Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists vs. Business Connections: In-Depth Comparison

Compare features and see how businesses like yours can better answer calls, capture leads, and serve clients 24/7 with Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists

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Smith.ai: The best alternative to Business Connections

Business Connections

COSTS
Pricing
Per call
Per minute
Cost
$6.50-$8.50/call
$1.18-$1.31/min
Starting cost
$255/month
$43/month
Setup fee
NO
No
Money-Back Guarantee
14 days
7 day or 100 minute free trial
Spam & sales calls
Free
$1.18-$1.27/min
Post-call wrap-up
Included
No
Contract
No contracts
No
Wrong numbers
Free
$1.18-$1.27/min
Required deposit
NO
Overage Cost
$7.50-$9.50/call
$1.18-$1.27/min
CAPABILITIES
Calls answered 24/7
North America-based receptionists
Lead qualification
New lead intake
Appointment scheduling
Payment collection
Call screening, routing & prioritization
Outbound sales campaigns
Unlimited FAQ
Call recording & transcription
✘ Voicemail transcription only
Zip code lookup
Warm transfer
Call transfers via SMS & Slack
Instant call summaries by email & SMS
Daily call summaries
✔ Email, SMS, Slack
Receptionists make calls for you
✔ Same per-call pricing. Comes from your #
Receptionists know caller history
✔ Same per-call pricing. Comes from your #.
Spanish-speaking receptionists
Send follow-up messages
INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY
Call tracking dashboard
Call analytics
CSV upload for direct transfer / blocked numbers
CRM, intake & marketing software
Calendaring software
Scheduling
Invoices and payments
Zapier
SMS & Slack
Read our reviews
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Smith.ai receptionists service offers sophisticated caller screening, scheduling, & intake services that sync with your systems. Business Connections takes a call-center approach — answering & forwarding only.

The way your phone is answered is a direct representation of your business. That’s why Smith.ai goes above and beyond to ensure a professional and knowledgeable—not to mention friendly—voice, every time. 

Backed by proprietary AI technology that filters spam, gives access to your clients’ call history, records and transcribes calls, and prompts personalized instructions, Smith.ai’s receptionists truly sound like an extension of your office. Furthermore, they book appointments on your calendar, qualify & intake new leads, accept invoice payments, set up conference calls, make calls on behalf of your business, and more, taking real work off your plate.

Business Connections (previously BC Answer) takes a call center approach. Their receptionists are not based in the United States and they simply answer and transfer, or take a message on behalf of your business — which is barely better than an answering machine. Although Business Connections’ prices are lower per call, you’re likely to end up with follow-up work or, even worse, unsatisfied leads who move on. And since they charge for spam, sales, and wrong numbers, your bill might even be higher at the end of the month than with Smith.ai’s transparent and predictable pricing.

Smith.ai’s virtual receptionist service can be completely catered to your business — we customize your greetings, provide overflow answering, offer warm transfers, have immediate access to personalized instructions, and integrate with dozens of business, calendaring, payment, and communication platforms (like Slack or Zapier). You and your callers will have nothing near the same quality experience as with Business Connections.

With more qualified and booked leads, predictable pricing, free handling of spam, sales, and wrong numbers, and AI-assisted professional receptionists, businesses prefer Smith.ai to Business Connections (BC Answer).

THE BASICS!

Live receptionists on duty 24/7. Forward all incoming calls or overflow phone calls only.
Appointment setting & call-back scheduling, with calendar software integration
Lead qualification & client intake with CRM integration for complete workflows
Outbound calls: web-form follow-ups, work status updates & appointment reminders
Payment collection, with integration to your credit card processing software
Spam & sales call blocking, call screening & prioritization, plus VIP pass-throughs

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What our customers are saying

“I rely on Smith.ai to handle all of my firm's calls. Their intake process integrates with my practice management software, which saves me time. Plus, their professionalism means I pay a fraction of the cost of an in-house receptionist without sacrificing quality. I recommend Smith.ai to every attorney I see.”
REGINA EDWARDS
“Having someone professionally answer our phones is essential to operating a business. We engaged with Smith about 3 months ago and have been extremely pleased with the service they are providing us. They are very flexible and their integration with technology has functionally made a huge difference for us. I receive a SMS message and an email within seconds of a call with all pertinent information regarding the call. They ensure critical calls make it through to me and sales calls are screened. This makes my day much more productive and we get a professional service answering the phones.”
"Smith.ai has been a major hack into improving my business flow. Playing phone tag with potential clients and constantly getting interrupted with sales calls was so tiresome. Smith.ai has completely alleviated this problem. They screen all calls that come into my main office number so only critical calls get through to me, and they schedule appointments with potential clients after having carefully screened them through my intake process. I now save so much time and only have quality appointments booked. Less stress, more appointments. It's a total win!"
“Having real, live people answering the phone has made a huge difference in the volume of my practice, and I'm all about Smith.ai's technology-driven approach. I can focus on my clients without interruptions from sales calls and spammers, yet I remain in the loop when I'm in court or a meeting thanks to their text summaries. I love that Smith.ai manages my web chats now, too! They're one of the key reasons I was able to grow from a solopreneur to an 8 person team!
JUSTIE NICOL
“Smith.ai has been integral to my business at CMIT Solutions of Morristown. Their service was extremely easy to set up and they have been extremely professional with their customer care. Having a live-answer service handle all my incoming calls gives my business a level of professionalism that it was missing and allows me to easily prioritize all of my call-backs. I highly recommend Smith.ai to any business looking for a live-answer service.”
"As small business owners, it is very important to have a professional image with a quick response to our phone calls. We are at ease knowing that our clients are being greeted with a professional, friendly and upbeat voice when they call our office. The message taking is very clear, concise and effective, and allows our contact with our clients to be frictionless, effective and progressive. The service quality and superior communication skills of the Smith.ai team makes them a true extension of our office."
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Live receptionists available 24/7

Starter
$255
Per Month
30
Receptionist Calls
1
Transfer Destination
$9.50/Call after 30
Basic
$675
Per Month
90
Receptionist Calls
2
Transfer Destinations
$8.50/Call after 90
Pro
$1,170
Per Month
180
Receptionist
Calls
5
Transfer Destinations
$7.50/Call after 180
Custom pricing is available. Just let us know what you need!

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We integrate with your software

Contacts and call notes are logged in your systems, including CRM, intake, calendaring, and billing software

Small businesses trust Smith.ai for superior receptionist services