Traditional virtual receptionists cost $300–$900/month and still miss after-hours calls. An AI receptionist answers 24/7 for $29/month — here's why small businesses are switching.
You started your business to do what you love — not to answer phones. But every missed call is a missed customer.
If you're a small business owner, you already know the problem: the phone rings while you're with a client, on a job site, or just trying to eat lunch. You can't answer every call. So you hire a virtual receptionist service — Ruby, Smith.ai, PATLive — and suddenly you're paying $300–$900/month for someone to answer your phone during business hours.
But here's the part they don't tell you: those services still send callers to voicemail after 8 PM. They still charge per-minute overages. And on your busiest months, that "affordable" plan quietly doubles.
62% of calls to small businesses go unanswered (Forbes), and 85% of those callers won't leave a voicemail. They call your competitor instead.
There's a better way. AI virtual receptionists answer every call, 24/7/365, for a flat $29/month. No per-minute billing. No after-hours gaps. No hold queues. Here's why small businesses are making the switch.
A virtual receptionist is a remote professional who answers your business phone calls. Instead of hiring a full-time, in-house receptionist, you outsource call handling to a service that greets callers, takes messages, books appointments, and routes urgent calls — all without sitting in your office.
Traditional virtual receptionist services work by maintaining a pool of human agents who follow scripts you provide. When a call comes in, the next available agent picks up, identifies your business, and handles the caller based on your instructions. You pay monthly, usually with per-minute billing for any time over your plan limit.
$100–$300/mo
Basic message taking and call forwarding. No appointment booking or lead qualification.
$300–$900/mo
Appointment booking, call screening, and custom scripts. Limited hours, per-minute overages.
$3,500+/mo
Full-time, dedicated. But a single point of failure — sick days, vacations, lunch breaks.
Per-minute billing means your $230/month plan becomes $500+ on busy months. One unexpected spike and your phone bill rivals a part-time salary.
Most services operate 8am–8pm. After-hours calls — the ones from urgent leads and emergencies — go straight to voicemail.
A different agent answers every time. Callers never build rapport with your business. Your "receptionist" doesn't know your repeat customers.
Peak hours mean hold queues. 15–30 second wait times before a human picks up. In that time, impatient callers have already hung up.
You're paying $300–$900/month for a receptionist that still sends callers to voicemail after 8 PM.
An AI virtual receptionist is software that handles phone conversations naturally — greeting callers, answering questions, qualifying leads, booking appointments, and routing urgent calls. It doesn't use a script pool of human agents. It uses natural language processing to have real, dynamic conversations.
An AI receptionist isn't a chatbot. It's a phone agent that speaks, listens, and responds naturally — handling real conversations the way a trained receptionist would.
| Feature | Ruby | Smith.ai | PATLive | Rachel (AI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | $230–$1,640 | $255–$1,500 | $235–$1,110 | $29 |
| Per-Minute Overage | $1.75–$2.20/min | $7–$9/call | $1.63–$2.19/min | None — unlimited |
| Hours of Operation | Mon–Fri 5am–9pm PT | Mon–Fri 6am–6pm PT | 24/7 (premium plan) | 24/7/365 |
| Appointment Booking | Yes (extra cost) | Yes (extra cost) | Basic | Included |
| Lead Qualification | Basic scripting | Intake forms | Basic scripting | Custom AI questions |
| Call Summaries | Basic notes | Email summaries | Basic notes | Detailed AI summaries |
| Setup Time | 1–2 weeks | 3–5 days | 1–2 weeks | 30 minutes |
| Languages | English, Spanish | English, Spanish | English, Spanish | English, Spanish, and more |
Rachel answers your business calls the way your best employee would — but she never takes a break, never calls in sick, and costs less than your daily coffee. She's the virtual receptionist built for small businesses that can't afford to miss a single lead.
Answers in under 1 second. No hold music. No rings. No wait.
Multi-turn dialogue that callers can't distinguish from a human receptionist.
Custom screening questions to identify and score hot prospects automatically.
Checks your calendar and books meetings on the spot. No back-and-forth.
Urgent calls forwarded to your cell instantly. Everything else handled autonomously.
Nights, weekends, holidays — Rachel never goes home. Your business is always open.
"Since switching to Rachel, we haven't missed a single lead. She books consultations while we're on-site with clients — even at 10 PM on a Saturday."
— Interio Square, Interior Design Firm
Pain: Patients calling after hours for appointments and prescription refills.
Solution: Rachel books appointments and handles routine inquiries 24/7.
Guide for medical practices →Pain: Buyer leads call at 2 AM after browsing listings. You can't answer.
Solution: Rachel qualifies prospects and schedules showings automatically.
Guide for real estate agents →Pain: Emergency plumbing, HVAC, or electrical calls at midnight go to voicemail.
Solution: Rachel books emergency jobs instantly. No more lost revenue.
Pain: Potential clients call during court appearances and depositions.
Solution: Rachel screens callers, collects case details, and schedules consultations.
Pain: Staff too busy with clients to answer the phone for bookings.
Solution: Rachel books appointments while your team focuses on the customer in the chair.
Pain: Product questions and order status calls overwhelming a small team.
Solution: Rachel handles inquiries instantly without a call center.
Ruby Receptionist
$309/mo for 50 calls
Smith.ai
$255/mo for 30 calls
Rachel (Dooza)
$29/mo — unlimited calls, 24/7
That's $2,712–$3,360 per year back in your pocket — enough to fund your entire marketing budget.
$29/month. 7-day money-back guarantee. No long-term contract.
Our team configures Rachel with your business info, FAQs, calendar, and call routing preferences in 30 minutes.
Rachel starts answering immediately. You get detailed summaries after every call. Leads get booked. Revenue goes up.
Stop overpaying for limited-hour receptionists. Rachel answers every call, qualifies every lead, and books appointments — 24/7, for less than the cost of your cheapest plan.
A virtual receptionist answers your business calls remotely — greeting callers, taking messages, booking appointments, and routing urgent calls. Traditional services use human agents; AI virtual receptionists like Rachel do it with AI for a fraction of the cost.
Traditional virtual receptionist services cost $230–$1,640/month (Ruby) or $255–$1,500/month (Smith.ai) depending on call volume. Dooza's AI receptionist Rachel costs $29/month with unlimited calls, 24/7.
Yes. Rachel uses natural language processing for multi-turn conversations — she asks qualifying questions, answers FAQs about your business, books appointments, and knows when to route calls to you directly.
More reliable than human services. Rachel answers every call in under 1 second, never calls in sick, and works nights, weekends, and holidays. She handles the calls that human virtual receptionists miss after-hours.
Sign up for Dooza ($29/month), book a free 30-minute onboarding call, and our team configures Rachel with your business info, FAQs, and calendar. Most businesses switch in a single day.
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