Voice AI can answer your phone. Whether it pays depends on your calls. This guide shows you how to count them and price them.
What your calls cost now
Start with one week of calls. Write down how many come in and how long each one takes. Then add up the hours.
Price each hour at Miami office pay, $23.73 an hour. That is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figure for office and admin work in the Miami area, May 2025.
Count the calls you miss too. A missed call can be a lost job.
Example. Names and numbers are made up. Ortega Paving gets 60 calls a week. Each one takes 4 minutes. That is 4 hours of phone time, which costs $95 a week at Miami office pay. Another 10 calls a week go to voicemail.
What voice AI costs
There are two parts. One is the build and its upkeep. The other is the cost of each minute on the phone.
Bought outright, our example voice receptionist is $5,000–8,000. Priced in your AI Plan.
Or join a Membership. Every Level includes AI hires. Your first AI hire works within 48 hours of access. We add one more each quarter. AI hires never cost Upgrade Points.
Each minute on the phone also costs money. It goes to the phone company and the AI company. In a Membership, this use is billed apart. We set a monthly limit with you.
Which calls it can take
Voice AI handles calls that follow a pattern:
- Your hours and how to find you
- Booking a visit or moving one
- The status of a job or an order
- Taking a message with the right details
- Questions most callers ask
These calls still go to a person:
- Complaints about your work
- Callers who are upset
- Problems with many steps
- Things your rules do not cover
- Customers you want to talk to yourself
Medical, HR and legal questions go to you.
The math
Hours given back = calls it takes × minutes per call ÷ 60
Value = hours given back × the hourly rate
ROI = (value − cost) ÷ cost × 100
Add the calls you used to miss. Price them by what a new customer is worth to you.
Example. Names and numbers are made up. Ortega Paving's AI hire takes 40 of the 60 calls. That gives back about 2.7 hours a week, worth $63. It also answers the 10 calls that used to go to voicemail.
On minutes alone, that is small. The bigger number is the 10 calls it now answers. Price those by what one paving job is worth to you.
Go, wait or test
Good signs:
- You miss calls during work or at night
- Many calls ask the same few things
- Your team stops work to answer the phone
- Callers wait on hold
Go slow when:
- Most calls need your judgment
- Callers are upset or worried when they call
- Your rules change each week
Wait when:
- You get few calls and miss none
- Your phone system needs work first
Not sure? Test it on one kind of call first.
Is voice AI worth it for you?
- Do you miss calls?If yes, count them. They may matter most. If no, look at the time saved.
- Do many calls ask the same things?If yes, voice AI can take them. If no, start with one kind of call.
- Does the phone pull your team off other work?If yes, count those hours. If no, the gain may be small.
- Do you want calls answered at night?If yes, count those calls too. If no, look at daytime calls only.
- Are the hours and missed calls worth more than the cost?If yes, go ahead. If no, wait.
