answering service

American  

noun

1. a service providing operators who answer a subscriber's telephone and take messages when the subscriber does not answer.

---

Etymology

Origin of answering service

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Her clinic’s answering service called her three times while she was being diagnosed; her husband, Mike Becher, had to take away her phone.

From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2022

This is an answering service and they will forward the contact to the Crisis and Commitment office and place it on the call log.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2022

"We'll have our answering service up tomorrow," Jerry Carr replied in jest.

From BBC • Mar. 19, 2021

From her home in the Philadelphia suburbs, Nin Bell works for an answering service, taking calls from people trying to reach more than 10,000 funeral homes and end-of-life companies.

From Washington Post • Sep. 12, 2020

Eventually a company representative or answering service picked up the call.

From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette