First Answering scorecard

Last updated: 2026-08-26

Buyers browse free. BPOs pay to claim, message, or feature. Paying does not change this rank.

It works with various industries. Answer Our Phone, formerly known as First Answering, operates as contact center solutions and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions provider that works with companies of all sizes, but its solutions are uniquely catered toward smaller organizations. This approach supports reliable delivery through structured processes and technical expertise.

Company Overview

First Answering is a BPO company, founded in 2005, with approximately 1-49 employees. They specialize in Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, Back Office. They serve the E-commerce & Retail industries.

Answer Our Phone started because too many small businesses were losing good customers the moment the call went to voicemail. You’d see great owners doing great work, but if they were on a job, in a meeting, or closed for the day, callers hit a machine, hung up, and called someone else. It was clear that a simple missed call could quietly erase a hard‑won opportunity. From the beginning, the idea was simple: give small businesses a way to sound big, organized, and always available, without having to hire full‑time reception staff. Over time, “just answering the phone” evolved into a more complete front‑desk solution: fast pickup, friendly tone, and call handling that reflects how each business actually operates. The problem we set out to solve was straightforward: owners were doing the real work, while calls rolled to voicemail, got lost in phone trees, or were handled by low‑quality, generic call centers. We created Answer Our Phone to close that gap, so every legitimate caller reaches a real person who represents the business accurately, consistently, and professionally.

Executive summary

Brand Profile: Voice: direct. Voice: price-led. Voice: small-business-focused. Voice: service-oriented. Tagline: Affordable Answering Service For $59.99. Client Value Proposition: Summary: The public value proposition is to help small businesses avoid missed calls and present a professional, always-available phone presence at a relatively low monthly cost.. Value Points: Title: Never miss calls. Value Points: Description: 24/7 live coverage is marketed to capture inbound calls at all hours.. Value Points: Title: Professional caller experience. Value Points: Description: The company says its service helps businesses sound professional and approachable around the clock.. Value Points: Title: Affordable scaling. Value Points: Description: Tiered plans and optional call-forwarding numbers are presented as flexible entry points for growing businesses.. Company Overview: Tagline: Affordable answering service for small businesses starting at $59.99/month.. Highlights: 24/7/365 live coverage. Highlights: Month-to-month plans with no long-term contracts. Highlights: U.S.-based receptionists. Highlights: Plans positioned for small business needs. Description: Answer Our Phone is a live answering service and contact-center/BPO provider focused on small businesses, offering 24/7/365 call coverage, appointment scheduling, customer support, and after-hours answering.. Competitive Differentiators: Differentiators: Title: Low-entry pricing. Differentiators: Description: Public pricing starts at $59.99 per month, which is positioned as accessible for small businesses.. Differentiators: Title: 24/7/365 live coverage. Differentiators: Description: The company states it provides round-the-clock live answering with coverage every day of the year.. Differentiators: Title: No long-term contracts. Differentiators: Description: The site states there are month-to-month plans and no long-term contracts.. Differentiators: Title: Human-only answering. Differentiators: Description: The service is described as 100% live and not automated.. Leadership & Executives: Executives: Bio: Public LinkedIn information identifies

Strengths

  • Brand Profile: Voice: direct. Voice: price-led. Voice: small-business-focused. Voice: service-oriented. Tagline: Affordable Answering Service For $59.99. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)
  • Client Value Proposition: Summary: The public value proposition is to help small businesses avoid missed calls and present a professional, always-available phone presence at a relatively low monthly cost.. Value Points: Title: Never miss calls. Value Points: Description: 24/7 live coverage is marketed to capture inbound calls at all hours.. Value Points: Title: Professional caller experience. Value Points: Description: The company says its service helps businesses sound professional and approachable around the clock.. Value Points: Title: Affordable scaling.. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)
  • Company Overview: Tagline: Affordable answering service for small businesses starting at $59.99/month.. Highlights: 24/7/365 live coverage. Highlights: Month-to-month plans with no long-term contracts. Highlights: U.S.-based receptionists. Highlights: Plans positioned for small business needs. Description: Answer Our Phone is a live answering service and contact-center/BPO provider focused on small businesses, offering 24/7/365 call coverage, appointment scheduling, customer support, and after-hours answering.. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)

Gaps

  • The reviewed public sources do not establish buyer-specific service levels, staffing commitments, or acceptance criteria for a defined scope. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)
  • The reviewed public sources do not establish a buyer-specific continuity design, recovery objective, security schedule, or named delivery team. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)
  • The reviewed public sources do not provide directly comparable commercial terms and independently verified outcomes for a like-for-like engagement. (public_web; observed 2026-07-31)

Firmographics

Founded2005
Employees1-49
Revenue$1 mil. - $5 mil.
Ownershipprivate

GB100 score

Overall score: 49

  • egs: 41
  • growth: 56.5
  • reputation: 58.6
  • ai_readiness: 50
  • market_footprint: 30.6
  • digital_readiness: 55.9

Scores are calculated from published evidence and the current GB100 methodology; payment does not affect rank.

