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Answering service and receptionist cost calculator

Enter your calls and the hours you need covered to compare what an in-house receptionist, an answering service and NuTalk's AI receptionist cost each month, and to estimate what missed calls cost you. Starting values come from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and published price lists, and every formula is shown.

Updated September 23, 2026

Answering cost calculator

USD · per month

Calls per month

Example. Take yours from your call log.

Minutes per call

Example: PATLive estimates about 200 calls per 500 minutes.

Hours to cover

173.3 desk hours a month (hours a week × 52 ÷ 12). Covering 24/7 takes several people working shifts.

Hourly wage

$18.27 is the BLS median for receptionists, May 2025. Local pay varies.

Benefits and taxes

BLS, June 2026: private employers paid $14.07 an hour in benefits on top of $32.82 in wages.

Billed

Rate per minute

Cheapest of PATLive's published plans for your minutes: the 500-minute plan at $759 a month. Prices checked Sep 22, 2026. Type a rate to use your own quote.

Price it on published plans:

Example values. We don't assume a typical missed-call rate; use your call log and your own booking numbers.

Calls missed

Rang out or went to voicemail, and never got a call back in time.

Would have booked

Share of those callers.

Value per booking

Average revenue from one booking.

Monthly cost to answer your calls

200 calls · 2.5 min each

In-house receptionist

$4,528.52

per month

Per call: $22.64
Per year: $54,342.29

173.3 h × $18.27 × 1.43

Paid for every desk hour, busy or not. Also greets visitors and does office work.

Answering service

$759.00

per month

Per call: $3.80
Per year: $9,108.00

500-minute plan $759

Cheapest published PATLive plan for your minutes, before taxes and add-ons.

NuTalk SMB

$299.00

per month

Lowest

Per call: $1.50
Per year: $3,588.00

Monthly plan price

Unlimited AI calls on your own line through the AiBox, one call at a time per line. The AiBox, $149 once, is billed separately. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.

Your calls add up to 8.3 hours of talk time a month, 4.8% of the 173.3 hours a receptionist spends at the desk. The rest of that time goes to other work.

At PATLive's published prices, NuTalk SMB costs less a month above about 61 calls a month.

Revenue at risk from missed calls

$500.00a month

200 calls × 10% missed × 25% who would book = 5 lost bookings × $100.00. An estimate from your inputs, not a forecast.

NuTalk SMB is $299 USD a month for unlimited AI calls on your own local phone line, connected through the AiBox, one call at a time per line. The AiBox, $149 one time, is quoted and billed separately. Lines, hardware and call evaluations are confirmed for your package, and premium voices may be billed separately. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.
Only want a NuTalk phone number, or have low or seasonal volume? Pay as you go starts free.
A receptionist does more than answer the phone. This compares phone coverage only and leaves out recruiting, training, equipment and desk space.
Answering services vary: plan tiers, overage rates, billing rules and add-ons change the bill. Use the rate from your quote.

How we calculate

Talk time = calls × minutes per call.
Desk hours a month = hours a week × 52 ÷ 12: business hours 173.3, extended 260, 24/7 728.
People on the desk = talk hours ÷ desk hours, rounded up, at least 1. A receptionist is paid for the desk hours whether the phone rings or not.
In-house = desk hours × people × hourly wage × (1 + benefits and taxes ÷ 100).
Answering service = on a provider's published plans, the cheapest plan for your minutes or calls, plus its rate for anything above the allowance (no price where the provider only quotes); with your own rate, minutes × rate or calls × rate.
NuTalk SMB = the $299 monthly plan price, which doesn't change with the number of calls. The AiBox's one-time $149 is billed separately and left out of the monthly and yearly figures. SMB takes one call at a time per line: when your talk time needs more calls at once, more lines are quoted. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.
Cost per call = monthly cost ÷ calls. Per year = monthly cost × 12.
Break-even = the call volume at which the answering service costs more than $299 a month.
Missed-call revenue = calls × % missed × % who would book × value per booking.

Starting values

Hourly wage $18.27: the median hourly wage for receptionists in May 2025 (BLS).
Benefits and taxes 43%: in June 2026, private-industry employers paid $14.07 an hour in benefits (paid leave, insurance, retirement, Social Security, Medicare and other legally required costs) on top of $32.82 in wages, or 42.9% (BLS).
Answering service: PATLive's published plans, from pay-as-you-go at $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute to 5,000 minutes for $6,899, each with its own rate for extra minutes. Published prices checked Sep 22, 2026.
Calls, minutes per call and the missed-call inputs are examples. 200 calls of 2.5 minutes matches PATLive's estimate of about 200 calls for 500 minutes.

