What Is an Answering Service?
A third-party service that answers phone calls on behalf of a business, typically staffed by human operators at a call center.
An answering service is a third-party company that handles incoming phone calls for businesses. Operators at a call center answer using your business name, take messages, transfer calls, and sometimes book appointments. These services have existed for decades and remain popular, though AI-powered alternatives are rapidly gaining market share due to lower costs and 24/7 availability.
Typical Costs
Answering services usually charge per-minute ($0.75-$1.50/min) or per-call ($2-12/call). Monthly plans range from $200-800 depending on volume. Most include a base fee plus overage charges. Popular providers include Ruby ($245/mo for 50 min), Smith.ai ($95/mo for 50 calls), and Nexa ($249/mo for 100 min). AI alternatives like CallClerk offer 100 calls for $99/mo.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Human voice for sensitive calls, established industry, CRM integrations. Cons: Expensive ($3-12 per call), limited hours (rarely true 24/7), hold times during busy periods, inconsistent quality between operators, and slow onboarding (days to weeks). AI receptionists address most of these limitations.
Answering Service vs AI Receptionist
The key differences: AI is available 24/7/365 (answering services have reduced night/weekend coverage), AI handles unlimited simultaneous calls (answering services queue callers), AI costs 50-80% less at typical small business volumes, and AI never has a bad day. Answering services excel at truly complex, empathy-heavy calls where a human touch is critical.
How CallClerk Fits In
CallClerk provides the benefits of an answering service at a fraction of the cost — $99/month for 100 calls vs $200-800/month for comparable plans. True 24/7, no hold times, unlimited concurrent calls.
Related Terms
All Glossary Terms
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