Smith.ai vs. Phonely

In today's fast-paced economy, responsiveness is key to winning and keeping customers. That's why businesses are increasingly adopting voice AI for call handling. Compare AI Receptionist from Smith.ai with Phonely to discover the best voice AI solution for your business.

Features both solutions offer:

• 24/7 call answering: Stay available for every caller, 24/7.
• Lead qualification: Identify and prioritize high-quality leads.
• Appointment scheduling: Book appointments directly on your calendar.
• Call routing & transfers: Connect callers to the right person.
• FAQs: Provide accurate answers to common inquiries.
• Instant call summaries: Stay informed on customer interactions.
• Recording & transcription: Review all your calls easily.
• Simultaneous call handling: Handle multiple calls at the same time.

What sets Smith.ai apart

The features listed above are foundational requirements for any answering service. Smith.ai stands out from other AI answering services with uninterrupted human support, accessible integrations, superior blocking features, and a proven reputation.

24/7 human handoff

Smith.ai offers a hybrid approach to AI call answering, combining AI efficiency with a warm, professional human touch when needed. With our model, AI Receptionist comes with 24/7 access to our live virtual receptionists, ensuring that in complex scenarios when human-to-human interaction yields better outcomes, your customers’ needs are always met.

In contrast, Phonely is fully AI-driven and lacks human backup, only able to transfer to your internal staff. This means the live support available to callers with unique needs is limited after-hours — leaving your business vulnerable to unresolved client calls when your internal staff is unavailable.

Accessible integrations

Smith.ai streamlines your workflow with robust CRM and scheduling integrations, natively connecting with dozens of leading platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, Clio, Calendly, and more. We’re dedicated to supporting your business growth, which is why integrations are available for every AI Receptionist plan.

Phonely primarily relies on Zapier, webhooks, and custom APIs for integrations, likely requiring more manual setup. Furthermore, Phonely restricts integrations to higher-tier plans, offering you less accessibility to these vital tools.

Advanced blocking capabilities

Smith.ai delivers significant cost advantages through powerful blocking features, such as our free spam blocking. Our system proactively blocks over 20 million known spammers, which helps you avoid additional costs by preventing most spam from ever reaching your lines. 

In addition, we offer flexible account-level blocking so you can: block specific numbers, “never block” numbers, and send numbers to voicemail. You can also add important numbers (such as family) on a direct-transfer list, so they skip the AI Receptionist.

Phonely appears to lack this level of flexibility and cost-saving, as the website does not mention any comparable features for blocking and filtering calls.

Stellar reputation

Smith.ai delivers proven results, consistently increasing answer rates, lead conversions, and client satisfaction. With a strong track record in the answering service industry since 2015, Smith.ai has earned a solid public reputation, reflected in our Trustpilot, Clutch, and G2 reviews. 

Phonely, established in 2023, has a limited online review presence. 

The final verdict

For growth-minded businesses looking for a quality AI customer engagement solution backed by human expertise, AI Receptionist is designed for you. With 24/7 human handoff, accessible integrations, advanced customizations, and a glowing reputation, you can feel confident in our ability to deliver exceptional results for your business. Smith.ai offers greater value as your 24/7 AI answering partner over Phonely.