Missed calls are lost jobs. Answering service, text-back or AI receptionist?

The five options at a glance

Option	Monthly cost	What the caller gets	Watch out for
Voicemail with a callback promise	$0	A greeting that says when you'll call back	Many callers hang up instead of leaving a message
Missed-call text-back	About $15 to $19 per user	A text within seconds asking what they need	You still have to reply
AI receptionist	About $25 to $299	A voice that answers day and night, takes details and can book	Some callers hang up on a bot
Answering service with real people	About $250 to $2,100	A person, around the clock	Costs climb with every spam and vendor call
Office help	A part-time wage	Someone who knows your business	Cost, and coverage on nights and weekends

Prices are from the companies' own pricing pages, checked November 1, 2026. Details for each are below.

First, count what you're missing

Before you pay for anything, find out what you're actually losing. Download last month's call log from your phone company or business phone app and sort the missed calls into three piles: new customers, existing customers, and vendors or spam. Then split the missed new-customer calls by time: while you were working, after hours and on weekends.

A commenter on r/smallbusiness put it well: a raw count of missed calls tells you almost nothing. What matters is how many were new customers and whether they got a fast callback. If most of your misses happen on weekday afternoons, you need a fix for working hours. If they happen at 9 pm, you need after-hours coverage, which costs more.

If you run Google Local Services Ads, missing calls costs you twice. A missed call during your business hours counts as a paid lead when the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, and missed calls can push your ad down. See Google Verified and Local Services Ads.

How fast is fast enough?

The best-known study on this comes from Harvard Business Review. Researchers sent a web inquiry to 2,241 US companies and timed the replies.

How 2,241 companies answered a web inquiry

Within an hour37% 1 to 24 hours16% More than 24 hours24% Never23% 0%25%50%

Companies that tried to reach the customer within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to get a real conversation with the decision maker as those that tried an hour later, and more than 60 times as likely as those that waited a day or more. The study covered all kinds of companies, not just trades. But it matches what owners say: on r/sweatystartup, movers and junk haulers describe the same thing, that the job usually goes to whoever calls back first.

Option 1: Voicemail with a callback promise

Free, and better than most voicemail greetings. Instead of "leave a message," tell callers exactly what happens: "Thanks for calling. I'm on a roof right now. Text this number with your name, your town and what you need, and I'll get back to you within two hours." Then keep the promise.

Good for: solo owners with steady referral work. The catch: many callers won't leave a message, and a greeting can't answer their question.

Option 2: Missed-call text-back

When you miss a call, the caller automatically gets a text within seconds, something like: "Sorry I missed you, I'm on a job. What do you need help with, and what town are you in?" The conversation moves to text, where you can answer between tasks.

You need a business phone app that supports it. For example, Quo, the company formerly called OpenPhone, includes automatic replies to missed calls on every plan, at $15 to $19 per user a month for its starter plan. Many field service apps and marketing systems include something similar.

Good for: one-truck businesses. It's the cheapest fix that gets a response to the caller right away. The catch: it only buys time. Someone still has to reply, quickly.

Option 3: AI receptionist

An AI voice answers every call, asks your questions, takes the details and texts or emails you a summary. Better ones can book appointments or transfer urgent calls to your cell. Prices we found:

• Rosie: $49 a month for 250 minutes, $149 for 1,000 minutes with calendar booking and $299 for 2,000 minutes.
• Quo's Sona: included with Quo's phone plans, with 10 free calls a month and then credit packs, such as $25 for 40 calls.
• Housecall Pro lists an AI add-on that "answers every call and chat, day or night," but doesn't publish the price.

Good for: after-hours calls and routine questions such as hours, service area and whether you do a certain job. The catch: some callers hang up on a bot, and it can promise things you don't offer if it isn't set up carefully. Call it yourself a dozen times with real questions before you turn it on.

Option 4: Answering service with real people

A live receptionist answers in your business name, around the clock, and passes on messages or transfers calls.

• Ruby: $250 a month for 50 minutes, $395 for 100, $720 for 200 and $1,725 for 500 minutes, 24/7.
• Smith.ai: $300 a month for 30 calls, then $11.50 a call. $810 for 90 calls and $2,100 for 300.

