More calls mean more business, and it’s all great—until calls come in faster than your staff can keep up. When everyone’s busy sorting dispatches, checking on-site, or managing records, who’s left to answer phone calls?

When business grows, the question pops up: Is it time to get a telephone answering service?

While it seems like a simple choice between having a friendly face at the front desk and a pro team of trained agents, the decision isn’t that straightforward. Factoring in costs, compliance issues, and client expectations can make things complex.

In this article, we go over the core considerations to help you decide whether to keep reception in-house or switch to a telephone answering service like On Call Centre.

At first glance, an in-house reception looks cheaper. Wages for receptionists usually run between $15 to $35 an hour, while professional call centre handling costs almost double at $25 to $65 hourly. But, having an in-house receptionist full-time comes with hidden costs:

• ~ $2,000 recruitment cost per position
• ~ $5,000 per hire for onboarding and training
• ~ $5,000 per year for employee benefits and mandatory contributions (EI, health, etc.)

*Estimates from https://brain-source.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-an-employee-in-canada and https://www.adp.ca/en/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/c/calculating-the-true-cost-to-hire-employees.aspx

Aside from these, businesses can also lose thousands in missed revenue due to unanswered calls when a lone receptionist takes breaks, files a leave, or goes home after office hours. Hiring in-house also means you pay for 40 hours’ work even if the phone only rings for 10.

With a telephone answering service like On Call Centre, businesses pay only for the services they require. Many even offer packages with per-call rates. You avoid all the extra expenses—including idle hours.

The Gap in Availability

In-house reception works fine from nine to five, but emergency calls can come at very odd hours. A plumbing leak at midnight, a heavy equipment breakdown on a weekend, a critical software crash on a holiday—urgent situations like these do not clock in at office hours.

When a service provider is only staffed in-house, those emergency calls go to voicemail off-hours. When they do, clients won’t get the service they expect. With 72% of customers expecting immediate service, every missed call is a potential lost client.

Telephone answering services, such as those from On Call Centre, bridge this gap. We make sure all calls are picked up 24/7/365. When your clients need to speak to someone live, they get one.

The Bilingual Factor

In bilingual regions like Ottawa and Quebec, offering English/French support is expected. Finding a receptionist fluent in both languages can be tough, however, and keeping them long-term can be even harder.

With On Call Centre, bilingual routing is automatic. Calls are flagged and handled in the client’s preferred language with no hesitation and no awkward transfers. C’est naturel.

Risk and Compliance

Many companies still rely on manual call records. It’s not uncommon to see receptionists scribbling on sticky notes or switching between multiple spreadsheets. Things are fine until an incident happens, and suddenly, your team is scrambling to prove who said what and when.

This scenario can be avoided with a professional answering service. At On Call Centre, for instance, we make sure that every detail is accounted for.

• Every call is recorded, logged, and traceable for quick audits.
• There are safety scripts for gas leaks, electrical hazards, and other security incidents.
• Compliance protocols such as privacy standards, encryption, and audit-ready reporting are in place.

This keeps all bases covered—legal, operational, and reputational. Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir—prevention is better than cure.

Your Decision Checklist

Here’s how to frame your final decision:

• Are your call volumes steady or spiking unpredictably?
• Do you need customized scripts for dispatch or specialized processes?
• Do your clients expect EN/FR coverage?
• Should calls sync directly into your calendars, CRMs, or job systems?

If you’re nodding yes to most of these, On Calle Centre can support your business growth with our resources and infrastructure—professional bilingual agents, advanced call centre systems, and modern workflows.

Do agents handle regional accents? / Les agents gerent-ils les accents régionaux?

Yes. We train our agents to recognize variations, whether it’s Franco-Ontarian, Acadian, or Quebec French. The goal is always clarity and professionalism.

What about Quebec-specific terms? / Qu’en est-il des termes propres au Québec?

Yes. We adapt scripts with local vocabulary (le dépanneur for corner store, chauffe-eau for water heater) to ensure cultural fit.

Do you offer 24/7 live answering services? / Offrez-vous des services de réponse en direct 24/7?

Absolutely. Our bilingual agents are available day and night, including weekends and holidays, to ensure your calls are always answered.