Comparison
HiyaCalls vs JAM: which is right for your UK business?
An honest, evidence-based comparison, what each does well, where each falls short, and how to pick.
HiyaCalls: AI call answering, UK·JAM: The UK's longest-running call answering service, founded 1977
HiyaCalls
AI call answering for UK businesses
Built for UK estate agents and SMBs. Every call answered 24/7 by AI, with a written summary in your inbox within seconds.
- Type
- AI
- Coverage
- 24/7
- Based
- UK
- Pricing
- Bespoke
JAM
The UK's longest-running call answering service, founded 1977
JAM is a human-staffed call answering service.
- Type
- human
- Coverage
- 24/7 typically
- Based
- UK
- Founded
- 1977
Honest assessment
Both have strengths. Here’s the truth.
Where JAM genuinely wins
- Longest-running UK call answering service, founded 1977
- ISO 9001 certified for the third consecutive year
- 2,000+ five-star reviews across their portfolio
- Trusted by Coca-Cola, NHS, Visa, GoCardless, British Steel and other large enterprises
- Specialism in complex call handling and bespoke scripting
- Award-winning, deeply experienced operations team
Where HiyaCalls wins
- Bespoke pricing structured around your call volume rather than per-minute (£0.90–£2/min) charges that can scale unpredictably
- Every call answered instantly by AI, no queueing during spikes
- Written summary in your inbox within seconds, with structured fields, not just paraphrased notes
- Unlimited concurrent calls, your callers never hear “we’re busy, please hold”
Feature comparison
Side by side.
| Capability | HiyaCalls | JAM |
|---|---|---|
| Service type | AI | Human team |
| UK heritage | new entrant | since 1977 |
| Per-minute pricing | £0.90–£2/min | |
| Predictable monthly cost | ||
| Unlimited concurrent calls | ||
| Auto written summaries | ||
| ISO 9001 | ||
| Enterprise references | ||
| Lightweight setup |
How to choose
Which one fits your business?
Choose HiyaCalls if…
- You’re an SMB and don’t need a Coca-Cola-grade enterprise service
- You want a predictable monthly cost rather than per-minute billing
- You handle a high volume of routine calls (viewings, bookings, enquiries)
- You want every call documented in writing in your inbox
Choose JAM if…
- You’re a large enterprise where ISO 9001 and 40+ years of track record are a procurement requirement
- Your calls are complex and benefit from a deeply trained human receptionist team
- You prioritise pedigree and enterprise references over modern AI capability
- You’re comfortable with per-minute billing for the human quality it buys
Comparison FAQ
Common questions.
- Why would I switch from JAM to HiyaCalls?
- You probably wouldn’t if you’re a large enterprise with complex needs and a JAM relationship that works. If you’re an SMB paying per-minute and your call volume is growing, the maths usually favours bespoke AI pricing, plus the automatic written summaries are a workflow upgrade most clients tell us they wish they’d had years ago.
- JAM has 2,000+ five-star reviews. HiyaCalls is new, is that a risk?
- Yes, that’s a fair concern. We’re newer to the UK market. The way we offset it: a transparent demo where you hear the AI answer a sample call for your business, references from comparable clients on request, and a short rolling contract so there’s no long-term commitment if it doesn’t work for you.
- Can HiyaCalls handle complex calls the way JAM does?
- For routine business calls, viewings, valuations, bookings, message-taking, lead capture, tenant queries, yes, equally well. For genuinely complex, high-stakes calls (e.g. legal escalations, crisis comms), we’ll be honest: a deeply trained human team has the edge. We can route complex calls to a fallback human if you want.
See HiyaCalls handle a real call.
Book a 15-minute demo. We’ll show you the AI answering a sample call for your business and the summary in your inbox before we hang up.
Comparison based on publicly available information. JAM and all third-party trademarks are property of their respective owners. We update these pages as competitor offerings change. Spotted something inaccurate? Let us know via our contact form.