An AI receptionist sounds appealing, but the first question most business owners ask is: how much does it cost? The honest answer is that there is no ready-made price tag. The cost depends on what the receptionist needs to do for you — and therefore on the value you get out of it.
Two cost blocks: setup and monthly service
The price of an AI receptionist consists of two parts:
- One-off setup. Analysing your call traffic, training the receptionist on your domain (for example scheduling appointments, answering frequently asked questions, routing calls), connecting your calendar or CRM, and testing with real conversations.
- Monthly service. Running the receptionist: telephony, speech, the AI system, and ongoing maintenance. Sometimes a retainer is included for periodic optimisation based on conversation analytics.
The second cost block is not always obvious: if you let an AI handle part of the calls but want to route urgent calls to a human, there may be a human handover involved. Those costs depend on your volume.
What determines the price
Four factors have the most influence on the monthly amount:
- Number of phone numbers and lines. One line is simple; multiple numbers or branches mean more call flows.
- Languages. The receptionist can work in multiple languages, but every additional language takes time to set up.
- Integrations. Calendar integration, CRM, messages to email or WhatsApp: every integration is custom work.
- Where the data runs. Hosting on your own infrastructure (or the provider's own infrastructure) instead of a generic cloud can affect the cost — and privacy, see our article on keeping your data in-house.
The business case: what does a missed call cost?
The price of an AI receptionist only makes sense compared with what missed calls are costing you today. On average, about 25% of incoming calls are missed — during meetings, around lunchtime and after closing. For care and service providers, that is rarely a missed phone call without consequence; it is an appointment or a new client that never gets scheduled.
You can find out how to calculate that amount yourself in what a missed call costs. Often, one or two new clients per month already cover the monthly cost.
Break-even versus a receptionist
Compare the monthly cost with the cost of a receptionist or front-desk employee: salary, employer costs, and the hours someone needs to be available. In practice, break-even for most practices is between 3 and 6 months. After that, the AI receptionist is structurally cheaper and available 24/7 — also outside business hours.
An honest closing note
A quote without discussing your requirements is not serious. Want to know what an AI receptionist can do for your practice or office? First check how many calls you are missing today, then see what the AI receptionist can do for you.