A missed call: voicemail, call screening, or an AI assistant?
Do you just need to know who called, catch the enquiry, or get the customer booked? Compare network voicemail, call screening on your phone, live answering services and AI receptionists by what each one has to solve. We are the operator of Lorela and wrote this from the services' public pages; it is not an independent test of call quality.
Updated Nov 9, 2026
Scroll the table sideways - Lorela is in the last column.
| Doing nothing | Network voicemail | Call screening on the phone | Live answering service | Lorela | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What happens to the call | It rings out. | A recorded greeting offers to take a message. | Your phone asks an unknown caller who they are and why they are calling, or shows a live transcript while they speak. | Human receptionists answer the calls you forward. | The AI assistant takes the call in English, recognises regular customers from your contacts and greets them by name. |
| What you find out | A missed call with no context: just a number and a time. | A recorded message, if the caller leaves one. Visual voicemail apps list the messages; the features differ by network and plan. | You see the caller's answer on your screen and decide whether to pick up. Google says Call Screen runs on the device itself. | What you receive depends on the provider and the plan. | A summary by email or in the app: who called, what they needed and how urgent it is. |
| What the caller experiences | It rings and nobody answers. They may try again later or call someone else. | After the greeting they can leave a message or hang up. | Talks to an automated assistant on your phone, not to a person. | Talks to a person. | Talks to an assistant who introduces herself, asks what they need and says goodbye. If they ask whether she is a robot, she says so plainly. |
| Price | Free. | Usually part of your plan. Check with your network. | Included with the phone. | Moneypenny publishes no price list: it asks for your details first and then contacts you with a quote (checked Nov 9, 2026). | £15 a month, or £149 a year (£12.42 a month). 60 minutes of calls a month. 7 days free. Prices in pounds, including VAT. |
| Where it works | Everywhere. | EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and the brands on their networks; details vary by plan. | Pixel phones (automatic and manual screening in the UK, per Google). Apple lists its own call features by model and language. | Check with the provider how forwarding works with your network. | UK numbers whose network lets you divert unanswered calls to another number. |
What to choose, depending on what you need
If a number and a time are enough, your phone's call screening or your network's alerts may do. For a recorded message there is voicemail. If you want to learn why someone called and then call the customer back yourself, compare Lorela with AI receptionists such as the Fasthosts AI Receptionist and Dialzara. They count different things: Fasthosts plans by calls a month, Dialzara by minutes, and Lorela's base price includes 60 minutes a month. If you want a person on the line, look at live answering services such as Moneypenny. That is a different scope of work from taking a message.
Apart from the call screening on your own phone, all of these need your network to divert the calls you do not answer to another number, and each provider tells you which number to use. Check the details with the provider before you buy: the prices above are the public list prices, and the limits are measured in different units (calls and minutes).
AI receptionists and answering services in the UK
The plans use different units: a call is not the same as a minute. For yearly billing we show the amount for the whole year and the monthly equivalent. Your network may also bill the forwarded part of a call under your plan. The features below describe each provider's own offer, not the result of our own testing.
Scroll the table sideways - Lorela is in the last column.
