Receptionist vs answering service calculator
What does a year of someone on the phones cost, next to a service billed by the call? You bring the wage. We bring our published plan prices.
Employee cost a year
$49,920
$41,600 in wages plus $8,320 in on-costs.
- GreetKeeper Starter a year
- $1,668
- That plan each month, overage included
- $139
- Difference a year
- $48,252
Coverage
- Wanted hours your employee covers
- 66.7%
- Hours a week left unanswered
- 20
- Staffing every wanted hour, a year
- $74,880
The service figure is twelve months of the cheapest plan at your call volume. It answers the phone and nothing else, so read the limits below before you compare the two lines.
What it compares
Two yearly costs, side by side. The first is an employee: hourly wage, hours a week, and the on-costs that ride on top of wages. The second is a GreetKeeper plan at your monthly call volume, with any overage, times twelve.
Then it checks coverage, which is where most hiring sums go wrong. You tell it how many hours a week you want the phone answered. It shows how much of that one employee covers, and what it would cost to staff every hour at the same wage.
The wage is yours. So is the on-cost rate. The only figures we supply are our own prices, and those are printed on the pricing page for anyone to check.
The formulas, in plain words
| Line | How it's worked out |
|---|---|
| Wages a year | Hourly wage times hours a week times 52. |
| On-costs a year | Wages times your on-cost percentage. |
| Employee cost a year | Wages plus on-costs. |
| Service cost a year | The lowest plan bill at your monthly calls, times 12. |
| Hours covered | Hours worked divided by hours wanted, capped at 100%. |
| Staffing every hour | Hourly wage times hours wanted times 52, plus on-costs. |
Hiring fees, training time and turnover aren't in there. Neither are service setup charges, because our plans don't list one. If you expect either, add it to the line it belongs on.
A worked example
The form opens on these inputs. The wage is a round placeholder.
Wages
$20 an hour for 40 hours, 52 weeks a year, is $41,600.
On-costs
20% of $41,600 is $8,320. Together that's $49,920 a year.
The service
400 calls a month is 200 past the Starter allowance. $49 plus 200 times $0.45 is $139 a month, so $1,668 a year.
The gap
$49,920 less $1,668 leaves $48,252.
Coverage
You want 60 hours answered and the employee works 40. That covers 66.7% and leaves 20 hours a week open. Staffing all 60 would cost $74,880 a year.
A big gap doesn't settle it
Three ways to read the result
If you were about to hire only because the phone rings too much, look at the top two lines. The gap between them is what the hire would cost you for that one task.
If you already have someone, look at coverage. An employee on forty hours can't answer a Saturday call or the one at 7pm, however good they are. Those open hours are the part a service fills without touching anyone's job.
And if you're a one-person shop, set the wage to what an hour of your own time bills at. Put in the hours you spend on the phone each week. It's a rough measure, but it shows what picking up costs you in work not done.
Questions about staffing the phone
Is an answering service cheaper than hiring a receptionist?
For answering the phone alone, the arithmetic usually says yes, and by a wide margin. But the two aren't the same purchase. A receptionist greets walk-ins, handles the mail and runs the front desk. This page prices the phone and only the phone.
What on-cost percentage should I enter?
Ask your accountant or payroll provider for yours. It should cover employer payroll taxes, workers' compensation, benefits and paid time off. We don't suggest a figure, because it changes with your state and your benefits.
Why is there no typical receptionist wage in the form?
Because we don't publish wage statistics, and a number we picked would look like one. Use your payroll, or the rate on the job ad you planned to post. For a public source, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay data by occupation and area.
Can an AI receptionist replace my front desk?
It can take the calls. It can't greet someone at the door or sign for a package. When a caller asks for a person, or the assistant is unsure, it transfers to your team. You may well want both: a person by day and a service for the rest.
How do I model a part-time hire?
Set the hours worked to the part-time hours, and leave the hours you want answered where they are. The coverage lines will show how much of the week is still open.
Let your front desk hear it first
Run a demo call with the person who answers your phone today, and ask what they'd hand off.