AI receptionist, answering service or extra staff: what fits your business?

Short answer: at 100 calls a month, a ClientAssist AI receptionist costs €186.50 to €286.50 a month, an answering service €148 to over €316 depending on how long the calls last, and your own receptionist at least €2,446 gross a month plus employer costs. The difference isn't just price, but what happens during the call. All figures were checked on 30 September 2026.

What does each option cost at 100 calls a month?

We assume 100 calls averaging 2.5 minutes, 250 call minutes in total. That's a busy sole trader or a small team.

AI receptionist (ClientAssist)

• €99 a month fixed, plus call minutes: €0.35, €0.55 or €0.75 per minute, depending on the voice you choose.
• At 250 minutes: €186.50, €236.50 or €286.50 a month, excluding VAT. A one-time €99 setup fee.
• Answers day and night, including several calls at once.
• Answers questions from your knowledge base and books appointments straight into your calendar.

Answering service

• A Dutch answering service charges, for example, €97 a month for 65 calls, and €1.47 for each call above that.
• At 100 short calls: €148.45 a month. That applies to calls of up to 90 seconds; beyond that, €0.028 per second is added. If calls average 2.5 minutes, it comes to over €316 a month. Transferring a call costs an extra €1 there.
• A person answers, but doesn't know your business and usually works from a script. They take a message; resolving questions or booking appointments rarely happens.

Your own receptionist

• According to the Dutch national careers guide (Nationale Beroepengids), a receptionist earns €2,446 to €3,000 gross a month for 40 hours. On top of that come 8% holiday pay and employer costs.
• For that you're reachable 40 of the 168 hours in a week. During sick leave, holidays and after five, nobody answers.
• It is the only option that truly gets to know your business and your customers.

Why is your own employee the most expensive?

Your own employee costs a full salary for the hours they're there, even when the phone is quiet. On top of the salary come employer costs, holidays and sick leave. And outside office hours or at peak times, there's still nobody to answer. Staff pay off when the work is about more than the phone: a front-desk employee who also schedules, takes payments and welcomes customers.

What does an answering service do and not do?

An answering service makes sure a person always answers, and for some callers that's exactly what they want. The staff know your business only from a script. They take a message and may transfer the call, but rarely resolve a question or book an appointment. Because you pay per call and long calls cost extra, it's mainly cost-effective for few, short calls.

What does an AI receptionist do and not do?

An AI receptionist answers every call straight away, also in the evening and at weekends, and can handle several calls at once. It answers frequently asked questions, books appointments and transfers calls when needed. At the start it says it is an AI; that has been mandatory since 2 August 2026. What it doesn't replace is the human conversation for a complaint or a sensitive situation. It hands those over to your team, or takes a callback request.

Which option fits you?

• Few, short calls, and callers need to hear a person: an answering service.
• Many repeat questions, appointments, and reachable outside office hours: an AI receptionist.
• Your work revolves around personal contact and there's other front-desk work too: your own employee.

A combination often works best: the AI handles routine questions and busy moments, your team takes the calls that need expertise or personal attention. You can work out what it costs for your number of calls on the pricing page.