| Fasthosts AI Receptionist | Moneypenny | Dialzara | Lorela | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price and included volume | Lite £39 a month for 30 calls, Plus £69 for 100 calls, Unlimited £99. Extra calls cost £0.49 on Lite and £0.39 on Plus. A one-month free trial on each plan. The page also shows lower figures (for example £31.20 beside £39) and its VAT wording is unclear, so confirm what you will pay. | No public price list: the page asks for your details and says Moneypenny will contact you to explain how it would work for your business. | Business Lite $29 a month for 60 minutes, Pro $99 for 220, Plus $199 for 500, Elite $349 for 1,000. Extra minutes cost from $0.48 down to $0.35. A 7-day free trial on every plan. Prices are in US dollars. | £15 a month, or £149 a year (£12.42 a month). 60 minutes of calls a month. 7 days free. Prices in pounds, including VAT. |
| Who it is for | Small businesses; the plans are priced by the number of calls a month. | Businesses that want telephone answering; Moneypenny also lists an AI receptionist and out-of-hours cover. | Small businesses; the plans are priced by minutes. A done-for-you service starts at $1,500 a month on request. | Small businesses and independent professionals who miss calls. |
| What it does after the call | Not described on the pricing page; confirm it in the plan details. | Not described on the pricing page; ask for it in the quote. | Not described on the pricing page; confirm it in the plan details. | A summary by email and in the app for iPhone and Android. |
| Language and recognising the caller | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask whether UK numbers and accents are supported. | Speaks English, recognises regular customers from your contacts and greets them by name. |
| Setup | The page says you keep your number and the AI Receptionist works through simple call forwarding. | Arranged with Moneypenny after you send your details. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Self-serve from your browser - you only forward unanswered calls, nothing to install. |
Sources for the compared services: public pages read on Nov 9, 2026. Where a page does not state a price, a limit or a feature, we say so. Prices and offers can change; if you spot a mistake, write to hello@lorela.uk.
- Fasthosts AI Receptionist (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Moneypenny (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Dialzara (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Google Call Screen (verified Nov 9, 2026)
What the phone can do by itself
Recent phones can do a lot without another service. Google's Call Screen on Pixel phones lets an assistant ask an unknown caller who they are and why they are calling, or shows you a live transcript when you tap Screen call. Google lists the UK among the countries where both the automatic and the manual screening work, and says Call Screen runs on the device.
The iPhone has its own call features, such as Live Voicemail and Call Screening. Apple lists the countries, languages and iPhone models for each of them on its feature availability page, so check it for your model and language before you rely on them.
These features help you decide whether to pick up a call that is ringing. If you are busy and cannot pick up at all, something or someone still has to take the call, and that is where a receptionist service or Lorela comes in.
Common questions
Do I have to change my number because of the assistant?
No. Your number stays and people keep calling it. You only set up conditional call forwarding, and the calls you do not answer go to the assistant's number by themselves.
Does it work with every network?
For Lorela you need call forwarding to another number. EE, O2, Vodafone, Three and the brands on their networks offer it; if your plan does not, ask your network whether it can be switched on. You will find the steps for each network in our guides.
How many calls can Lorela handle?
Lorela can take several calls at the same time. A standard subscription includes 60 minutes of calls a month, on yearly billing too. Once the minutes run out she still takes a short name and message; longer conversations wait for the next period or for extra minutes you add.
What if I want to stop?
Dial ##002# on your phone and the call forwarding you set up on your number is turned off. That does not cancel the subscription: switch off its renewal separately, where you took it out. The period you have already paid for runs out.
We read the pages of Fasthosts, Moneypenny, Dialzara and Google's Call Screen on Nov 9, 2026. Network charges depend on your plan and roaming. If you spot a mistake, we will gladly fix it - write to hello@lorela.uk.
Related guides
A sample call and summary
What happens when Lorela answers for you? Listen right here, without signing up or entering a phone number.
A sample call with Lorela
What the plumber learns after the call
His boiler is leaking onto the floor. He needs it fixed fast.
- Urgency: urgent
- Call back: tomorrow morning
The summary arrives in the app and by email. You decide when to call back.
Read the sample transcript
- Lorela: Hi, this is Lorela, Mike Carter's virtual assistant. How can I help you?
- Caller: Hi, this is Dan Brooks. My boiler is leaking, there's water all over the floor. I need it fixed fast.
- Lorela: Got it, I'll pass that on right away. How urgent is it?
- Caller: Pretty urgent, it's still leaking.
- Lorela: I'm passing your message to Mike right away. You'll get a call back as soon as possible. Have a good day.
Hear how Lorela talks
No comparison table tells you what two minutes on the phone does. Have a demo call with Lorela, then decide.