Best After Hours Answering Service Australia in 2026: Real Costs

Looking for the best after hours answering service in Australia? We compared 7 services on what night cover costs, who answers at 2am and how an urgent call reaches you.

Our pick for most tradies and small businesses is Jodie. She answers every call, nights, weekends and public holidays included, for a flat A$99 a month ex GST with unlimited minutes.

Some services charge more after 6pm, and some pass night calls to teams overseas. Here is the honest shortlist.

Key takeaways

What an after hours answering service actually is (and what it is not)

An after hours answering service answers your business phone when you are closed: at night, on weekends and on public holidays. You may also see it called after hours call answering, or after hours phone answering.

It works in three steps:

1. You divert your number when you close. Divert means your calls ring through to the service. You keep your own mobile or landline number.
2. It answers in your business name. It talks to the caller and takes their details, or books them in.
3. It tells you what came in. It also flags what is urgent.

There are four ways Aussie owners cover calls after 5pm:

• Voicemail. It is free, but many night and weekend callers ring the next business instead of leaving a message.
• Divert to your own mobile. It costs nothing, but you are on call every night, even at the footy.
• A human answering service. A person answers. You pay per call or per minute, and some charge more after 6pm.
• An AI receptionist. Software answers straight away, at any hour. You pay a flat price or by the minute.

Some services mix a person and AI. This is called hybrid cover. OfficeHQ's AI can hand a caller to a live Australian receptionist, and Alltel sells both live and AI plans.

You may also see the term virtual receptionist: a person or AI who answers your calls from somewhere else. For daytime and overflow cover, see our main answering service comparison.

What an after hours answering service is not:

• Not voicemail.
• Not a phone menu that reads out your opening hours.
• Not a call centre that makes sales calls for you.
• Not an emergency service. Anyone in danger should ring 000.

How we ranked these after hours answering services

We judged every service on six things:

• Cost of 100 night calls. What 100 calls a month, each 2 minutes long, cost on the cheapest plan each provider publishes. We say whether a price includes GST where the provider does. Setup fees are listed separately.
• Nights, weekends and public holidays. Whether a person or AI picks up at 2am, or the call goes nowhere. Also whether calls outside business hours cost more.
• How an urgent call reaches you. Whether the service can put a caller through to your mobile or only passes on a message, and on which plan. Also how the message reaches you: by email, in an app or by SMS.
• How you are billed. Flat monthly, per call or per minute, and what the plan includes.
• Contract and notice. Whether there is a lock-in contract, and how you leave.
• Free trial. How long it lasts, and whether you need a card.

We read each provider's own pricing pages and terms on 15 October 2026. Where a provider does not publish a figure, we say "not published" rather than guess. We did not ring each service as a customer.

Jodie is our own product. We rank it first, and we show where other services cost less or do things Jodie does not.

After Jodie, a service moves up for each of these it meets:

• It answers overnight at no extra charge.
• It publishes a price you can work out.
• You can leave within a month.
• It offers a free trial.

Ties go to the cheaper one at 100 calls.

The best after hours answering services in 2026

We compared 7 services that answer calls for Australian small businesses after hours. Jodie comes first because every call costs the same flat price at any hour.

After that, services move up for each check they pass: no night surcharge, a published price, no lock-in and a free trial. Every pick has a "best for", so read the one that sounds like you.

1. Jodie, best for tradies and small businesses that miss calls after hours

Jodie is an AI receptionist. She answers in your business name, asks the questions you set and takes the caller's details, from name and mobile to suburb and the job.

What you get

• A summary straight after the call, by email and in the Jodie app, with the recording and transcript.
• Your own number. Divert it to Jodie when you close, or all day if you like. Switching the divert off takes a minute.
• Professional (A$199) adds bookings, call transfers and team members. Basic does not book jobs or put calls through.
• Premium (A$399) adds Zapier integrations and priority support.

What it costs

• Basic: A$99 a month ex GST with unlimited minutes, under fair use of up to 1,000 calls a month.
• The same price at 3am, on weekends and on public holidays in every state and territory.
• No setup fee and no lock-in contract.
• Under about 55 night calls a month, several per-call plans cost less. Business 1300's 15-call plan is A$30 ex GST.

Watch out for: Jodie is AI, not a person, and some callers would rather talk to a human.

2. AnswR, best for AI with a big minute allowance and calendar sync

AnswR is an Australian-owned AI receptionist. It answers 24/7, and every plan comes with a dedicated local Australian number.

What you get

• Notifications by SMS and email on the Starter plan.
• Calendar booking. Starter syncs with Google Calendar so the AI can book jobs.
• Job software links on bigger plans, such as ServiceM8, Jobber and Simpro.
• A 7-day free trial, and there is no lock-in contract.

What it costs

• Starter: A$99 a month for 200 minutes. That is enough for 100 calls of 2 minutes. Extra minutes cost A$0.60 each, so price the plan for your busiest month, not your average one.
• Pay as you go: A$0.75 a minute with no monthly fee, if your phone is quiet. It costs A$19 to set up.
• At 100 calls of 2 minutes, AnswR Starter and Jodie Basic cost the same: A$99.
• GST: its pages do not say whether prices include it.

