Amata's Live Reception & Phone puts professional staff on your calls — answering in your business name, screening callers, and collecting intake information exactly as you instruct. Available Monday through Friday, 7am to 6pm. Standalone or combined with any Amata plan. Active within 24 hours.
What is live reception for a business? Live reception is a service where professional staff answer your incoming calls in your business name — greeting callers, screening, taking messages, and following your instructions. Unlike voicemail, a real person responds to every call. Amata's service is available Monday through Friday, 7am to 6pm, from $23/month.
Calls involving detailed intake, screening, or longer conversations are billed at the same per-second rate for the actual time used. Optional 100-minute and 300-minute programs are available for higher call volumes — both at reduced per-minute overage rates.
Start with the base plan and per-second billing. Add a minute program when call volume grows. All plans include the same professional service — only the billing structure changes.
Promotion: 2 months free on every 12-month plan. Prepay the full year to receive a 3rd month free — up to 3 months free total. Plans require a 12-month initial term. After the initial term, Annual plans require a 12-month term and renew annually. Month-to-month plans available separately with 1 calendar month notice to cancel. Minute program minutes do not roll over month to month.
National answering services give you a phone line. Amata gives you professional reception as part of an ecosystem — virtual office, community, fractional staff, Studio33, and Marketing Lab.
Billed at $3.83/min in per-second increments — not rounded to the nearest minute. At an average of 7 seconds per call, most clients pay less than $0.45 per call. No rounding surprises.
Your receptionist follows your call handling instructions exactly — custom greetings, intake forms, screening criteria, and transfer protocols specific to your business. Not a generic answering script.
Use Live Reception & Phone on its own — no address or office plan required. Or combine it with any Amata virtual office plan for a complete professional presence from a single provider.
Our locally based accounting team answers the phone. When you have a billing question, you speak to a real person who knows your account — not an overseas call center or a ticket queue.
Reception clients become part of the Amata community — 800+ active professionals across five locations. Networking, cross-referrals, events, and the Amata Community Hub are all available.
Start with the base plan and per-second billing. Move to a minute program when volume grows. Add a virtual office address, conference rooms, or fractional staff whenever you need them.
Not all answering services are built the same. Here's how Amata stacks up against the most common options.
| Amata | Ruby Receptionists | Smith.ai | Voicemail / Auto-Attendant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service Quality & Differentiation | ||||
| Locally based accounting — personalized billing support | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Real person answers every call | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — |
| Customizable greetings & intake forms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Limited |
| Per-second billing (not rounded to full minute) | ✓ | — | — | N/A |
| Available standalone without office plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ecosystem & Community | ||||
| Virtual office & Loop address available from same provider | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Conference rooms & day offices available | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Fractional admin & paralegal support available | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Active professional community — events & referrals | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Locally owned since 2002 | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Promotion | ||||
| Up to 3 months free on 12-month plan | ✓ | — | — | — |
2 months free on every 12-month plan. Prepay and get a 3rd month free. Active within 24 hours.
