I want to sign up. What do I need to do?
That’s great news! You need to decide how many calls you’d need us to answer and select the appropriate package. You’ll find a full list here. Select a Pay Monthly Call Answering Package and this will add the package to your basket.
We’ll ask you to complete some details about your company, how we should answer and what we should do with your calls, along with any number we might need to call or text. We’ll also need to know where your messages should be sent.
There are a couple of options too. If you want us to put the caller through to you, you’ll need to choose the Connect Bolt-On (see FAQ below for more on the Bolt-On.) We can also rent up to three phone numbers (normal landline numbers) if you need them.
At the end of the order, you’ll need to accept our Terms and Conditions and then make a payment by card or via PayPal.
I’ve signed up. What happens next?
As soon as you sign up, we receive all the information you’ve submitted and we’ll start working on your account. Our Setup Team only work 9-5pm, Monday to Friday (and, because we’re nice, we let them have Bank Holidays off too) so we’ll have you set up within 8 working hours.
We only accept payment by direct debit for our Pay Monthly accounts so we’ll send you a direct debit mandate for you to complete. You’ll need to return this to us before your account can go live. Once we’ve received it, we’ll send you a phone number to use when you divert your calls to us and you’re good to go!
How do the charges work?
Each package includes a number of calls for a fixed fee each month. If you have more calls than are included in your package, we charge you for each extra call at the rate listed for your package and the calls will appear on your next invoice. We don’t rollover any unused calls.
If you’re renting one or more landline phone numbers for you (up to three) or you want us to connect callers through to you, these are charged as an extra to your package and will be charged separately.
If you’ve asked us to call you or put callers through to you, the call to you counts as one of your included calls. We also charge you for the cost of the call itself. Call costs are charged in 30 second units with a minimum duration of 1 minute.
We invoice on the 1st of each month so your first invoice will have a pro-rated charge for your package to bring you in line with our billing run. For example, if you sign up on the 12th May, your first month would run out on 11th June. We’d issue an invoice on 1st June for the period 12th – 30th June and pro-rate your package for this period. From then on, we’d invoice you on the 1st o each month and the normal monthly fee would apply.
Why do you charge per call and not per minute?
Because it’s simpler and fairer for you: each call has a fixed cost. 40 calls per month with us is 40 calls per month. How many calls do you get from 100 included minutes?
If you go over your included allowance, we still charge per call.
Per minute is wholly reliant on how long the agent takes to handle the call. While a charge of 99p per additional minute might look good on a website, in reality that could be anything from £2.50 for a 2 minute call. Don’t forget a minute might not really be a minute: are you being charged for calls in 30 second or one minute units? That call lasting 2 minutes and 2 seconds might actuallly cost you £3.00 and not £2.00.
Is per-minute pricing as attractive now?
What is a “Bolt-On”?
For a start, it’s not one of the bad guys out of Game of Thrones! If you want us to put a caller through to you, you’d need the Connect bolt-on which is £4.99 + VAT per month. If you don’t need that facility, you don’t need the bolt-on.
How do I pay you?
When you sign up, we ask you to pay for your first month by credit card or PayPal. From then on, we collect payment automatically from your bank account by direct debit. Please note that we only accept ongoing payments by direct debit.
Is there a minimum contract term?
No way! When you sign up, your credit card payment covers the first month. After that, you can cancel at any time on one month’s notice.
What information will you take from my callers?
Any of the following: Name, Company, Address, Phone, Email, their message and whether or not it’s urgent. We can also ask the best time for you to return their call and how they heard about you (e.g. from an advert.) You can also have up to three additional pieces of information which are relevant to your business. Need to know the number of users affected by a problem? No problem!
For full details, have a look at our Compare page which shows exactly what information we can take.
How do I receive my messages?
We’ll send every message to you instantly by email. You can also choose to have some, all, or none of your messages sent by text. We charge texts at 25p each (plus VAT.)
I have a friend…
Your friend wants to use us as well? Excellent news! Once they sign-up with us, we’ll credit your account with half of their first month’s package.
I’m still not sure…
Call us on (0800) 138-8550 and we’ll help you decide if we are what you need and which package would be best for you.
24 hours a day? Really?
Yes. Really. Our big sister CommLink has been operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year since 1997. While we’ve not been around THAT long (she’s an older sister!) we work the same hours so 2am or 2pm – it’s all the same to us.
Is there anything you won’t do?
While we can handle most types of call, there are a couple of things that we don’t do as part of our Pay Monthly service. We don’t work with online portals (e.g. placing orders, booking appointments into an online diary, etc.) and we don’t work with rotas (e.g. different staff with different contact numbers/emails on different days.) We know that’s a pain but, by not doing this, we can continue to ensure our charges are good value for money. If this is something you really need, our big sister CommLink would be able to help you.
