AI answering service for small business
Voxlivo is an AI answering service for small businesses. It answers every call in about two seconds, 24/7, books appointments into your Google Calendar and sends you a summary. Plans start at $49 a month for 100 minutes, about 40 calls.
Below, we compare the three kinds of answering service on price, and say plainly who Voxlivo suits and who should pick something else.
Your three options
Voicemail
Free and simple, but it only records a message. Urgent problems wait until you check it, nothing gets booked, and some new callers hang up and call the next business on the list instead of leaving one.
Live answering service
Trained people answer with your business name, take messages and often schedule. You get a human voice and extras like other languages. You also pay for operator time, usually by the minute, so a busy month costs more.
AI answering service
An AI receptionist answers instantly, any hour, asks your questions and books the appointment. It costs far less per minute than a live service. It isn't a person, and the good ones say so up front.
What small-business answering services cost
Published entry prices, side by side. Each service measures usage differently (minutes, calls or unique callers), so check what a typical month of your calls would cost.
| Service | Type | Starts at | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voicemail | Recording | Included with your phone line | Callers leave a message, if they leave one at all. Nothing gets booked until you call back. |
| Ruby | Live receptionists | $250 a month for 50 minutes | Most popular plan: $720 a month for 200 minutes. Languages: Spanish and bilingual call handling. |
| Smith.ai | AI, priced per call | $150 a month for 75 calls | $2.00 a call on Pro (75 calls), $1.60 on the 500-call Enterprise tier. |
| My AI Front Desk | AI, self-serve | $99 a month, or $79 a month billed yearly, for 200 voice minutes | Extra usage: 25 credits ($0.25) per voice minute. Setup: Self-serve, "setup in 5 minutes"; white-glove onboarding on Enterprise. |
| Goodcall | AI, priced per caller | $79 a month for 100 unique customers (about 150 calls) | Most popular plan: $129 a month for 500 unique customers (about 750 calls). |
| Voxlivo | AI, done for you | $49 a month for 100 minutes (about 40 calls) | Growth: $99 a month for 200 minutes, about 80 calls. Pro $199 for 400 minutes, Scale $399 for 800 minutes. No setup fee. Extra minutes $0.25. Month to month. |
Competitor prices from their public pages. Checked October 29, 2026: Ruby pricing · Smith.ai AI Receptionist pricing and FAQ · My AI Front Desk pricing. Checked November 2, 2026: Goodcall pricing · Goodcall FAQ · Goodcall home page. Full comparisons: Voxlivo compared, and our guide to AI receptionists, answering services and voicemail.
What Voxlivo does on every call
- ✓Answers in about two seconds, 24/7, including holidays
- ✓Introduces itself as a virtual assistant and says the call may be recorded
- ✓Takes the caller's name, number, address and reason, and reads the number back
- ✓Books a time in your Google Calendar that suits the caller
- ✓Quotes only the prices you give us, word for word
- ✓Sends you an email summary, with the recording and transcript in your portal
Growth adds text summaries to your phone and live transfer of urgent calls to you. If a caller mentions a gas smell, fire, smoke, sparks or flooding that's actively spreading, your line tells them to hang up and call 911 first.
Set up for you
You tell us your services, hours, service area, the prices you want quoted and where urgent calls should go. We write the script, test it and have you make a few test calls. Setup takes about a day, and there's no setup fee on any plan.
Then you forward your existing number to the line we give you, all the time or only when you don't answer. See how it works and how to forward your business calls.
Who it fits
- Owners who are on jobs or with customers when the phone rings
- Businesses whose calls are mostly bookings, quotes and messages
- Anyone who schedules in Google Calendar
- Shops that want every after-hours and weekend call answered without paying for operator time
- Owners who'd rather have it built and maintained for them than set up software themselves
Who should look elsewhere
- You need Spanish or another language. We answer in English only. Ruby offers Spanish and bilingual call handling, and My AI Front Desk lists 20+ languages.
- You want a human on every call. A live service like Ruby is the better fit.
- You need it to connect to a CRM or field-service app. We book into Google Calendar only. Goodcall lists Google Calendar, Google Sheets and HighLevel; other systems through Zapier, an API or MCP.
- You handle patient health information. We make no HIPAA claim and collect scheduling details only.
- You want callers texted back. We don't text callers.
- You get a very high volume of calls. Goodcall's plan at $129 a month for 500 unique customers (about 750 calls) may cost less per call.
Built around your kind of business
The receptionist asks the questions your front desk would ask in your trade. See what it handles for:
- AI receptionist for plumbers
- AI receptionist for HVAC companies
- AI receptionist for electricians
- AI receptionist for property managers
- AI receptionist for law firms
- AI receptionist for dental offices
- All industries
Mostly worried about nights and weekends? See our after-hours answering service. Run the business from your mobile? Here's how it works with a cell phone.
Small-business answering service questions
What is an AI answering service?
A phone service where an AI voice answers your business calls instead of voicemail or a live operator. Voxlivo's AI receptionist answers in about two seconds, asks the questions your front desk would ask, books appointments into your Google Calendar and emails you a summary, recording and transcript of every call.
How much does an answering service for a small business cost?
It depends on the type. Voicemail comes with your phone line. Live services such as Ruby start at $250 a month for 50 minutes. AI services vary: Smith.ai's paid AI plans start at $150 a month for 75 calls, and Voxlivo starts at $49 a month for 100 minutes, about 40 calls (competitor prices checked October 29, 2026).
Is an AI answering service better than a live one?
Not for everyone. A live service gives callers a human voice and can offer extras such as other languages. An AI service costs much less per minute, answers instantly at any hour and records every call. If most of your calls are bookings and messages that follow the same questions, AI usually covers them well.
Can I keep my business phone number?
Yes. You forward your number to the Voxlivo line we give you, either all the time or only when you don't answer. We send the steps for your carrier during setup.
Can it book appointments?
Yes, into one Google Calendar. It checks your availability during the call and books a time that suits the caller. It doesn't connect to other scheduling or CRM software.
What if a caller wants to speak to a person?
On Growth ($99 a month) and above, the receptionist can transfer urgent calls live to the number you choose. If nobody picks up, it takes a message and you get the summary within about a minute.
Is there a contract or setup fee?
No contract. It's month to month and you can cancel any time. There's no setup fee on any plan: a person sets up your line and tests it with you, free.
Hear it answer a call for a small business like yours.
Call the two-minute demo and play a customer, or tell us about your business. A person sets it up, and you can be live in about a day.