AI receptionist cost in the UK

Three ways AI receptionists are priced

• Per call. You pay a set amount for each call answered. Easy to predict if you know roughly how many calls you miss.
• Per minute. You pay for talk time. Short calls are cheap, but long calls and chatty callers push the bill up, so it is harder to budget.
• Flat monthly. A fixed fee covers a set number of calls or minutes each month. Check what happens when you go over.

What drives the cost

• How many calls you miss in a typical month, and how many come in at busy times of year.
• How long calls last, if you are paying by the minute.
• Whether a phone number is included, and what type of number it is.
• Extras such as diary booking, text summaries and call transcripts.
• Whether VAT is included in the price you are shown.

Questions to ask before you buy

• What happens to callers when I reach my monthly limit?
• Are very short or silent calls counted?
• Do I keep my own number?
• Does it tell callers they are speaking to an AI?
• Is call audio recorded, and how long are transcripts kept?
• Is there a minimum contract or a setup fee?

A worked example with our own prices

Say a plumber misses about 4 calls a working day, which is around 85 calls a month.

• 123 Answer is £39 a month for 100 answered calls. That covers 85 calls, and works out at about £0.39 a call if all 100 are used.
• A busier firm missing around 200 calls a month would need 123 Answer Plus at £79 a month for 250 calls, about £0.32 a call if all are used.
• Calls of 10 seconds or less are not counted. When the monthly calls are used, callers can still leave a short message.

Prices exclude VAT where applicable.