A contractor on a roof or under a sink can't answer the phone, and the caller moves on to the next number. An answering service fixes that, but the options are very different: a live human service is typically a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month, an AI receptionist is usually under $300, and the cheapest option of all (a missed-call text) costs almost nothing. This is how to choose, what each really costs, and what to check before you sign.
1. What a contractor needs from an answering service
Most contractor calls fall into four groups, and the service has to handle each one differently:
- New quote or job requests. The money calls. Get the name, number, address and job type, and book a visit if you can.
- Emergencies (no heat, burst pipe, power out). Needs a real handoff to whoever is on call, fast.
- Existing customers asking about a visit or an invoice. Needs access to your schedule or a message sent straight to the office.
- Sales calls and wrong numbers. These should be filtered out without costing you minutes.
If a service can't tell an emergency from a quote request and route them differently, it isn't built for contractors, however good the price.
2. The four options
| Option | How it works | Rough cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live answering service | Human operators answer in your company name and pass messages or transfer calls | Hundreds to thousands per month | Emergency-heavy trades, owners who want a person on every call |
| AI receptionist | A voice AI answers, asks questions, books visits and texts you a summary | Often $30 to $300 per month | Most small crews, quote and booking calls |
| Missed-call text-back | If you miss the call, an instant text starts the conversation | Almost nothing on top of your CRM | Anyone who answers most calls but not all |
| Office staff or a part-time receptionist | A person you employ | A wage | Larger firms with steady call volume |
3. What a live answering service costs
These figures come from vendor comparison pages, which have a stake in the answer and don't always agree with each other, so treat them as ranges and get a written quote.
- After-hours only (evenings, weekends, holidays): about $250 to $900 a month.
- Full 24/7 coverage: about $800 to $2,500 or more a month.
- Per-minute billing: commonly quoted at $0.75 to $1.50 a minute, and past your plan limit some providers charge $1.50 to $3.50 a minute.
- Well-known plans are tiered by minutes. Published tiers for the big names start at roughly $235 to $325 a month for 50 to 100 minutes and climb to over $1,000 for 500 minutes.
The trap is the overage. A plan that looks like $300 a month can become $600 in a busy week, because storm-season and cold-snap calls arrive all at once.
4. What an AI receptionist costs
Flat-fee AI plans are often quoted from about $30 to $100 a month for small call volumes, and $100 to $300 for busier shops, with some metered at roughly $0.05 to $0.30 a minute. Setup fees are usually low or zero on the software-only products. The gap is the price of the human: you're paying for software that never has a bad day and never tires on the 40th call, but it also won't calm a furious customer as well as an experienced dispatcher.
If you want it built and tuned around your trade rather than a generic script, my AI receptionist plans run from $99 a month plus a one-off setup. See what an AI receptionist is and how it works for the full picture.
For a wider look at the AI products themselves, see the best AI receptionist guide.
5. How to choose
- Mostly quote and booking calls, a few emergencies: an AI receptionist with a clear emergency rule that rings your on-call phone.
- Emergency calls are most of your business (24-hour plumbing, HVAC repair, restoration): a live service, or AI as the first line with a human fallback.
- You answer most calls and just lose some: start with missed-call text-back. It costs the least and you may not need more. See missed-call text templates.
- Over about 50 calls a week at peak: a live service or staff, because the minutes add up on every metered plan.
6. Ask these before you sign
- How are emergencies handled? Who gets the call, how fast, and what happens if they don't pick up?
- What are the overage rates? Ask for the per-minute or per-call price past the plan limit, in writing.
- Does it connect to your CRM or job software? Messages sent to an email inbox get lost. The caller should land in your system as a contact with the job details, ready for follow-up.
- Can it book into your calendar? Or does it only take messages?
- What's the contract? Month to month is safer while you test.
- Can you listen to real calls first? Ask for recordings or a trial. A demo script tells you little.
7. Rules to know
- Call recording. Some US states require everyone on a call to agree to recording. Use a short announcement at the start of the call and check your state's rules.
- Be honest that it's an AI. A one-line "I'm the AI assistant for [company]" keeps trust and avoids complaints.
- Texting the caller back needs your A2P registration in place, or the messages get blocked. See what is 10DLC.
8. Measure it
Check three numbers monthly: calls answered versus missed, the share of calls that became booked jobs, and the cost per booked job. If the service costs $400 a month and books four extra jobs worth $500 each, it paid for itself five times over. If you can't see the booked-job number, you can't tell whether it works. Examples of what this looks like in practice are in the HVAC and plumbing case study, where 89% of missed calls were recovered.
HVAC business? See AI receptionist for HVAC companies for the full build.
In Australia? See answering service in Australia for AUD costs and local rules.
Roofer? See AI receptionist for roofers for storm-season call handling.
Full guides: after-hours answering service and answering service cost.
Want the phones handled for your crew?
I'm Arslan Mumtaz, a software engineer who builds GoHighLevel systems for trades and service businesses: AI call answering, missed-call text-back, booking and follow-up that land in one inbox. Start with a $97 audit, see GoHighLevel expert services, or check pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an answering service cost for a contractor?
Vendor-quoted ranges are about $250 to $900 a month for after-hours human coverage and $800 to $2,500 or more for 24/7. AI receptionists are often $30 to $300 a month. Watch overage rates, which some live services set at $1.50 to $3.50 a minute.
Is an AI receptionist good enough for emergency calls?
It can take the details and ring your on-call phone straight away, which suits most contractors. If emergencies are most of your business, use a live service or AI as the first line with a human fallback, and test the emergency handoff before you rely on it.
What should I ask an answering service before signing?
Ask how emergencies are handled, the overage rate in writing, whether it connects to your CRM and calendar, the contract length, and whether you can listen to real call recordings first.