The telephone answering service industry has a reputation for making pricing… unnecessarily confusing.
You’d think a “minute” is just 60 seconds, right? Not always. And surely a “call” is a call? Nope. That too can mean a dozen different things depending on who you’re working with.
Now to be fair, it’s not some grand conspiracy to confuse you. The inconsistency in answering service pricing comes from a mix of technology limitations, company philosophies, and decades of legacy billing practices that no one ever really standardized.
This blog will help you make sense of it all. As a veteran in the answering service industry, I'm going to help you break down what you’re really paying for. We'll also look at how to compare pricing between providers, and what to ask about before you sign on the dotted line.
So let's start with the biggest question: how much does an answering service costs.
How Much Does An Answering Service Cost?
If you came here to see about how much you'll spend when you hire an answering service, you're in luck. Here are five typical sizes of plans available for purchase from most answering services:
100-150 Minute Plans
100-150 minute plans usually are a single monthly price between $150 and $250/month, plus extra for additional minutes or features.
200-250 Minute Plans
200-250 minute plans are the most popular and are usually slightly cheaper per minute than previous plans. You'll see prices between $300 and $400/month.
500 Minute Plans
500-minute plans tend to be the most economical plan size you can purchase 'off the shelf', and vary in range from $600 and $700/month. Large price swings are usually due to other features aside from minutes, but may not be separable from the plan.
If you select any of the plans above, make sure you know how much additional minutes will cost!
Bonus: Custom Quoted Plans
Custom quoted plans are usually created for any call volume exceeding 500 minutes, and pricing will vary based on the number of minutes needed, other features included, and other factors unique to your business.
Keep in mind that these are oversimplified breakdowns of answering service pricing —every plan and every company will be different, so be sure to perform your due diligence. For a full breakdown, check out our industry-wide survey on how much answering services really cost here!
Alright, now that we've looked at the plans available, let's look at how these providers charge you.
Base-Rate vs. Usage Answering Service Pricing
Some answering services still charge a fixed monthly rate and nothing more. This works great for them if you don't receive large quantities of calls.
But when companies do receive a lot of calls, they end up losing money. In fact, answering services with this pricing model aren't profitable on half of their customers. The reality is that flat-rate services have no incentive to answer your calls because they earn the same amount of money either way.
In summary:
- Base rate covers fixed costs like staffing and 24/7 availability
- Usage charges apply after you hit your monthly included minutes
Charging based on usage seems great for the customer, and to a certain extent, it is. But answering services need to charge a monthly base rate to make sure they have enough staff there to answer your calls and to keep their doors open. This is hard if they only charge usage because it’s just too difficult to plan. In fact, it’s such a challenge that very few answering services try this approach.
At Ambs Call Center, we use the base rate + usage model, and we’re transparent about what’s included. More on that below.
What about a combination of both?
This is the most common billing strategy for answering services. The base rate helps them maintain staff and remain viable as a business. Usually, the base rate includes a fixed amount of usage at no additional charge.
However, there are two main variations for that fixed amount of usage. This is where things start to get tricky.
Per-Minute vs. Per-Call Answering Service Pricing
Both of these methods for billing for services are based on the amount of work that is performed. Most modern answering services have moved to time-based billing instead of the per-call pricing model.
Cost-Per-Call Answering Service
A per-call price might be easier to understand at first. If you know that you receive 50 calls a day, you can look for a plan that matches these needs as closely as possible.
The problem is that a ‘call’ is classified by call centers as many things you wouldn’t count as a call. For example, wrong numbers, hang-ups, and quick questions like “What time does the office open?” all get counted as a full ‘call’.
A call made might also include sending a text, email, or fax, as well as leaving a message in a voicemail. They may count it as a call made even if no one answers. Other possible units of work that could be considered a "call" might include taking or updating on-call information, when you forward your line, testing your number to make sure it’s working, and so forth.
Per-call pricing summary:
- A “call” can include hang-ups, wrong numbers, voicemails, or internal test calls
- Additional work (like sending a follow-up text, creating a ticket, or transferring) may be counted as an extra call
- Short calls cost the same as complex, multi-step ones
Here's the bottom line: per-call pricing sounds predictable but often costs more, especially if your business gets a mix of quick and longer calls.
Cost-Per-Minute Answering Service
Time-based pricing is as it sounds, based on the amount of time work is being performed on your behalf. At its heart, time-based billing is the fairer of the two options available. In short, you only pay for what you use.
Let’s say someone calls and asks what time the office opens. The agent answers: ‘8 a.m.’ and the caller hangs up. That might take 30 seconds. On a per-minute plan, you’re charged for 1 minute. On a per-call plan, you could be paying $2–$3 for that very same call!
