costs | ||
Pricing | Per call | Per minute |
Cost | $6.50 - $9.50/call | $2.80-$3.55/min |
Starting cost | $285/month | $177/month |
Setup fee | NO | No |
Money-Back Guarantee | 14 days | 7 day free trial |
Spam & sales calls | Free | Free |
Post-call wrap-up | Included | Included |
Contracts | No contracts | No |
Wrong Numbers | Free | Free |
Required Deposit | NO | Yes, varies |
Overage Cost | $7.50 - $10.50/call | $2.80-$3.55/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 | ✔ | ✔ |
Zip code lookup | ✔ | ✘ |
Warm transfer | ✔ | ✔ |
Call transfers via SMS & Slack | ✔ | ✔ |
Instant call summaries by email & SMS | ✔ | ✘ Email only |
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 | ✔ | ✔ |
While Answering Legal charges per minute, Smith.ai’s pricing is per call, which means your monthly bill is based on call volume, not call length. That way, your monthly costs can be predictable and affordable. Keep in mind that an average call lasts 6 minutes, so for an average call, you’ll be paying much more with Answering Legal than with Smith.ai.
For their plans, Answering Legal lumps in multiple services you may not need or use. Smith.ai, on the other hand, lets you add on the services you know you’ll use, like appointment scheduling. That way, you only pay for the services you specifically need. Plus, Smith.ai offers our customers the option to bundle our other services like website chat answering, SMS answering, and Outreach Campaigns (services that Answering Legal doesn’t offer).
Additionally, Smith.ai provides valuable insight into your callers through detailed call analysis and reporting. We track key data, like caller type (e.g., new lead, existing client, spam), time of the call, priority, and even disposition, to give you insight into the actions taken on your calls. Answering Legal doesn’t advertise any call reporting capabilities on their website.
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 Answering Legal.