GreetKeeper vs Specialty Answering Service
Specialty Answering Service puts live operators on your phone and bills every minute they talk, from $1.54 a minute on Economy to $1.09 on its largest plan. GreetKeeper answers with an AI receptionist and bills per answered call. Starter is $49 for 200 calls, and booking is included on every plan.
| GreetKeeper | Specialty Answering Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Billing unit | Per answered call | Per minute, billed by the second |
| Entry plan | $49/mo for 200 answered calls | Economy at $44 a month plus $1.54 a minute |
| Higher tiers | $149 for 750, $349 for 2000 | 100 minutes $159, 220 minutes $269, 500 minutes $649, 1,000 minutes $1199, up to 10,000 minutes $10599 |
| Overage rate | $0.45 a call on Starter, published | Published: $1.44 a minute on the 100- and 220-minute plans, falling to $1.09 on 10,000 |
| Appointment booking | Included on every plan | Check current plan terms |
| Human fallback | Transfers to your team | Their own receptionists |
Specialty Answering Service figures read from their own pricing page in September 2026. Check before you buy.
Why people move off Specialty Answering Service
One vendor's specific wall, not a general complaint about the category.
The per-minute rate is the whole story for most people who leave. Specialty Answering Service bills by the second, which is fairer than rounding up, yet a caller who takes four minutes to describe a leak still costs four minutes. Your bill moves with how chatty your callers are, and you can't predict that. Busy months hurt twice: more calls, and every one of them on the clock. The other reason is booking. A message an operator takes still needs someone to call back and set the time.
Where we differ
Every line below is on our pricing page or in the product today.
What GreetKeeper does differently from Specialty Answering Service
- GreetKeeper bills per answered call, so a caller who talks for six minutes costs the same as one who talks for one.
- Starter is $49 a month for 200 answered calls, and each extra call is $0.45.
- Booking is on every plan, written into Google Calendar or Outlook while the caller is still on the line.
- It answers calls that arrive together at the same time, so nobody queues in a Monday-morning rush.
- Every call arrives as a transcript and a short summary, and a signed webhook can pass it on to your other systems.
- Robocalls and spam calls are screened out before the greeting and never reach your bill.
What a busy month costs on each meter
The headline price tells you about a quiet month. This is the other one.
Specialty Answering Service's minute bundles climb steeply. It's $649 for 500 minutes and $1199 for 1,000, with $1.34 and $1.29 for each extra minute. The top plan is $10599 for 10,000 minutes. GreetKeeper counts calls instead. Scale is $349 for 2,000 answered calls and $0.25 for each one past that, whatever the length. Very short calls, robocalls and screened calls don't count toward the plan at all.
| Plan | Monthly | Calls included | After that |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterFor a single location taking calls one line at a time. | $49 | 200 | $0.45 per call |
| ProfessionalBooking, routing and transfers included, not an add-on. | $149 | 750 | $0.35 per call |
| ScaleFor busy phones and longer opening hours. | $349 | 2,000 | $0.25 per call |
Moving off Specialty Answering Service in practice
The technical part is a forwarding change. The rest is the part nobody warns you about.
Specialty Answering Service is month-to-month, so there's no term to wait out. Ask for your current operator script and your recent message logs before you cancel. Your script is the fastest way to set up GreetKeeper's greeting and intake questions. Point GreetKeeper at your website for a first draft of your hours, services and FAQs, then add the script's questions. Connect your calendar, pick the area code for your local GreetKeeper number, and change the forwarding on your main line.
Questions people ask about this comparison
How much does Specialty Answering Service cost compared with GreetKeeper?
Specialty Answering Service starts at $44 a month plus $1.54 a minute, and its 100-minute plan is $159. GreetKeeper's Starter plan is $49 a month for 200 answered calls, and each call past that is $0.45. A long call costs us the same as a short one.
Does GreetKeeper book appointments, or just take messages?
GreetKeeper books. It writes the appointment into Google Calendar or Outlook during the call, after reading the name, number and time back to the caller. The caller then gets one text with the confirmation or a booking link. Messages still come to you as a transcript and a summary.
What happens when a caller needs a real person?
GreetKeeper transfers the call to your team when the caller asks or the assistant is unsure. If that line isn't picked up, it tries a second number you nominate. It can also text the on-call person with the caller's details, so an urgent job still reaches someone.
Does GreetKeeper tell callers they're speaking to an AI?
Yes, when you turn it on. GreetKeeper has a disclosure setting that announces the assistant as an AI at the start of the call. Maine's §1500-DD and Utah's rules for regulated occupations make that disclosure an obligation for some businesses, so the setting is there from day one.
Hear a call that isn't on the clock
Forward one line to your GreetKeeper number and call it. 14 days free, no card, no setup fee.