Services and operating scope

First Answering's structured service taxonomy includes Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, Back Office. Competitive Landscape: Competitors: Name: AnswerFirst. Competitors: Evidence: Listed publicly as a comparable answering-service/BPO provider in industry directories.. Competitors: Relationship: alternative. Competitors: Name: Answer First. Competitors: Evidence: Public search results show a separate answering-service provider with similar offering language.. Competitors: Relationship: alternative. Positioning: A low-cost, 24/7 live answering service for small businesses with month-to-month plans and no long-term contracts.. Market Signals: Small-business targeting. Market Signals: Commodity-style pricing pressure in the answering-service market. Market Signals: Demand for human live-answering alongside automation/AI discussion. Differentiators: Published entry-price plans starting at $59.99/month. Differentiators: 24/7/365 live answering. Differentiators: U.S.-based receptionists. Differentiators: No long-term contracts or hidden holiday fees. Key Firmographics: Sectors Display: Small business services. Sectors Display: Telephone answering. Sectors Display: Virtual receptionist. Sectors Display: Contact center / BPO. Employee & Client Sentiment: Sentiment Trend: unknown. Employee Satisfaction: unknown. Services & Offerings: Categories: Name: Live answering. Categories: Services: 24/7 live answering. Categories: Services: After-hours answering. Categories: Services: Weekend and holiday coverage. Categories: Name: Receptionist support. Categories: Services: Virtual receptionist. Categories: Services: Call transfers. Categories: Services: Message taking. Categories: Services: Call screening. Categories: Name: Scheduling and customer support. Categories: Services: Appointment scheduling. Categories: Services: Customer support. Categories: Name: Call handling infrastructure. Categories: Services: Optional call-forwarding numbers. Categories: Services: Toll-free and local number options. Executive Summary: Summary: Answer Our Phone appears to operate as a small-business-focused live answering service under the AnswerOurPhone.com brand, emphasizing affordable 24/7 telephone coverage, inbound call handling, and related receptionist functions.. Tech Stack & Tools: Ai Capabilities: Name: 24/7 live answering. Ai Capabilities: Confidence: confirmed. Ai Capabilities: Name: call transfers. Ai Capabilities: Confidence: confirmed. Ai Capabilities: Name: appointment scheduling. Ai Capabilities: Confidence: confirmed. Ai Capabilities: Name: customer support. Ai Capabilities: Confidence: confirmed. Service: Sales

Geography

Countries listed in the structured record include -. Description Long: Answer Our Phone started because too many small businesses were losing good customers the moment the call went to voicemail. You’d see great owners doing great work, but if they were on a job, in a meeting, or closed for the day, callers hit a machine, hung up, and called someone else. It was clear that a simple missed call could quietly erase a hard‑won opportunity. From the beginning, the idea was simple: give small businesses a way to sound big, organized, and always available, without having to hire full‑time reception staff. Over time, “just answering the phone” evolved into a more complete front‑desk solution: fast pickup, friendly tone, and call handling that reflects how each business actually operates. The problem we set out to solve was straightforward: owners were doing the real work, while calls rolled to voicemail, got lost in phone trees, or were handled by low‑quality, generic call centers. We created Answer Our Phone to close that gap, so every legitimate caller reaches a real person who represents the business accurately, consistently, and professionally.. Financial Health: Risk Factors: No public financial statements or funding events were identified from the available sources.. Risk Factors: Pricing and plan pages indicate a low-price, month-to-month model, but no financial performance data is publicly verified.. Overall Health: unknown. Pricing & Engagement: Models: Name: Basic Message plan. Models: Best For: Lower-volume businesses needing basic live message-taking. Models: Description: 30 calls for $59.99, with $1.29 per additional call and 24/7 U.S.-based receptionists.. Models: Name: Advanced Message plan. Models: Best For: Businesses needing

Methodology

First Answering's BPOIndex scorecard is assembled from public, attributable evidence rather than vendor-submitted marketing claims or a paid-placement package. The research pass reviewed 19 distinct source URLs and retained 20 substantive facts or company sections with direct citations. Each retained observation is tied to the page where it was found and to the date on which that page was observed. Information that could not be traced to a reviewed public source was left out. This distinction matters because a provider's website may describe broad capabilities without publishing buyer-specific service levels, staffing commitments, commercial terms, delivery capacity, or independently comparable outcomes. Collection and publication are separate. Collection discovers public pages, records evidence, and builds structured sections for company background, services, delivery footprint, operating signals, and credentials. Publication includes only substantive observations carrying an HTTP citation. The strengths below identify areas where the provider has published inspectable information; they are not guarantees of quality, price, security, or fit. Evidence gaps are questions the reviewed sources did not answer at a buyer-specific level, not negative claims about the provider. Peer links are navigation aids from other canonical BPOIndex profiles, not a claim that every company is identical in size, geography, specialization, or commercial model. Buyers should compare the underlying service taxonomy, locations, evidence, and current score dimensions. Confirm scope-specific service levels, named delivery sites, staffing assumptions, security controls, continuity plans, pricing units, minimum commitments, and referenceable outcomes directly with the provider. The observed dates show when evidence was collected. Later enrichment can add newly published sources, but unsupported inference, duplicate shells, and generic filler do not qualify a page for indexing.

Read the full GB100 methodology

Coverage gaps

  • Insufficient public evidence for headquarters coverage.

Post a project anonymously · See alternatives

Services

  • Sales & Marketing
  • Customer Support
  • Back Office

Industries Served

  • E-commerce & Retail

Contact

Website: https://www.answerourphone.com

Email: info@answerourphone.com

Phone: 1-800-500-5020

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-phone-answering-service

Frequently Asked Questions

What services does First Answering offer?

First Answering provides Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, Back Office.

How many employees does First Answering have?

First Answering has approximately 1-49 employees.

What industries does First Answering serve?

First Answering serves the E-commerce & Retail industries.

Comparable BPO providers