answering service

noun

: a commercial service that answers telephone calls for its clients

Example Sentences

The doctor is not in the office now, but you can reach her answering service at this number if you have an emergency.

Recent Examples on the Web

Her clinic’s answering service called her three times while she was being diagnosed; her husband, Mike Becher, had to take away her phone. —Oliver Whang Maddie Mcgarvey, New York Times, 19 Sep. 2022

He’s maintained his longtime job working the late shift for an answering service, and he’s taken up cooking. —BostonGlobe.com, 1 Sep. 2021

That neurologist wasn’t on call, she was told by the answering service, but someone would call her back. —Lisa Sanders, M.d., New York Times, 13 Oct. 2022

Ruby provides a centralized answering service for medical practices, law firms, repair services and other businesses too small to have their own operators. —oregonlive, 12 May 2022

Unable to afford an answering service, Clint notes, Rance and Jean saw to it that one or the other was always home to receive calls about acting jobs. —Peter Tonguette, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2021

Meanwhile, Jeana called Holmes’s answering service and left the number. —Mike Sager, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2021

Note that there is a huge difference between an answering service and an intake service. —Yec, Forbes, 7 July 2021

The state currently provides an answering service through which residents seeking appointments can only leave messages, Alaska Public Media reports. —From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2021

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Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

answering service

noun

: a commercial service that answers telephone calls for its clients