The weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year's are when many offices close early, run on a skeleton crew or shut for days at a time. Callers do not stop needing you. Pipes freeze over winter breaks, a tenant gets locked out on a holiday weekend, and a patient has an urgent question while the practice is closed. This short guide covers what happens to those calls and how to plan for them. For the full picture by industry, see our holiday answering service page.
What callers reach while you are closed
With an answering service, your line forwards to live agents whenever your office is closed, and stays there until you reopen. At Answering365 that means a US-based agent who answers in your company's name and follows your instructions, not a voicemail box or a phone tree. We operate 24/7/365, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and every other holiday, and our operators are bilingual in English and Spanish on every shift. Holiday coverage is part of our after-hours answering service, which covers nights and weekends the same way.
Three things to decide before you close
- 1Your closure dates. Send us your changed hours of operation, so we know which days your calls come to us all day and when you reopen.
- 2What counts as urgent. A no-heat call in freezing weather or active flooding may need your on-call person right away, while a routine request can wait for your next business day. You decide where that line sits.
- 3Who is on call. Urgent calls are escalated to the right person on your rotation. Everything else is taken as a message and delivered on your schedule.
Busy season, not just closed days
For some businesses the holiday problem is not a closed office but too many calls at once. Retail has its holiday rush, HVAC companies get the first cold snap, and restoration firms get winter storms. Overflow call handling picks up only when your own lines are busy, so your team keeps answering its own calls and the callers who would have heard a busy signal reach a live agent instead.
Businesses that feel the holidays most
- HVAC and plumbing companies, whose no-heat and burst-pipe calls do not wait for the holiday to end.
- Property managers fielding maintenance emergencies on holiday weekends.
- Medical practices that close for the holidays but still need patients to reach a person.
- Restoration companies taking storm calls in bursts.
Does holiday coverage cost more?
No. Answering365 does not charge extra for after-hours, weekend or holiday calls. Coverage is included in every plan at one consistent rate, on month-to-month plans with no long-term contract. There is more detail in our frequently asked questions.
Getting started
Every account starts with custom call scripts built for your business, and you approve every detail before we go live. To plan coverage for this holiday season, request a free quote and choose "Holiday coverage" on the form, or call (888) 588-9800. We answer that line on the holidays too.
