Which way of answering works for you?
Compare the tasks covered, the control you keep and the work left to your team. The right choice depends on your calls and how your business operates.
What this page compares
A business losing calls has five options, and only one of them is a product like ours. This page describes all five honestly, including the ones that cost us the sale: in several situations, hiring someone is still the right answer.
We compare methods, not brands. Our competitors' prices change from one quarter to the next, and a page that carves them in stone goes stale without anyone noticing. What does not change is the mechanics: who picks up, at what hour, what it costs when volume climbs, and what stays written down after the call.
An honest comparison has to start with the option you have today: paying nothing at all. The loss is then absorbed as an invisible cost, because nobody counts the calls that went unanswered.
Compare your options
Start with the way you answer today.
- Hiring for the front desk, or automating: the real questionWhen a person becomes necessary, what they do that we do not, and the hours when they are not there.
- An agency that builds you an agent, or a product you configure yourselfTwo different models, two different invoices, and two different answers to «who can change an instruction on a Tuesday night».
- Voicemail, manual callback, answered callThree ways of handling a call you cannot take, compared on what each costs in work, in delay and in lost customers.
Make an informed decision
Consider your missed calls and the difference between a base plan and add-ons.
Someone at the front desk
The most complete option, and the most expensive.
- A person understands an ambiguous situation, recognises a voice, calms an angry caller — nothing replaces that
- They cover office hours: evening, weekend and lunch-hour calls stay unanswered
- Salary is the main line of spending, and published Quebec salary studies put a figure on it for every front-desk role
- Hiring is hard in several of the industries we documented, and one departure leaves the phone unattended overnight
- While on the phone, that person is not doing the work you hired them for: billing, files, greeting people at the counter
Voicemail and callback, or an answering service
The two most common answers, and their measurable limits.
- Voicemail costs nothing and fixes nothing: our industry research reports that a large share of callers hang up without leaving a message
- A human answering service picks up around the clock, but bills by the minute or by the call: the invoice follows your peaks, not your budget
- The answering services known to this clientele are North American; our research found none answering natively in Quebec French
- An outside operator knows neither your services, nor your service area, nor your urgency rules: they take a message, they do not qualify
- Your practice management software sends appointment reminders, but it does not pick up when a new customer calls
An implementation agency, or a configured product
The two ways to end up with an automated receptionist.
- An agency builds bespoke: it bills a project, then a retainer, and technically the result belongs to it
- A configured product arrives with the questions of your trade already written, and you adjust it yourself
- With a product, what you pay is public and identical for everyone in your section
- With an agency, every change goes through them; with a product, you edit an instruction and publish it
- Both share the same blind spot: a machine does not recognise your best customer's voice the way your assistant does
What we hold to in this comparison
- We name no competitor in order to pin a price or a weakness on them that we have not verified ourselves
- The industry facts quoted here come from our own market studies, which we keep dated and labelled wherever a figure is an estimate
- When another option suits your situation better, our pages say so — that is the case for an in-house front desk in several configurations
- Our prices are public, identical for everyone, and readable without talking to a salesperson
- We answer in English and French — French-speaking callers hear a natural Quebec accent — with several voices and styles to choose from, and you hear it before it goes live
What we do not promise
- We publish no competitor price table: those change, and a stale comparison is a false comparison.
- We do not claim an automated receptionist replaces a good assistant: it absorbs overflow and the hours when nobody is there.
- The missed-call figures published across the industry come mostly from American studies; we do not present them as Quebec measurements.
- We hold no measured customer result yet to set against these options.
A question about this comparison
If a fact on this page looks wrong or out of date, write to us: it is the only address published today, and it is read. Say which sentence you dispute, and we correct it or explain where it came from.
Frequently asked questions
Which option should you choose when you do not know where to start?
Start by measuring, not by buying. Over one ordinary week, write down every missed call and the hour it came in. If they land outside office hours, hiring will not recover them. If they land while someone is already on the phone, it is a simultaneity problem. If they land during quiet hours, it is an organisational problem, and no tool fixes that.
Is voicemail not enough?
It costs little and it fixes little. A caller who reaches a recorded message still has the option of calling the next company, and often does so before the message has finished playing. Voicemail qualifies nothing, records nothing structured and books nothing: it moves the work to the next morning, the moment when everybody has to be called back.
What does a human answering service add?
A real person, trained on a script, picking up in your place. They understand an unexpected context and they reassure, which no machine does as well. In exchange, billing is often per minute or per call, the person changes from one call to the next, they do not know your services in detail, and we found no North American service of that kind answering natively in Quebec French. With us, she answers in English and French, French-speaking callers hear a natural Quebec accent, and you choose the voice yourself, among several voices and styles, by listening.
What about online booking software?
It is excellent for customers who book themselves, and it does not pick up. Our industry studies confirm it: booking platforms send reminders and confirm appointments already made, but the call arriving while you are at a customer's place rings into the void. The two combine well, and one does not replace the other.
Why do you name no competitor on this page?
Because a comparison by name ages badly. Prices move from one quarter to the next and a page that carves them in stone goes false without warning. What does not move is the mechanics: who picks up, at what hour, what it costs when volume climbs, and what stays written after the call. So we compare methods, and we date the industry facts we cite.
Do you ever say another option is better?
Yes, and it is written on every comparison page. In-house reception wins when the phone is only part of a role, when the personal relationship is the product, or when someone is already paid to be there at the hours the calls come in. An agency wins as soon as a need requires code written for your business alone.
What does ours cost, exactly?
The price depends on your industry section, it is posted publicly and it is the same for every business in that section. Every base includes 50 Standard calls and one local number, with no setup or activation fee. Add-ons are chosen when they serve a purpose, and a capability included in a base is not resold as an add-on.
Can we try before paying?
Yes. A trial starts with an email, there is no card to hand over and add-ons are included during the trial: the demonstration is your own receptionist answering on your own instructions, not a video. You call your number and you hear what your customers would hear.