In-Depth Comparison

Smith.ai vs. Business Connections

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

Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists:
The best alternative to Business Connections

costs

Pricing
Per call
Per minute
Cost
$6.50 - $9.50/call
$1.18-$1.31/min
Starting cost
$285/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
Contracts
No contracts
No
Wrong Numbers
Free
$1.18-$1.27/min
Required Deposit
NO
Overage Cost
$7.50 - $10.50/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
✔
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
✔
✘

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.
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.

For growth-minded business owners who care about price transparency, seamless integrations, and robust customizations that deliver the experience of in-house customer engagement and sales development, Smith.ai is the superior choice for your 24/7 Virtual Receptionists partner, over Business Connections (BC Answer).

Predictable and affordable pricing

We have prices for small to large organizations and everything in between.

Plans starting at

$285
Per month
30
Calls per month
Per-call pricing, not per‑minute
Month-to-month pricing for easy budgeting
No charge for spam calls or wrong numbers
Easy billing with no setup cost or hidden fees
Our agents and AI harmoniously work to meet the rigorous demands of your business.

Trusted by 3,000+ businesses

5.0 stars
4.9 stars
5.0 stars
4.6 stars
Converts callers into clients
Smith.ai is our inbound sales team. Having a trained and personable voice has transformed our ability to answer the phone and convert callers to clients.
Jeremy Treister
Owner, CMIT Solutions of Downtown Chicago

END-TO-END INTEGRATIONS

We play well with your software

Calls, chats & appointments are automatically logged in your systems. Real-time syncing with over 5,000 integrations.
View all integrations

Take the faster path to growth.
Get Smith.ai today.

Affordable plans for every budget.