The front desk you were going to hire, for $297 a month.

Every call answered, every hour of the year, live this morning. Here is the whole comparison.

Get startedSee the math
A hire, year one$51,390
Ansa, year one$3,564
You keep$47,826

The full tape, scored honestly.

Coverage, intake, judgement, cost. Where she wins, where a hire wins.

01Speed & coverage
Hours covered
24 / 7 / 365
~2,080 hrs/yrM-F 9-5, holidays off, two weeks vacation.
Concurrent calls
Hundreds at once
1Caller two through five hit voicemail.
Languages
English, Spanish in betaSpanish is in testing. Not something we would sign you up for yet.
One, usuallyA bilingual hire runs $4-$7/hr more, when you can find one.
02Intake & memory
Repeats intake perfectly
Every call, no drift
Mostly, on a good dayThe third call after lunch is where intake quality drops.
Booking onto your calendar
Live, on the call
Yes, if trainedAfter 6-12 weeks, once the calendar habit sticks.
03Warmth & judgement
Warmth with a panicked caller
Calm and warmShe'll de-escalate, get the address, page the on-call. Tested across 4,180 emergencies in the past year.
Calm and warmA slight edge on the truly hard ones.
Reading a weird situation
Escalates to youIf she's unsure, she pages your on-call line and stays on with the caller.
Improvises wellA great hire reads context and acts. Sarah escalates instead.
04Cost & ramp
Monthly cost, all-in
$297–$497
$4,280$51,390 loaded, over twelve months.
Time to first booked call
~10 min
~6 weeksPost, screen, interview, offer, notice, onboard.

Three fair questions. Three straight answers.

The ones we get every week, and what they actually cost you.

  1. 01

    “Will she be warm enough?”

    She is calm and warm on the first call of the day and on the four-hundredth at 2 AM. A long-tenured front desk beats her on the hardest calls, on the days they are in. Sarah does not have off days.

  2. 02

    “What about the call nobody planned for?”

    She pages your on-call line and stays with the caller until you pick up. That is one call in eighty. The other seventy-nine are already booked, and the odd one reaches you either way.

  3. 03

    “Don’t I still need someone at the shop?”

    For the lobby and the parts delivery, yes. Not for the phone. Sarah is how you afford that person a year earlier, working the schedule she filled instead of answering it.

What each one actually costs.

Costs only, on both sides. Same year, same business.

Sarah, on the Self-serve plan
  • Self-serve plan$297 a month, unlimited calls
    $3,564
  • OnboardingAbout ten minutes on day one
    $0
  • Nights and weekendsNo after-hours rate
    $0
  • Spanish callsIn beta, no charge
    $0
  • Cover for sick daysShe does not take any
    $0
Year oneAll in, no surprises
$3,564

Covers 8,760 hours. Every night, every weekend, every holiday.

One front-desk hire
  • Base salary$18/hr × 2,080 hrs (40-hr week)
    $37,440
  • Payroll taxes & UI7.65% FICA + state UI, ~9% loaded
    $3,370
  • Benefits & PTOHealth stipend + 8 sick + 10 vacation days
    $6,200
  • Workers' comp + liabilityFront-desk class rate, midwest
    $1,180
  • Hiring & onboardingPosting, screening, two days of your time
    $3,200
Year oneLoaded cost of one person
$51,390

Covers 2,080 hours. Monday to Friday, nine to five.

Net differenceWhat stays in the business every year, with the phone still answered.$47,826

Loaded cost uses the BLS receptionist median wage ($18.10/hr, 2024) plus field-service benefit norms. Your numbers will differ by state, comp class and benefits offered.

The honest recommendation is her first.

She pays for herself in week one. Hire the person afterwards, out of the calendar she filled.

1 line

Sarah is the whole front desk.

You are the office manager, the estimator and the apprentice. Sarah is the receptionist.

Stack
SarahAnswer · book · text recaps · all hours
Human · laterNot yet; revisit once Sarah's filled your calendar.
Most businesses
2–10 lines

Sarah handles the funnel. You hire for ops.

Sarah picks up every call and books most of them. Your first hire works the schedule she filled.

Stack
SarahAll inbound · all hours · bilingual
Ops hireRouting · scheduling · vendor calls · the lobby
Multi-location

Sarah + a real front desk.

Sarah owns inbound across every line and every hour. Your hire owns the lobby and the escalations.

Stack
SarahEvery line · every market · overflow + after-hours
Front-desk hireLobby · regulars · escalations · weird calls
When the answer is her, then them

Judge her the way you would judge a hire. On the phone.

A résumé never tells you how someone answers. Put your number in, let her call, and compare her against whoever picks up for you today.

US +1

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