Are the calls to your business becoming more than you can handle? Do you want to work with fewer interruptions? Signing up for a live answering service means gaining more productive hours in your work day. Today, we compare Smith.ai to PATLive virtual receptionists.
Smith.ai
PATLive
Smith.ai and PATLive offer a range of monthly plans depending on your call volume:
Smith.ai
PATLive
Discussion: Smith.ai provides more affordable options for business owners, with plans starting at just $140/month. If the average business call is five minutes, according to Invoca call intelligence research, you are paying more money ($149 vs $140) for fewer calls (15 vs 20) with PATLive. More expensive plans are similarly competitive, and much more so if you have calls that go longer (as most people do). Because we charge per-call instead of per-minute, you will have more predictable monthly bills and can more easily calculate the cost of acquiring new customers (i.e., you know how much you paid for all calls and then how many of those calls turned into new clients).
Smith.ai
PATLive
Discussion: Remember that the average business call is about five minutes. PATLive’s monthly rates and per-minute overage rates turn out to be a lot more expensive than Smith.ai’s.
For example, Smith.ai's $140/month plan would allow for 20 five-minute calls, but PATLive's $149/month plan would only allow for 15 calls, with those 5 extra five-minute calls adding on another $37.50, bringing the total to $186.50/month.
Looking at a bigger plan? Smith.ai's $600/month plan can deliver 120 five-minute calls while PATLive costs $629/month plan for the same 120 five-minute calls. If those same calls average to six minutes instead of five, you'd have to pay PATLive an additional $120, bringing the monthly total to $749, while Smith.ai remains just $600.
The following features are offered by both Smith.ai and PATLive:
Smith.ai has the following additional features:
PATLive offers the following additional features:
Discussion: Smith.ai and PATLive offer many similar features. However, Smith.ai's ability to make outbound calls, qualify leads, log new client information, and map incoming callers to client data means our virtual receptionists are able to handle a wider range of services, more fully replacing the duties of an in-house receptionist.
When comparing live answering services, it's important to pay careful attention to the details and features that will have the greatest impact on your business. If you're paying per-minute and your receptionists are spending time with spam calls, wrong numbers, and salespeople pitching the latest advertising product, those are wasted dollars. And if you're running a marketing campaign that's making your phone ring, but your receptionists can't qualify whether they're a good match for your business, it makes no difference if they've successfully booked time for the new client on your calendar. In fact, it's wasteful if that appointment slot could have been filled by a more qualified lead.
Don’t just take our word for it! Here’s what a satisfied client of ours had to say:
“I've been using Smith.ai for a few months and I highly recommend them. The service is fantastic and I can't believe the value for money. 10 out of 10.”
- Caemin O’Connor, Karus Chains
We created the Smith.ai logo in 2015, and then in 2016, PATLive stole it, and put it on their website. We can't make this stuff up! Take a look:
Thankfully, it has now been removed from their site. But this doesn't show good character. If they were comfortable with stealing our logo, what other poor judgments will they make? When you hire an answering service, you're trusting them to represent your business. At Smith.ai, you can rest assured your brand and values are in good hands.
Smith.ai virtual receptionists are trained to learn your business and build a relationship with your customers, just like an in-house receptionist. Discuss your options with us by calling (650) 727-6484 Monday through Friday between 5am – 6pm PT. You can also reach us by email at support@smith.ai. Signing up for our 20-call / 14-day free trial is a great way to get started.
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Contact our sales team today at (650) 727-6484 or schedule a call.
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