Comparison
AI Receptionist vs Outsourced Secretarial Services
Secretarial firms in Singapore do a great deal that we do not — filings, minutes, compliance calendars. Phone answering is usually an add-on to that relationship, and it is the part worth examining separately.
Two different jobs
An outsourced secretarial or corporate services provider handles the statutory and administrative machinery of running a company: registered address, annual filings, board minutes, share registers, compliance deadlines. That is skilled work and we do not offer any of it.
Many of them also offer call answering, often bundled with the address. It is a convenience rather than a specialism, and it usually means a shared line answered in your company name during office hours, with a message emailed on.
So the comparison is narrow. Nothing here replaces your secretarial provider. The question is whether the phone should be part of what you buy from them.
Where the scopes sit
| Secretarial provider | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory filings and minutes | Yes, and this is the reason to engage them | Not offered |
| Registered address | Usually included | Not offered |
| Compliance deadlines | Tracked on your behalf | Not offered |
| Who answers your calls | Shared staff, alongside their core work | Dedicated to your rules |
| Hours | Office hours, weekdays | All hours, all year |
| Knowledge of your services | Your company name and structure, rarely what you sell | Your full approved information |
| Appointments | Not usually possible | Booked into your calendar |
| What you receive | A message, often later in the day | A completed outcome and a structured record |
The row that matters most is knowledge of services. A secretarial team knows your company; it rarely knows what a customer is ringing about, because that has never been their job.
Where the bundled answering falls short
It works perfectly well for the calls it was designed for: banks, auditors, regulators, suppliers. Those callers want to reach an officer of the company and are content to leave a message.
It works less well once customers start ringing the same number. A prospective client asking whether you handle their situation, or wanting an appointment, gets a message taken by someone who cannot answer either question — and by the time it reaches you, the moment has usually passed.
The usual arrangement. Keep the secretarial provider for everything statutory, and route your customer-facing number separately. Two numbers, two purposes, no conflict — and your compliance relationship stays exactly as it is.
If the number was supplied by them, establish who owns it before making changes. See numbers and call routing setup.
The bundled option is enough when
- Your published number is mainly for official and supplier correspondence
- Customers reach you by other means entirely
- Nothing you sell is booked or qualified over the phone
- You are a holding company or investment vehicle with little inbound trade
Worth asking either provider the same question. What happens when a caller is distressed, raises a matter involving a child, describes a symptom or asks about an allergy? Those reach a person immediately in every deployment we build. A message taken and emailed on is a different arrangement, and you should know which you have.
Frequently asked questions
Do you do company filings or minutes?
No. That is corporate secretarial work and needs a licensed provider. Keep yours.
Can we keep our registered address with them?
Yes. Nothing here affects your registered or correspondence address.
Will we pay twice for call answering?
Only if answering is separately charged. Ask what your package costs without it, since it is often an add-on rather than core.
We are a secretarial firm ourselves. Does this apply to us?
Differently — your own client calls are the volume problem. See the page for corporate secretarial firms.
What about confidentiality?
Handle it the same way you would with any supplier: written terms, restricted data capture, clear escalation. See vendor due diligence.
Should we use one number or two?
Two usually works better once customers ring you: an official line and a customer line, each behaving differently.
Related comparisons
Keep your secretarial provider. Separate the customer line.
Tell us what your provider currently does with calls and we will show you what changes — which, for the statutory side, is nothing at all.