If you are missing calls, there are two kinds of answer: a person, or software. A person might be a receptionist on your payroll or a remote receptionist at an answering service. Software means an AI receptionist. This guide compares them honestly, including the places where AI is not the right choice.
The short answer
For a small business that mainly needs the phone answered, an AI receptionist costs a fraction of a salaried receptionist, answers at any hour and never puts a caller on hold. A person is better at anything physical, at unusual or emotional calls, and at relationships built over time. Many businesses end up with both: a person in working hours, and an AI receptionist for lunch, holidays, evenings and the calls that come in all at once.
The costs side by side
| Option | What it costs | Hours covered |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time receptionist, 37.5 hours a week | About £28,309 a year, or £2,359 a month, at the National Living Wage with employer National Insurance and pension | 37.5 of the 168 hours in a week, less holidays and sickness |
| Part-time receptionist, 20 hours a week | About £14,661 a year | 20 hours a week |
| Human answering service | By the call, the message or the minute. One service charges £4.99 a month including VAT for 6 calls, another £153.99 + VAT for 100 messages, and many only quote | Often office hours as standard, with evenings and weekends extra |
| AI receptionist (Tilly) | £29, £59 or £149 a month, with 40, 150 or 400 calls included | Every hour of every day |
The salary figures come from our guide to what a receptionist costs in the UK, using the official 2026 to 2027 rates. The answering service and AI prices, with every source, are in our guide to what an AI receptionist costs.
What a human receptionist does better
- Anything in person. Greeting visitors, signing for deliveries, keeping the office running. An AI receptionist only does the phone.
- Judgement on unusual calls. A person can handle a situation nobody planned for, and knows when to bend a rule.
- Difficult conversations. An upset or grieving caller, a serious complaint or a vulnerable person may need the warmth and flexibility of a human being.
- Knowing your regulars. Over months, a good receptionist learns your customers, their history and their quirks.
- Doing the follow-up. A person can chase an invoice, rearrange a diary or deal with the post between calls.
What an AI receptionist does better
- Every call, at any hour. It answers at 7am, at lunchtime, at 10pm and on bank holidays, with no cover to arrange.
- Several calls at once. Nobody hears an engaged tone or waits on hold when two people ring together.
- The same standard every time. It asks the same questions, reads the details back and never has an off day.
- Every call written up. You get a summary and transcript of each call, so nothing depends on a note on a scrap of paper.
- Other languages. On Tilly's Pro and Business plans she can switch to the caller's language, from Welsh to Polish.
- Cost. A monthly fee with calls included, rather than a salary, National Insurance, pension and holiday cover.
Are AI receptionists good?
They are good at the calls most small businesses get most of the time: questions about prices and opening hours, messages for a call back, new enquiries and bookings. They are less good at the unexpected: a caller with a problem nobody has described, a very poor phone line, or someone who simply does not want to talk to software.
A well-run AI receptionist is built for those limits. Tilly never makes up a price or a time she has not been given, takes a message whenever she cannot fully help, reads names and numbers back before saving them, and puts a caller through to you or your team when one of your transfer rules fits. She also never pretends to be a person: if a caller asks, she says she is an AI receptionist.
Does an AI receptionist work?
The honest test is whether it answers the calls you were missing, and whether those calls turn into work. Before you start, count the calls you miss in a typical week from your phone's call log. Then try one for a few weeks and compare. With Tilly, every call is in your dashboard, and a monthly report on the 1st shows how many calls she answered, how many came in while you were closed, and the messages and bookings she took. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, so you can find out before you pay.
Can AI replace a receptionist?
For the phone part of the job, in a small business without a front desk, often yes: the calls get answered, messages and bookings arrive in your inbox, and urgent calls still reach you. That is why many sole traders and small teams use one instead of hiring.
It does not replace the rest of the job. If your receptionist also greets clients, handles payments in person, runs the diary and knows every customer by name, an AI receptionist is a helper for them, not a replacement. It can take the overflow when they are busy and cover the hours they are not there.
AI receptionist, virtual receptionist or answering service?
- A virtual receptionist is usually a person working remotely, often for an answering service, who answers in your business name.
- An answering service is a team of people in a call centre answering for many businesses, often charged by the call or the minute.
- An AI receptionist is software that holds a real conversation. It answers every call immediately and around the clock, however many arrive at once.
Our guide to what an AI receptionist is explains how it works in more detail.
How to decide
Ask yourself four questions:
- When do I miss calls? If it is evenings, weekends and busy spells, an AI receptionist covers those hours for far less than staff.
- What do callers need? If most want an answer, a booking or a call back, AI handles that well. If most need a person to make a judgement, start with people.
- Do I need someone in the building? If yes, you need a person. An AI receptionist can still back them up.
- What is a missed call worth? Our missed-call calculator shows what is at stake, using your own numbers.
If you are leaning towards AI, hear Tilly answer a call and see the plans and prices.
Salary figures use the GOV.UK rates for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, including the National Living Wage. Answering service prices were checked on each provider's website on 15 October 2026. This guide is general information, not employment or tax advice.