local phone number | Included | Included | Included |
| Every feature | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days | 7 days |
A busy month? Add extra minutes from $25 for 100; they never expire. See full pricing.
An answering service for your kind of business
Julius Answer knows what to ask, what to book and what's urgent in your line of work.
Plumbers
Leaks flagged urgent, estimate visits booked.
HVAC
No heat or no cooling, put through.
Contractors
Estimate visits with the details.
Property management
Maintenance requests, day and night.
Law firms
Consultations and deadlines.
Dental offices
New patients and urgent pain.
Salons & spas
Bookings by service and stylist.
Real estate
Showings and listing appointments.
Switch your calls over in about ten minutes
Sign up
Your business name, email and area code, then add a card in the console to start the 7-day free trial, with up to 150 call minutes.
Tell it about your business
Type or talk to the setup assistant: services, hours, prices you share and who takes which calls.
Forward your line
Forward all calls, or only the ones you miss, to your new local number, and make a test call.
Answer every call, starting today
Start a 7-day free trial of the answering service, keep your number, and cancel anytime in the console.
Frequently asked questions
What is a phone answering service?
A phone answering service picks up your business calls when you can't: it greets callers in your business's name, answers simple questions, takes messages, books appointments and passes urgent calls to you. Traditional services use live agents in a call center; an AI answering service like Julius Answer does the same work with a voice AI, around the clock.
How much does an answering service cost for a small business?
Live answering services usually charge by the minute or by the call: Ruby starts at $250 a month for 50 minutes and Smith.ai's live plans at $300 a month for 30 calls, as listed on their pricing pages on October 19, 2026. Julius Answer starts at $79 a month for 300 call minutes, with every feature on every plan.
Is an AI answering service as good as a live one?
For most small-business calls, yes: answering questions from your information, booking, taking messages and passing on urgent calls. A live agent is still better for long, emotional or highly unusual conversations. Julius Answer says it is an AI assistant and takes a message whenever a caller needs a person.
Is it a 24 hour answering service?
Yes. Julius Answer is a 24 hour phone answering service: it answers nights, weekends and holidays, with the same greeting and the same information as during the day. You choose what it does with urgent calls after hours: put them through to someone on call or mark the message urgent.
Can I use an answering service and keep my business number?
Yes. Forward your existing number to Julius Answer, either all calls or only the ones you don't pick up. You also get a local number in your area code on every plan. See how to forward your calls.
Can the answering service answer more than one call at once?
Yes. Julius Answer answers 1 call at a time on Starter, 3 at once on Pro and 10 on Business, so a busy hour doesn't send callers to voicemail.
Sources
- Missed calls cost businesses more than ever (survey of 1,000 US consumers), CallRail, September 25, 2025
- Ruby pricing, Ruby, checked October 19, 2026
- Smith.ai pricing (Virtual Receptionist plans), Smith.ai, checked October 19, 2026
Checked 2026-10-20. Third-party prices and features change; check the vendor before you buy.