This answering service pricing model tracks usage by the time spent actually working for each customer, such as answering a call, placing a call, looking up information, sending an email, and so forth. Some answering services only bill for the time spent on the phone (likely because that’s all their computer can track), but they have to charge a higher minute rate to make up for all the work they can’t track.
Per-minute pricing summary:
- Fairer for you: You only pay for the time that’s actually used.
- Standardized: Time increments are typically billed in 1-minute blocks (so a 90-second call = 2 minutes billed).
- Less padding: No inflated “call counts” for wrong numbers or 20-second calls.
Now that we've covered the types of pricing, let's look at something most people don't consider when getting an answering service: the hidden costs!
Hidden Answering Service Costs to Watch Out For!
In looking at common answering service rate plans you should be careful about the hidden chargest they may have.
The unfortunate truth is that not every answering service is transparent about how they bill you. Here are common fees to ask about:
1. How Minutes Are Rounded Up For Billing Purposes
In the real world, a minute is 60 seconds. In the answering service and call center world, a minute for the purpose of billing is generally broken up into increments.
It is important to ask what increment they are using. Some even have whole-minute increments. In this instance, if you received a call that lasted 1 minute and 1 second you would actually be billed for 2 minutes, as the increment would round up.
Think about how much that would cost you for every call for the span of a month!
Some may also limit the amount of information they will take on your behalf such as only the caller’s name, phone number, and message. (That seriously hurts your caller's experience!).
Some companies will count longer messages as 2 calls or charge multiple calls for tasks such as patching calls together.
When it comes to per-call pricing, the devil is in the details. It all comes down to the simple fact that companies need to cover their costs. They either throttle the service to you in some fashion (amount of information taken, service level, etc.) or figure out to charge for more calls for the tasks they perform in order to cover their costs.
2. Beware the 13th Invoice!
28-day billing, it’s an often-discussed topic at call center industry conferences and on email listserves. What it comes down to is this, it is a way to bill you the customer more.
You are charged for 13 monthly service plans per year instead of 12.
This method is a plain and simple way to send you an extra bill each year. Who needs it? We’re guessing you don’t!
3. Holiday Surcharges
Do you want your phone answered on major holidays? Some answering services charge you an extra fee if you do.
If you don’t pay it, they just let your phone ring. Seriously. They claim that since they have to pay their staff more to work on holidays, that you need to pay them more, too.
Imagine if your grocer tried to do that.
While this is a pretty comprehensive list, you can also learn about a few other hidden charges in our blog here!
4. Simultaneous or On-Hold Calls
Some answering services only answer one call at a time for each customer. If a second call comes in for that customer, the caller hears a busy signal. Or, they charge for keeping that second call on hold.
When customers complain about this, these answering services offer to answer multiple simultaneous calls, but they will charge an extra service fee to do so.
And that's not fair! You start an answering service because you expect it to be fully-fledged. Any "add-ons" should be clarified before you start. Not after.
5. Other Common Answering Service Add-On Charges
Be sure to get clarification about what other fees, taxes, and other ‘revenue enhancers’ will be tacked on to your bill. Some common examples of these are:
- Per text charge.
- Outgoing call or 'Tracing' charges- which generally refers to when they call you on the phone. This is in addition to the per call or minute usage for the outgoing call.
- Per fax or email charge.
- Monthly charges to receive messages via email or fax.
- Additional charges for 24/7 coverage as opposed to business hours.
- ‘Semi-Annual’ line charges or some equally confusing and seemingly official-sounding term.
- Charging you for the time the caller is on hold.
While this might have your spirits down—thinking that answering services out there are trying to rob you blind—just know that there are many answering service partners who are equally open and honest.
How We Do Pricing at Ambs Call Center
We’ve been doing this since 1932, and one thing has always guided our pricing: clarity.
Here’s what that means for us:
- You know your base rate up front
- We break down exactly what counts as billable time
- We monitor your usage for the first 3 months to make sure you’re not overpaying
- And yes—we can provide call reports that show exactly where your time went
We can account for every second we spend working on your behalf. And if you want to see the logs? You got it. We don’t hide behind fine print. Learn more about our services by clicking here or contact us for more detailed info.
Final Thoughts: Always Ask Before You Sign!
Before you choose a virtual receptionist or answering service, make sure you get clear answers to these questions:
- How do you bill? Per minute or per call?
- What counts as a minute or a call?
- Are there charges for holidays, hold time, or messages?
- Is your pricing 28-day or true monthly billing?
- Will I be locked into a plan, or can I adjust as my needs change?
If a provider can’t (or won’t) explain how their billing works, keep looking. At Ambs Call Center, we believe your service partner should make your life easier—not more confusing.
Learn more about answering services through our helpful resources below:
How much does an answering service cost?
