| Voicemail | Answering service or AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free with your phone | Monthly fee |
| What the caller gets | A recording and a beep | A conversation: questions answered, details taken |
| Callers who hang up | Common; many won't leave a message | Fewer; someone picks up |
| Emergencies | You find out when you check messages | Can be flagged and passed to you right away |
| Details you get | Whatever the caller chooses to say | The same details every time: name, number, address, need |
| After hours | Same recording | Answered live, any time |
When voicemail is good enough
- You rarely miss calls, and you return them within the hour.
- Your callers are mostly existing customers who will wait for you.
- Calls don't come in after hours, or they're never urgent.
When an answering service pays for itself
- New customers call you and often call a competitor if no one answers.
- You miss calls while you're working with your hands or driving.
- You get emergencies at night or on weekends.
- One job is worth more than a month of the service.
Not sure? Run your own numbers in the missed call cost calculator: rileyai.org/tools/missed-call-calculator.
A middle option
You can keep answering calls yourself and only send the ones you miss to an answering service by forwarding unanswered calls. Your phone still rings first. Riley works this way: $149 a month, everything included.
