What “24/7 answering” really means
Plenty of services say 24/7. Some mean someone answers at 3am on Christmas Day. Some mean they will, at a surcharge, once you’ve switched after hours on. Here’s how to tell which one you’re buying.
The short answer
A week has 168 hours. A full-time employee on the Clerks award works 38 ordinary hours, which can fall between 7am and 7pm on weekdays and 7am and 12.30pm on Saturdays. That leaves 130 hours a week when somebody else, or something else, has to answer.
Real 24/7 cover means all 168, public holidays included, at a price you know before the bill arrives. Check the fine print. Some services answer business hours by default and charge extra for the rest.
The assistant doesn’t get Sunday rates. It doesn’t get Sundays.
Why people cost more at night and on weekends
| Rate | Per hour | |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday, ordinary hours | 100% | A$29.45 |
| Overtime, Monday to Saturday, first 2 hours | 150% | A$44.18 |
| Saturday, ordinary hours | 125% | A$36.81 |
| Sunday | 200% | A$58.90 |
| Public holiday | 250%, and at least 4 hours’ pay | A$73.63 |
Minimum rates under the Clerks Private Sector Award 2020 for a Level 2 employee, whose duties include answering enquiries at reception, from 1 July 2026 (the Fair Work Ombudsman’s award page, read on 12 October 2026). Super at 12% (ato.gov.au) and leave are on top.
What answering services mean by 24/7
OfficeHQ answers around the clock if you turn after-hours answering on. Without it, its receptionists answer 8am to 6pm on weekdays. With it, each MessageExpress call outside those hours costs A$0.60 extra, before GST.
Your Phones Covered offers 24/7 and after-hours cover as well. Its pricing page says to contact them for the details.
Fair enough. People cost more at night, as the award rates show. Just know which hours your monthly price covers.
On the bill it looks like this. On OfficeHQ’s MessageExpress 50 plan, A$115 a month before GST, every 10 calls after hours add A$6. On MyReceptionist, every 10 add A$10.
Covering 168 hours with people
Doing it in-house takes more than four full-timers on 38-hour weeks, before anyone takes leave. At the award minimum for a Level 2 employee, four full-timers is A$4,476.40 a week before super, penalty rates and night shifts.
For a sole trader that’s not on the cards. The phone goes to your mobile after hours, or to a service that shares its people across lots of businesses.
What 24/7 costs with an AI receptionist
Software doesn’t get penalty rates, so AI receptionists usually charge the same at night. AIssie’s pricing page says its A$0.65 extra-minute rate applies after hours and on weekends too.
Ours is the same any hour. A sole trader gets 100 minutes a month included, then pays A$0.49 a minute, whether the call comes at 10am on a Tuesday or 2am on Boxing Day.
Questions that sort real 24/7 from the brochure
- Which hours does the monthly price cover, and which cost extra?
- Are public holidays included?
- What happens when two people ring at once?
- What happens to an emergency at 3am: a text, a phone call, or a note for the morning?
- Does it book the job, or take a message?
- Who do you ring when it gets something wrong?
Ring it twice
Ring the service’s number at 7pm on a Saturday, the way a customer would. While that call’s still going, ring again from another phone. How both calls get handled tells you more than the pricing page does.
Ask any provider how many calls it answers at the same moment. If the answer is one per person on shift, ask how many people are on shift at 7pm on a Saturday.
Where a person still wins
An upset customer, a tricky complaint or a big job that needs a proper conversation goes better with a person, and that person is usually you.
So good round-the-clock cover answers everything straight away and gets the right calls to you. Ours texts you what you’ve said counts as urgent, then rings you. The rest gets booked.
Some services mix the two. OfficeHQ’s AI receptionist passes the call to one of its Australian-based receptionists if the AI gets stuck or the caller asks for a person.
24/7 answering questions
What does a 24/7 answering service cover?
Every hour of every day, including nights, weekends and public holidays. Check the contract, because some services answer business hours only unless you add after hours.
Is a 24/7 answering service dearer at night?
With people, often. OfficeHQ adds A$0.60 to A$1.00 a call outside 8am to 6pm weekdays. Ours costs the same any hour: A$0.49 a minute once you’re past your included minutes.
How much does it cost to have someone answer the phone on a public holiday?
Under the Clerks award, at least A$73.63 an hour for a Level 2 employee from 1 July 2026, with at least 4 hours’ pay. That’s A$294.50 for one short shift, before super.
Do I need 24/7 answering as a sole trader?
Only if your work brings calls worth answering at night, like burst pipes or lockouts. If nobody rings after 6pm, business-hours cover and a missed-call text might be all you need.
Does OffsiteMate answer on public holidays?
Yes. Any hour, every day, public holidays included, at the same price.
This phone is answered.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au