Sources

What a receptionist really costs: wage, benefits and hours

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median hourly wage for receptionists at $18.27 in May 2025, or $38,010 a year. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than $13.83 an hour and the highest-paid 10 percent more than $24.01. Wages are only part of the cost. In June 2026, private-industry employers paid $14.07 an hour in benefits on top of $32.82 in wages, so benefits were 30.0% of total compensation, or 42.9% on top of wages. The calculator starts at 43%, which puts a receptionist at the median wage at about $26.13 an hour.

BLS counts paid leave, supplemental pay, insurance, retirement and legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and workers' compensation) as benefits.
The share varies by job and employer size. In private industry in June 2026, benefits came to 45.6% of wages for office and administrative support jobs and 35.0% at establishments with 1 to 49 workers. Use the figure that matches your payroll.
Coverage sets the hours you pay for: 40 hours a week is 173.3 desk hours a month, 60 hours is 260, and 24/7 is 168 hours a week, or 728 a month, which takes several people working shifts.
At the median wage plus 43%, business-hours coverage costs about $4,528.52 a month and 24/7 coverage about $19,019.80, before recruiting, training, equipment and desk space.

How answering services and virtual receptionists price their plans

The live answering services we checked sell a monthly bundle of minutes or calls. PATLive and Smith.ai also list what each extra minute or call costs once you go over the bundle; Ruby's pricing page doesn't. These are the prices on their pricing pages on September 22, 2026.

PATLive, per minute: 200 minutes for $349 a month and 500 minutes for $759, with additional minutes at $1.99 and $1.79. Pay-as-you-go is $49 a month plus $2.99 a minute.
Ruby, per minute: 50 minutes for $250 a month, 100 for $395, 200 for $720 and 500 for $1,725.
Smith.ai virtual receptionists, per call: 30 calls for $300 a month, 90 for $810 and 300 for $2,100, with extra calls at $11.50, $10.50 and $8.50.
To compare plans, divide the price by what it includes: $1.518 a minute on PATLive's 500-minute plan, $3.45 on Ruby's 500-minute plan and $9.00 a call on Smith.ai's 90-call plan.
Add-ons and fees can change the bill: Smith.ai lists per-call add-ons such as $1.50 to book an appointment and $1.00 for a dedicated Spanish line, and PATLive notes that its prices don't include taxes and fees.
Per-minute bills depend on call length. PATLive's pricing page estimates about 80 calls for 200 minutes and about 200 calls for 500 minutes, roughly 2.5 minutes a call.
Some providers show prices only after you request a quote, so they are not listed here.

What AI receptionists cost, and what "unlimited" means

AI receptionists are priced per call, per minute or at a flat monthly rate, so compare them the same way. Smith.ai's AI Receptionist, for example, lists a free plan with 25 calls a month and $3.00 for each call after that, and a Pro plan at $150 a month for 75 calls ($2.00 a call). NuTalk SMB is $299 USD a month for unlimited AI calls on your own local phone line, connected through the AiBox, so the plan price doesn't rise with the number of calls. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.

Unlimited means no per-minute or per-call meter on AI calls. SMB takes one call at a time per line, and you keep your number and your carrier. The AiBox, $149 one time, is quoted and billed separately. Lines, hardware and call evaluations are confirmed for your package, and premium voices may be billed separately. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.
Need more lines, or outbound call campaigns on your own PBX? NuTalk Call Center starts at $599 USD a month, with no AiBox, and is set up with our sales team; more lines are quoted.
NuTalk answers calls in English and Spanish on your hours and rules, books appointments on your connected calendar, follows up on WhatsApp and passes conversations to your team with a summary.
Only want a NuTalk phone number, or have lower or seasonal volume? Pay as you go starts free and needs no credit card.
Whichever provider you choose, ask what counts as a billable call or minute and what happens in your busiest hour.

The hidden cost of missed calls

A missed call costs money only when the caller would have booked and doesn't come back. The calculator estimates it as calls per month × the share you miss × the share of those callers who would have booked × the average value of a booking. We don't assume a typical missed-call rate: your phone system's call log shows how many calls rang out or went to voicemail; leave out the ones you called back in time.

