Smith.ai vs. AnswerForce: Live Answering Service Comparison

Don’t stress over choosing the right live answering service. We’ll help you make the best decision for your business and your customers. Today, we compare Smith.ai to AnswerForce virtual receptionists.

Setup Fees & Trials

Smith.ai

• No setup or cancellation fees
• No contracts
• Free consultation
• 14-day money-back guarantee
  

AnswerForce

• $99 setup for the $129/month plan (minimum 90-day commitment)
• $99 setup for the $279/month plan (minimum 90-day commitment)
• Free setup for the $299 plan
• 30-day prorated money-back guarantee
  

Discussion: Smith.ai offers a 14-day risk-free period with our money-back guarantee and free setup for every plan, with month-to-month contracts and no commitments. AnswerForce charges setup and requires a 90-day commitment for every plan except their premium plan, and they offer a 30-day prorated money-back guarantee.

Monthly Plans

Here’s an overview of Smith.ai and AnswerForce’s monthly plans.

Smith.ai

• $240 for 30 live receptionist calls and 1 live transfer number
• $420 for 60 live receptionist calls and 2 live transfer numbers
• $900 for 150 live receptionist calls and 5 live transfer numbers
• Custom plans available
• 10% annual discount when paid up front

AnswerForce

• $129 for 100 minutes and standard features
• $279 for 200 minutes and premium features
• $299 for 270 minutes and premium features
  

Discussion: Both Smith.ai and AnswerForce offer pay-per-usage plans. However, AnswerForce charges by the minute and only offers their premium features for the more expensive plans. Smith.ai charges per call, leading to much more predictable costs each month. If the average business call is five minutes, as noted by Invoca call intelligence research, Smith.ai and AnswerForce are priced competitively to each other. So it comes down to quality and service, as mentioned below.

Overage Costs

Smith.ai

• $8.50/call on the $240/month plan
• $7.50/call on the $420/month plan
• $6.50/call on the $900/month plan
  

AnswerForce

• $1.50 for each additional minute on the $129 and $179 plans
• $1.30 for each additional minute on the $199 plan
  

Discussion: According to Invoca research, the average business call is around five minutes. Assuming a 5 minute call, Smith.ai and AnswerForce have comparable overage costs. But with per-call pricing, it's far easier to predict your monthly bill, you can determine the ROI of your answering services, and you never have to worry about calls that run for much longer than the average five minutes. At Smith.ai, we think transparent and predictable costs are more convenient for you.

Features

Smith.ai and AnswerForce offer the following similar features:

• Live call transfers
• Bilingual answering
• Lead capture, screening & intake form completion
• Custom call handling scripts
• Call history reports
• Integration with popular CRMs and calendaring software
• Appointment scheduling
• Messages texted to you
• 24/7 live call and webchat answering
  

Smith.ai offers the following additional features:

• Integration with all major calendaring and scheduling software programs
• Integration with all major CRMs, like Clio, Clio Grow, Hubspot, Lexicata, Capsule CRM, and more
• One free CRM integration
• Integration with helpdesk ticketing software programs
• Ability to map client history to the incoming number so clients receive personalized attention
• Messages texted to you
• Recommended business referral
• After-hours and overflow answering
• Facebook and SMS answering
• Custom greetings
• Payment collection
• No charge for spam calls or wrong numbers
• Instant SMS status updates
  

AnswerForce offers the following additional features, some of which are only available on their premium plans:

• eCommerce order taking
• Web landing page creation
  

Discussion: AnswerForce has tiered pricing: you must upgrade to a plan you don't need in order to "unlock" certain features. Smith.ai is a customized service. You choose a plan based on your own call volume and only pay for the add-ons you need. Plus, all Smith.ai's plans include a diverse and useful set of features. We map the client call history to each incoming number, giving our receptionists the ability to understand who the caller is as soon as they get on the line. Smith.ai also offers outbound calls, so follow-ups with existing clients, appointment reminders, and more are taken off your plate.

Summary

Smith.ai virtual receptionists are trained to understand your business, not read pre-approved lines off a script. They're North America-based professionals with experience in customer service and hospitality; they're friendly, helpful, and thorough. If what you're looking for is a scripted call-center experience for your customers, AnswerForce can provide that, but Smith.ai is the best option if you prefer to give your customers the sense of an in-house receptionist working alongside you and your staff. Smith.ai behaves as a true extension of your business, not just a third-party service for hire.

Smith.ai Client Testimonial

Don't just take it from us! Smith.ai clients appreciate our quality of service and solutions for small businesses, and here's just one example:

“Amazing service especially for new small business owners providing a breath of fresh air in direct contrast of having artificial intelligence taking over creating such as disconnection without customers. Smith has been great as it allows calls to be filtered before they are transferred to me. Especially love that spam is not charged and eliminates the ever persistent telemarketers. Also just want to say that how appreciative I am for the discreteness of the staff and what a wonderful job these people that have been doing while answering the calls. HIGHLY recommend.”

- Ernest Santos, Driving Fitness Evaluations

Learn More About Smith.ai

Smith.ai virtual receptionists are trained to learn your business and build a relationship with your customers. Discuss your options with us by signing up for a free consultation with our team or get started risk-free with our 14-day money-back guarantee!