Who should answer the phone when you can't?
Owner Workflows sells a related service, for a fee: an inbox that catches missed calls and inquiries. I also tell you when a hire, a live service or a setting in your current software is the better fit.
For most small service businesses the cheapest adequate answer is a better greeting with a fast callback, or a feature already in the phone or job software they pay for. A live answering service (about $100–$720 a month at list prices for 50–200 minutes) fits when callers need a person, such as emergencies; an AI receptionist ($25–$150 a month for small plans) fits simple booking and questions; a hire fits when the phones fill a working day. Count your calls first; the calculator below prices each option at your volume.
First, count three things
Before you price anything, count one week: your calls and missed calls, how many of the missed calls came outside your posted hours, and what the missed callers wanted (booking or a quote, a question, an emergency, an existing job). The method, and where your phone or app keeps the log, is on the missed-call numbers page; calls outside your hours have their own page. What callers want matters more than whether someone picks up: in Invoca’s home-services benchmarks, 38% of answered calls were leads and 45% of leads converted on the call (Invoca, July 2026, vendor). An option that answers but can’t book only moves the problem. The calculator below starts from these counts.
Every option side by side
Prices read October 2026, before tax.
| Option | 2026 price (source) | What it handles | What it suits | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do nothing: a better greeting and a fast callback | $0 (greeting scripts) | Takes messages; sets a callback time | Few missed calls; callers who are not in a hurry | Only reaches callers who leave a message; no source measures its effect on bookings |
| Switch on what your software includes | Quo auto-replies to missed calls on all plans, $19/$33/$47 per user a month (Quo); Quo’s Sona AI agent, 10 calls a month free, add-on tiers $25–$199 (same); Jobber Receptionist $29 a month add-on with 30 conversations, $0.79 each after, included on Plus (Jobber help, Jobber pricing); Square Appointments call-to-text (Square); GlossGenius Reception: listed as a $50-a-month add-on on GlossGenius’s pricing page (GlossGenius pricing, read 12 Oct 2026), while its early-access page says it is free to use today and will become a paid add-on later (GlossGenius, read 12 Oct 2026); check which applies to your account | Whatever the feature does: an auto-text, AI answering inside the platform | Anyone already on one of these | Plan-gated; a feature’s limits are the vendor’s (e.g. Jobber sends at most one text-back per 24 h) |
| Forward to a cell or ring a group | $0 in most phone systems; Google Voice $10–$30 per user a month, with voicemail by Calendar working hours (Google) | A person answers if free | Missed calls that bunch at predictable times | Pulls the owner off the job |
| Missed-call text-back | Included in Quo (above); Grasshopper from $14 a month billed annually, plan tier for Instant Response not confirmed (Grasshopper); carrier registration roughly $20–$65 once plus $1.50–$10 a month (texting costs) | One text inviting the caller to reply | Callers with booking or quote requests who text | Emergencies; callers who don’t text; landlines (texting page) |
| Hire: part-time | About $1,821 a month in wages for 20 h/week at the LA mean of $21.03/h ($21.03 × 20 h × 4.33 weeks), about $21,900 a year (× 12 months), before employer costs (my arithmetic from BLS, May 2024 data) | Answers, books, does other office work | Steady daytime volume plus office work to fill the hours | Business hours only; recruiting, cover for leave |
| Hire: full-time | National median $18.27/h, $38,010 a year (May 2025); LA mean $21.03/h (May 2024); in establishments of 1–49 workers, wages are 74.1% of total compensation (June 2026) (BLS OOH, BLS ECEC) | As above | Phones that fill a working day | As above |
| Live answering service | Ruby $250/50 min to $720/200 min (Ruby); Smith.ai human receptionists $300/30 calls, overage $8.50–$11.50 per call (Smith.ai); PATLive $99/50 min to $349/200 min, overage $2.29/min on the 50-minute plan, $2.09 on the 100-minute plan ($189) and $1.99 on the 200-minute plan, re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (PATLive); Abby $165/50 min to $599/200 min (Abby); MAP $179/125 min, overage $1.30/min on that plan ($1.28 on larger plans), re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (MAP) | A person takes messages, follows a script, can page you | Callers who need a person: emergencies, upset customers | Doesn’t know your business deeply; per-minute or per-call costs rise with volume; forum owners report callers hanging up on services (PlumbingZone) |
| AI receptionist (off the shelf) | Upfirst $24.95/30 calls (Upfirst); Rosie $49/250 min (Rosie); Trillet $49/150 min then $0.20/min (Trillet); Goodcall $79/100 unique callers (Goodcall); Dialzara $99/220 min (Dialzara); My AI Front Desk $99/200 min (My AI Front Desk); Smith.ai AI Pro $150/75 calls, $2.50 overage (Smith.ai) | Answers, answers common questions, takes booking requests; depth varies by product | Simple booking and question calls | Callers who want a person; emergencies need an escalation route; California’s all-party consent rule (§632) is why many tools announce recording at the greeting (see below; not advice) |
| My inquiry inbox (what I sell; not available yet) | Planned: $149 a month plus usage at cost (Owner Workflows inbox page) | Catches missed calls, voicemails, emails and web forms in one daily list, with urgent ones sent at once; doesn’t answer calls | Owners who call back themselves and lose inquiries across several channels | Costs more than a missed-call text or a software add-on at small volumes; nobody answers live |
California’s Penal Code §632 concerns recording a confidential communication without the consent of all parties (Justia); that rule is why many answering tools announce recording at the greeting. This reports what the code says; it is not advice, and whether it applies to your calls is a question for an attorney.
