UC-21 Churches
Phone system for churches that keeps the office line off the pastor's personal cell
A phone system for churches gives the church one published number that rings the office, the pastor and the ministry leads from an app on their own phones. Callers press for service times, pastoral care, facility rental or the office, an unanswered call rolls to the next person, and voicemail arrives as a text transcript in a shared inbox. No desk hardware is needed. Team is $17 per user a month billed yearly.
A new family looking for a church calls on Thursday to ask about service times and the nursery. If nobody picks up and the voicemail box is full, the next church on the list gets the visit.
Where a church loses calls
Three ways the current setup quietly hands callers to somebody else.
Pain 01
The office is staffed three days a week
A part-time administrator cannot be at the desk when a first-time visitor, a family planning a funeral or a vendor calls. The voicemail box fills up and nobody owns it.
Pain 02
The pastor's personal cell is the church number
Staff and volunteers give out their own numbers, so calls reach people on their day off and the church has no record of who called when a staff member leaves.
Pain 03
One line for every kind of caller
A visitor asking about service times, a member in a hospital crisis and a group renting the fellowship hall all dial the same number and wait on the same person.
One church number and a path for every caller
Every outcome below is a setting you flip, not a project you scope.
Service times answered without a person
An IVR phone menu lets a caller press 1 for service times and directions, 2 for pastoral care, 3 for facility rental and 4 for the office, so a visitor gets an answer on a Thursday night.
Pastoral care calls that reach a person
Set call routing so the pastoral care option rings the pastor first, then the associate pastor, and the office line rings the administrator during office hours and goes to voicemail after them.
Reminders and room confirmations by text
Confirm a hall booking or a counseling appointment with business texting from the church number. Texting goes live once carrier registration is approved, usually a few business days.
Staff use their own phones as the church line
The pastor and ministry leads sign into the mobile app and call as the church number, so members never see a personal cell and a staff change does not change the number.
A church that records calls, for example facility rental inquiries, should check the rules. Our state-by-state guide to call recording laws shows which states need every party to agree.
How a real call plays out
Straight from the operator's call sheet, next to the math the decision maker actually runs.
On a Thursday evening a family calls to ask about Sunday service times and the children's program. The administrator is off, so the call plays the menu, the family presses 1 and hears the times and address. A second caller presses 3 for hall rental, reaches voicemail, and the transcript lands in the shared inbox for the office to answer by text the next morning.
A small church with a pastor, an administrator and a ministry lead is three seats. On Team, which includes the menu, routing and business texting, that is $51 a month billed yearly, or $105 month to month. It replaces a desk phone line, and it puts a published number on phones the staff already own.
Recording and consent
Phoner is a business phone system. It does not send broadcast messages to a whole congregation, hold callers in a queue, route by skill or longest idle time, or offer a HIPAA BAA. It does not integrate directly with church management software. A church that needs mass texting to members should pair it with a dedicated messaging product.
See it answer for your team
Pick a number, build the menu, and run an incoming call through the switchboard. It takes about 20 seconds, right here.
01 · Pick your number
02 · Your phone menu
03 · Incoming call
Press a key to answer the menu yourself
Voicemail to text
transcribed · texted to you · 0:42
Call sheet
Today
Request this number today. It is usually assigned the same business day.
Recording consent laws vary by state and country. You are responsible for lawful use.
Questions churches ask first
Yes. Number porting is free and our team handles the carrier paperwork. The old number keeps ringing while the transfer completes, which usually takes one to two weeks, and a temporary number is assigned in the meantime.
No. Calls ring in the Phoner app on any phone or computer, so there is no hardware to buy. If the office wants a desk phone, standard SIP desk phones are supported, or staff can keep using a cell.
The call rolls through your ring order, then goes to voicemail. The voicemail is transcribed and sent to the shared inbox as text, so someone can reply by text in a minute instead of calling back blind.
What it costs, in plain numbers
Per user, month to month, unlimited US and Canada calling on every plan. Yearly billing saves 50 percent. Every plan starts at 3 users.
Starter
$9
per user / mo yearly · $19 monthly
Team · Most popular
$17
per user / mo yearly · $35 monthly
Business
$34
per user / mo yearly · $69 monthly
Enterprise
$59
per user / mo yearly · $118 monthly
Most teams like yours pick Team at $17 per user per month billed yearly for the phone menu, team routing, shared numbers, texting, and recording. The full business phone system cost breakdown lists every plan and add-on, including extra numbers at $5 per month.
Also on Phoner: Small business · Startups · Remote teams · Law firms · Real estate · Agencies · Contractors · Accounting firms · Insurance agencies · Property management · Restaurants · Car dealerships · Nonprofits · Financial advisors · Staffing agencies · Auto repair shops · Moving companies · Pest control · Towing · Landscaping
UC-21 Churches · Your line is open
Answer the next call like a company
Pick a number, build your menu, and answer from the phone already in your pocket. Requested in minutes, assigned the same business day, from $9 per user per month billed yearly, no contracts.
No credit card to get started. Cancel any time.