Smith.ai Virtual Receptionists vs. Specialty Answering Service: 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 Specialty Answering Service

Specialty Answering Service

COSTS
Pricing
Per call
Per minute
Cost
$6.50-$8.50/call
$0.86-$1.29/min
Starting cost
$255/month
$34/month
Setup fee
NO
$50
Money-Back Guarantee
14 days
14 day (200 minute) free trial
Spam & sales calls
Free
Charged per minute
Post-call wrap-up
Included
Charged per minute
Contract
No contracts
No
Wrong numbers
Free
Charged per minute
Required deposit
NO
No
Overage Cost
$7.50-$9.50/call
$0.86-$1.29/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
✔
✘ Call recording 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’s full team of receptionists qualify leads, accept payments, and log call info in your CRM using our custom technology. Specialty Answering Service does, too, but their pricing is still complicated.

Smith.ai believes in transparency and simplicity—both for your business and for the price you pay to work with various companies. That’s why we have simple, straightforward pricing that never includes hidden charges, additional costs, or setup fees. 

While Specialty Answering Service offers similar integrations, capabilities, and solutions as Smith.ai, but the complexity of their monthly and per minute pricing rates is hard to follow. It’s just a lot of math to get to an accurate price quote. 

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 Specialty Answering Service.

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
Text answering
We capture leads & help clients who text you — with live agents & AI

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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
EDWARDS FAMILY LAW
“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.”
STEVE GRAY
CMIT SOLUTIONS OF CINCINNATI & NKY
"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!"
CARRIE WARD
WARD LAW GROUP, LLC
“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
COLORADO LAWYER TEAM
“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.”
JASON BOSSLETT
CMIT SOLUTIONS OF MORRISTOWN
"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."
CRYSTAL LUDWICK
CMIT SOLUTIONS OF CLEVELAND NORTHEAST & NORTHWEST
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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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Call/text  (650) 727-6484
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Email us:  hello@smith.ai
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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

Smith.ai is not affiliated with the company presented for comparison purposes on this page. The information provided here serves to compare and contrast Smith.ai products and services with another company (a wholly separate entity) offering products and services that may be similar to those provided by Smith.ai. This information is provided to help potential customers evaluate Smith.ai products and services, and Smith.ai has made the best possible effort to obtain accurate information on the other company mentioned here.
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