Example: 200 calls × 10% missed × 25% who would book = 5 lost bookings; at $100 each, that's $500 a month.
Set the result next to each option's monthly cost: coverage pays for itself when the bookings it keeps are worth more than it costs.

How to choose between a receptionist, an answering service and AI

Start from the calls you actually get, then match the option to the hours and the kind of work those calls need.

Volume: per-minute and per-call bills grow with every call; a salary or a flat plan doesn't. The calculator shows the monthly call volume above which NuTalk SMB costs less than the answering service rate you enter.
Hours: covering evenings and weekends with staff means paying for 60 to 168 desk hours a week. The services we checked include 24/7 answering in their plan prices; ask others whether nights and weekends cost extra. NuTalk answers on the hours and rules you set.
Complexity: questions, messages and appointment booking fit a service or an AI receptionist; calls that need judgment or hands-on work still need your team. NuTalk passes those conversations to your team with a summary.
Languages: if your callers speak English and Spanish, check that each option handles both on the same line.
Everything else: an in-house receptionist also greets visitors and supports the office. Count that work before you compare phone costs alone.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How much does a receptionist cost per hour?

The median hourly wage for receptionists in the U.S. was $18.27 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Add benefits and payroll taxes, about 43% of wages for private-industry employers in June 2026, and a receptionist at the median wage costs about $26.13 an hour.

What is the average receptionist salary?

The BLS median annual wage for receptionists was $38,010 in 2025. Employers pay more than the salary: with benefits and payroll taxes at about 43% of wages, a full-time receptionist at the median wage costs about $54,342 a year (2,080 hours at $18.27 plus 43%), before recruiting, training and equipment.

How much does an answering service cost?

It depends on the plan and your call volume. On the pricing pages we checked on September 22, 2026, PATLive lists $349 a month for 200 minutes and $759 for 500; Ruby lists $720 for 200 minutes and $1,725 for 500; and Smith.ai lists its virtual receptionists at $810 a month for 90 calls. Enter the rate from your quote in the calculator to compare it with a receptionist and an AI receptionist.

How much do virtual receptionists charge per minute or per call?

Divide the plan price by what it includes. On published pricing checked September 22, 2026, that's $1.745 a minute on PATLive's 200-minute plan, $3.60 a minute on Ruby's 200-minute plan and $9.00 a call on Smith.ai's 90-call plan. Going over can cost more: PATLive lists $1.99 per additional minute on that plan and Smith.ai $10.50 per call over 90. Smith.ai also lists per-call add-ons, such as $1.50 per booked appointment.

Is an AI receptionist cheaper than an answering service?

It depends on volume. Per-minute and per-call bills grow with every call; a flat plan doesn't. NuTalk SMB is $299 USD a month, plus $149 one time for the AiBox, billed separately. Priced on PATLive's published plans with 2.5-minute calls, it costs less a month than the answering service above about 61 calls a month, up to 2,000 calls (5,000 minutes) on one line, where fair-use review applies. At lower volume a small answering service plan can cost less, so run your own numbers.

What does 24/7 phone coverage cost?

With staff, 24/7 means 168 desk hours a week, or 728 a month, split among several people working shifts. At the BLS median wage plus 43% for benefits and taxes, that's about $19,020 a month. PATLive, Ruby and Smith.ai include 24/7 answering in the plan prices on their pricing pages, so their bill depends on minutes or calls, not on the hours covered; some other providers charge extra for nights and weekends, so ask. NuTalk answers on the hours and rules you set, and the NuTalk SMB plan price stays $299 USD a month; lines, hardware and call evaluations are confirmed for your package. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line.

What does NuTalk SMB include?

Unlimited AI calls on your own local phone line, connected through the AiBox, for $299 USD a month, one call at a time per line. The AiBox, $149 one time, is quoted and billed separately. Lines, hardware and call evaluations are confirmed for your package, and premium voices may be billed separately. Fair use applies: we review usage above 5,000 minutes a month per line. More lines are quoted, and NuTalk Call Center starts at $599 USD a month through our sales team. Pay as you go starts free and needs no credit card.

How do I estimate revenue lost to missed calls?

Multiply your monthly calls by the share you miss, then by the share of those callers who would have booked, then by the average value of a booking. Take calls and the share you miss from your call log, and the booking share and average value from your booking records; the calculator doesn't assume a typical rate.

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