Check what you already pay for
Before buying a new service, look in the phone and booking software you already pay for. Each of these was read on the vendor’s own page:
- Quo: missed-call auto-replies on every plan; its Sona AI agent takes 10 calls a month free before a paid add-on tier.
- Jobber: the Receptionist add-on, $29 a month with 30 conversations ($0.79 each after), included on the Plus plan.
- Square Appointments: call-to-text.
- GlossGenius: Reception, listed as a $50-a-month add-on on the pricing page and as free during early access on its own page; check your account.
- Google Voice: sends calls to voicemail outside the working hours set in Google Calendar.
If you run a trade on Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan or Workiz, the plumbing and HVAC page compares what each platform sells for call answering.
Will callers accept an automated answer?
Surveys on this come from companies with something to sell, so the sponsor matters. Here is each finding with who paid for it.
| Sponsor | Finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gartner (sells neither) | 64% of customers would prefer companies didn’t use AI for customer service; top concern is that it makes reaching a person harder | Gartner, survey Dec 2023 of 5,728 customers, released 9 Jul 2024; countries not stated |
| CallRail (call tracking plus an AI product) | 52% think after-hours AI gives better service; 50% would use AI to book; 13% would not use AI for any task | CallRail, 25 Sep 2025, 1,000 US consumers |
| AnswerConnect (human answering) | 85% would rather speak to a person | AnswerConnect, 6,000 adults in the US, UK and Canada |
| Housecall Pro (field software with an AI add-on) | 53% of homeowners comfortable with AI handling initial inquiries | Housecall Pro, 23 Oct 2025, n=1,040, SurveyMonkey |
Read across the sponsors, the findings agree on one thing: callers mind not being able to reach a person. Any automated option needs a visible route to one, such as a transfer, a “press 1” option or a page to your phone.
Cost at your volume
Type last week’s counts. The calculator uses only your numbers and the list prices above, and shows its arithmetic.
Questions owners ask
How much does an answering service cost for a small business?
At list prices read in October 2026, live answering plans run from $99 a month for 50 minutes (PATLive) to $720 for 200 minutes (Ruby), with per-minute or per-call charges above the allowance. What you pay depends on your minutes, so the calculator above prices each plan at your own volume.
Is an AI receptionist cheaper than a person?
On list price, yes: small AI plans run $25–$150 a month, against about $1,821 a month in wages for a 20-hour-a-week receptionist at the Los Angeles mean wage (BLS, May 2024 data). They do different jobs, though: a hire also does office work, and some callers want a person.
Do I need anyone answering if I get only a few calls a week?
Possibly not. If you miss only a few calls and call back quickly, a clear greeting with a callback time may be enough, and it costs nothing. Count your missed calls for a week before paying for anything.
Can callers still reach a person?
With most options, only if you set it up: a transfer, a “press 1” route or a page to your phone. Surveys from sponsors on both sides agree that callers mind not being able to reach a person, so any automated option should offer a route to one.
Sources
Prices are list prices read in October 2026, before tax. “Vendor” marks a publisher that sells in this category.
- PATLive, pricing, per-plan overage re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (vendor).
- MAP Communications, pricing, per-plan overage re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Ruby, pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Abby Connect, pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Smith.ai, human receptionist pricing and AI receptionist pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Upfirst, pricing; Rosie, pricing; Trillet, pricing; Goodcall, pricing; Dialzara, pricing; My AI Front Desk, pricing; each read Oct 2026 (vendors).
- Quo, pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Jobber, Receptionist help article and pricing, re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Square, Square Appointments pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- GlossGenius, pricing and Reception early access, both read 12 Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Google, Google Voice, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Grasshopper, pricing, read Oct 2026 (vendor).
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Receptionists, May 2025 wage data.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages in Los Angeles, May 2024 data.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Table 6, June 2026.
- Invoca, Home Services Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026, July 2026, re-checked 12 Oct 2026 (vendor).
- Gartner, press release, 9 Jul 2024; survey of 5,728 customers, Dec 2023.
- CallRail, consumer survey, 25 Sep 2025; 1,000 US consumers (vendor).
- AnswerConnect, AI customer experience statistics; 6,000 adults in the US, UK and Canada (vendor).
- Housecall Pro, home service customer service report, 23 Oct 2025; n=1,040, SurveyMonkey (vendor).
- PlumbingZone, “Answering service?” forum thread.
- California Penal Code §632, Justia.