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AI receptionist vs voicemail
Voicemail costs nothing to run. What it costs is the callers who hang up rather than leave a message and ring the next business on the list.
| Callso | Voicemail | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to run | £39 a month and up | FreeTheir point |
| What the caller does | Talks to someone and gets a time booked | Most hang up. A new customer rarely leaves a message |
| What you get | A booking, or a full set of details | A recording, if you are lucky, and a callback to make |
| Speed of response | Immediate | Whenever you next get your hands free |
| Out of hours | Books the morning slot there and then | Sits until you listen to it |
| Setup | About twenty minutes | Already on your phoneTheir point |
| Risk of a wrong booking | Read-back confirmation before anything is written | None - it books nothingTheir point |
3 of 7 points go the other way. We would rather tell you that than have you find out after you have paid.
The honest verdict
Voicemail is free, and free is the right price when the calls you miss were never going to be worth much. The moment one recovered job is worth more than a month's subscription, the maths stops favouring voicemail.
When to pick voicemail
Stick with voicemail if you are not trying to grow, if your work comes from repeat customers who will always leave a message, or if you genuinely have no capacity to take on the extra work.