Watch out for: minutes running out in a busy month, because long calls on a stormy night add up.

3. OfficeHQ, best for live Australian receptionists with an AI option

OfficeHQ sells live receptionists and a separate AI plan called MyAI. All its prices are plus GST.

What you get

• Live receptionists from 8am to 6pm on weekdays. After hours live answering is opt-in on any plan.
• An AI that can hand over. MyAI can pass a caller to a live Australian receptionist.
• Mostly Australian answering. OfficeHQ says "the majority of calls are answered by our professional receptionists in Australia, with support from our global teams". Its terms let group companies in the US, New Zealand and the UK handle calls outside local operating hours.
• A 7-day free trial, then month to month. Unused calls expire each month.

What it costs

• MessageExpress (live): A$25 a month plus A$2.50 a call. Bundles are A$70 for 25 calls, A$115 for 50 and A$200 for 100.
• Night surcharge: an extra A$0.60 a call on MessageExpress, or A$1.00 on MyReceptionist. It applies outside 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, and on national public holidays. So 100 night calls on MessageExpress 100 come to A$260 + GST.
• MyAI: from A$20 a month for 10 calls, then A$1.50 a call. MyAI 100 is A$130.
• AI calls routed to live agents are charged at the live rate.

Watch out for: higher prices on live night calls, so check which hours count as after hours before you sign.

4. Business 1300, best for a live Australian call centre on a small plan

Business 1300 runs a live call centre. Its operators and call centre are all in Australia, and it says calls are never answered overseas.

What you get

• A person on every call. An operator answers in your business name, takes a message and sends it to you by SMS and email.
• Cover 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including Christmas and New Year's Day.
• No lock-in contract. Plans run month to month, with a 7-day free cancellation period.

What it costs

• Plans, all ex GST:
  • Lite: 15 calls for A$30 a month, then A$2.00 a call
  • Mid: 40 calls for A$70, then A$1.75 a call
  • Pro: 80 calls for A$132, then A$1.65 a call
  • Ultimate: 150 calls for A$210, then A$1.40 a call
• At 100 calls, the Pro plan plus 20 extra calls comes to A$165.
• Setup fee: not published.

Watch out for: paying per call, so a busy month costs more: A$165 at 100 night calls, while Jodie is still A$99.

5. AIssie, best for booking appointments at the same rate any hour

AIssie sells AI voice and chat plans in Australian dollars. Its voice plans book appointments and send reminders, so a caller at 9pm can leave with a time in your diary.

What you get

• The same rate whenever the call happens. AIssie says there is no surcharge for calls after hours or on weekends.
• Month to month, with no lock-in contract, setup fee or exit fee.
• No free voice trial. Its free plan only answers chat messages, so you cannot try the voice side for free.

What it costs

• Voice Starter: A$99 a month for 70 minutes. Extra minutes are A$0.65 each.
• Voice Pro: A$250 a month for 500 minutes.
• At 100 calls of 2 minutes, Voice Starter plus 130 extra minutes comes to A$183.50.
• GST: its pages do not say whether prices include it.

Watch out for: the small allowance, as 70 minutes is only about 35 two-minute calls and every extra minute after that adds to the bill.

6. Alltel, best for a low monthly fee with live answering 24/7

Alltel runs an Australian contact centre and sells both live and AI answering. Every plan is available 24/7.

What you get

• Live answering. An agent takes the caller's details and message, and sends them to you by SMS and email.
• AI answering on its own per-minute plans.
• No published trial or contract terms. Its plan pages do not publish either, so ask about both before you sign.

What it costs

• Live, ex GST: from A$30 a month for 15 calls. PA 100 is A$170 for 100 calls. PA PRO is A$60 for 30 calls, and extra calls are A$2.20 each.
• AI: from A$15 a month plus A$0.55 a minute. AI 100 is A$50 for 100 minutes, and AI 250 is A$100 for 250 minutes.
• A$30 one-off setup fee on every live and AI plan.
• At 100 calls, live answering is A$170 and the AI is A$100, plus setup.

Watch out for: the setup fee and the unknowns, so get the contract terms in writing.

7. Oracle CMS, best for Australian operators on every call around the clock

Oracle CMS is a contact centre with offices in Melbourne. Every operator is based in Australia.

What you get

• A person on every call. It says every call is answered by a person, never an AI, a recording or voicemail.
• Cover 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas Day, Easter and every other public holiday.
• A script you set up. Operators take a message and send it to you or your staff by SMS or email.
• Urgent calls put through. If a call is urgent, they can put it through to you.

What it costs

• Prices are worked out for each business, so you need a quote.
• Not published: a contract length, a free trial or a setup fee.

Watch out for: not knowing the bill before you get a quote, so ask for the price of your busiest month, with public holidays included.

After hours answering services compared side by side

The table prices 100 calls of 2 minutes each on the cheapest published plan, checked 15 October 2026.