Good for: emergency trades and high-ticket work, where one saved job pays for months. The catch: plans bill by the minute or by the call, so spam and vendor calls eat your plan. A receptionist takes a message; you still have to call back and win the job.

Option 5: Office help

A part-time office manager or family member who answers during working hours often beats every option above, because they can quote, schedule and follow up. A widely shared post on X told of a roofer who pays a relative a full-time salary to call every new Google lead the moment it arrives, and who closes more than half of them. It's the most expensive option, and it still leaves nights and weekends uncovered unless you add one of the others.

What your website should do when you can't answer

This is the part most contractors skip. Your website is where many customers find your number, so it's also where you can give them a second way in. Here's what we found on 186 Big Island home service websites, from electricians and plumbers to landscapers and pool contractors:

186 home service websites, checked on a phone

Calling is the only way in56% No phone number on the first screen48% Contact form on the homepage39% A way to text4% Online booking3% Chat2% 0%50%100%

The full study, covering 382 websites across every kind of service business, is in we tested 440 local business websites on a phone. For contractors, these are the fixes that matter most:

1. Put your number at the top as a tap-to-call link, on every page, with a call button that stays on screen as people scroll.
2. Add a "Text us" button. A link written as sms:+18085551234 opens the customer's messaging app with your number filled in. First make sure your business number can receive texts. Most landlines can't unless your provider has turned texting on, so send it a text from your cell and see if it arrives.
3. Keep the form short and send it to your phone. Name, phone number, town and what they need, plus an optional photo. Have each new message reach you as a text or app alert, not an inbox you check at night.
4. Say when you'll reply. "On a job? Text us and we'll get back to you within two hours, 7 am to 6 pm, Monday to Saturday." A clear promise keeps people from calling the next name on the list.
5. Separate emergencies. If you take emergency calls, show that number on its own, with the hours you answer it.
6. Let people book estimates if your scheduling app supports online booking. Only 3% of the sites we checked offered it.

Messages count as calls

A question in your Facebook or Instagram inbox is a lead too, and it goes cold just as fast. Turn on an instant reply in Meta Business Suite that asks for the same three things as your text-back: what they need, what town and the best number to reach them. Put your phone number and the towns you serve in every profile, and link it to a page that starts with your number, not a homepage slider. If you'd rather hand off the posting and the messages, see our social media marketing.

Silence shows up in your reviews

Among the Big Island businesses in our list whose latest Google review was one or two stars, 6 of 62 were about calls or messages nobody returned, not about the work. The flip side shows up in good reviews. One five-star review for an electrician on our list begins: "No voicemail, someone actually answered the phone."

What to set up, by the size of your business

Your business	Start with	About
Solo owner or one truck	Missed-call text-back, a callback promise in your greeting, and a website with a text button and a short form	$15 to $19 a month
Small crew that takes emergency calls	All of the above, plus an AI receptionist or answering service for after hours only	$50 to $400 a month
Busy shop with an office	Office help during the day, an answering service at night, and a weekly check of how fast new leads hear back	A wage, plus $250 a month or more

Where Primilink fits

We don't sell phone services. We build the website side: a tap-to-call number at the top, a "Text us" button, a short form that reaches your phone and your reviews near every button. See websites for contractors, or conversion optimization if you'd rather fix the site you have. Plans start at $249 a month.

Where this comes from

Checked November 1, 2026. Prices change, so confirm on each company's page.

• Prices: Ruby, Smith.ai, Rosie, Quo (formerly OpenPhone) and Housecall Pro.
• Response speed: James Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran and David Elkington, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads," Harvard Business Review, March 2011.
• Local Services Ads leads: Google on how leads work and ad rankings.
• Websites and reviews: Primilink's check of 440 homepages listed on 690 Google Maps profiles of Big Island service businesses, 186 of them home services, on November 1, 2026, plus each profile's most recent Google review.
• Owners' experiences: r/smallbusiness on counting missed calls and r/sweatystartup on turning leads into booked jobs. The roofer's story: a post on X, retelling the roofer's conversation with Alex Hormozi.