Compared with what you would otherwise do
Nobody chooses a voice agent against a rival voice agent. They choose it against leaving the phone ringing, hiring somebody, or paying a service to take messages. Those are the three things worth comparing.
What each one actually costs
Including the one that looks free.
Leave them unanswered
Freein cash
Costs nothing to set up and nothing per month. It costs the bookings instead — every caller who does not leave a message rings the next place on the list, and you never learn which ones they were.
You cannot see what it costs, which is the reason it survives.
Hire another person
$3,000per month
The most complete answer, and the most expensive. A person handles anything, judges tone, and knows your regulars — none of which an agent does as well.
Still one conversation at a time, still only during the hours somebody is on the floor.
An answering service
Per calltypically
Someone picks up out of hours and takes a message. The call stops ringing out, which is a real improvement over nothing.
They do not have your calendar, so a message is all you get — the booking still waits for you.
Commonly cited average monthly cost of a part-time receptionist — an industry figure, not a Talknology measurement.
The fourth option
An agent on the Practice plan
$199/month
It answers the calls the other three options drop — the second line, the ones after closing, the ones nobody was free to take — and books them into the calendar rather than taking a message about them. It is not the most capable option on this page. It is the one that is always available, and it costs the same in a busy month as a quiet one.
What it does, and what it does not
A limitation you find out about later is worse than one stated up front.
It does
- Answers every call, including the second one and the 9pm one
- Books, moves and cancels against the calendar you already use
- Knows your services, your people and your hours
- Hands the call to a person the moment it needs one
It does not
- Read a caller's mood the way somebody who knows them would
- Handle the parts of a front desk that happen in the room
- Replace the person who does both — it covers the calls they cannot take
Decide with your own numbers
Put your figures in and see
The calculator runs in your browser on the numbers you enter. Or book fifteen minutes and ask the agent yourself.