• GST: Jodie, Business 1300 and Alltel's live plans are priced ex GST. OfficeHQ adds GST. AnswR, AIssie and Alltel's AI plans do not say.
• Setup fees are not included (Alltel charges A$30 once).
• "Not published" means the provider does not say on its own pages.

We also checked three more services:

• Virtual HQ sells OfficeHQ's service as its agent, at the same prices, so we did not list it twice. For 24/7 live answering, it says night calls are answered by receptionists in London and the USA.
• Yes AI sells AI phone agents, but its A$299 + GST plan covers business hours only. Night and weekend cover starts at A$599 + GST a month, plus A$999 setup.
• Virtual Office in Brisbane answers after hours calls, but the per-call wording on its page is unclear, so we could not cost it.

Do you need a 24 hour answering service, or just nights and weekends?

Look at two normal weeks of your call log. Count the calls that come in outside business hours: after 6pm, on the weekend and on any public holiday.

• If they stop by 8pm and you are shut on Sundays, longer daytime hours may be enough.
• If any come overnight or on a public holiday, choose a service with real 24 hour cover.

You do not have to use it all day. Divert your phone only when you close, and answer it yourself while you are open.

Jodie picks up day or night, weekends and public holidays included, whenever your calls are diverted to her.

Public holidays are where cover most often slips, and they differ by state. Ask for the public holidays in your state to be included in writing, at the normal rate.

After hours call answering: how an urgent call reaches you

First, decide what counts as urgent for you:

• A burst pipe.
• No hot water.
• The air con dead in a heatwave.
• A tenant locked out, or a unit flooded after a storm.

Everything else can wait for the morning.

A service can do three things with a night call:

1. Put it through to your mobile now.
2. Send you the details straight away, so you can ring back.
3. Log it for the morning.

A good service lets you set the rule, so a quote request does not wake you up. If you run an on-call roster, ask if urgent calls can go to whoever is on call that night.

Here is how Jodie does it:

• Every plan: the caller's details reach you by email and in the Jodie app straight after the call, with the recording and transcript.
• Professional (A$199) and Premium: you can set rules that put certain callers straight through to you or a colleague.
• Basic does not transfer calls.

Of the others:

• Oracle CMS operators can put an urgent call through to you.
• OfficeHQ's AI can transfer a call.
• Business 1300 and Alltel send messages by SMS and email.

For the rest, use the questions below.

To have night callers booked straight into your calendar, you need Jodie Professional, or a provider with booking, such as AIssie or AnswR. Basic takes the details for you to book.

Which after hours answering service fits your business?

The best after hours answering service for a small business depends on your night calls:

• How many you get.
• Who answers: a person or AI.
• Urgent calls: whether they should ring through to your mobile, or the messages can wait.

Find your row:

For more on your trade:

• Industry pages: plumbers, electricians, heating and air conditioning, tradies, property managers and lawyers.
• Guides: emergency calls at night for plumbers and night-time calls for property managers.

What results look like

Say you run a small electrical business with two utes. Calls come in after 6pm and on weekends, each about 2 minutes long.

Here is what 10, 30 and 100 night calls a month cost on each plan we could price.

AnswR's pay as you go also costs A$19 to set up. The OfficeHQ live figures include its A$0.60 after hours surcharge on every call.

What the table shows

• At 30 night calls a month, most plans here cost less than Jodie Basic. Business 1300 and OfficeHQ's AI stay below it up to about 55 calls.
• At 100 calls, Jodie's A$99 ties AnswR for the lowest published price. It costs less than every live plan and OfficeHQ's AI.
• If you need a person rather than AI, Business 1300 at A$165 for 100 calls is the lowest published live price we found.

Per-call and per-minute plans have a catch: the bill grows with every call. A storm or a heatwave that doubles your calls does not change Jodie's price, because fair use runs up to 1,000 calls a month and there is no public holiday rate.

Here is what Jodie customers say:

Questions to ask before you sign

Put these to each provider on your shortlist, and get the answers in writing.

• Night rates: Do nights, weekends and public holidays cost more, or need switching on?
• At 2am: Who answers, and are they in Australia?
• Urgent calls: How does an urgent call reach me, and on which plan?
• Billing: Are calls billed per call or per minute, and are they rounded up? Do wrong numbers and sales calls count? What happens when the calls or minutes run out?
• Fees and contract: Are prices ex GST, and is there a setup fee or a lock-in contract?
• Your number: Can I keep my mobile or landline number and divert only when I close?
• Recordings: Where are recordings and transcripts kept? For Jodie, they are processed outside Australia, in Ireland and the United States, as our privacy policy sets out under APP 8. Our data processing addendum covers the Privacy Act, and you can switch recording off.
• Free trial: Can I test it on my own number during a free trial? Divert your line one evening and ring it from another phone.

Try Jodie free for 7 days

Here is how it works:

1. Divert your number to Jodie when you close.
2. She answers in your business name and asks your questions.
3. She sends you a summary by email and in the Jodie app, with the recording and transcript.

Ring your own number at 10pm to hear it for yourself.

It is 7 days free, with no card and no setup fee, then A$99 a month ex GST with no lock-in contract. Start your free trial and see who rang while you were closed.