Buying guide
Compare the experience.
Then compare the bill.
AI receptionists and human answering services can both help a business answer calls. Start with what your callers need, and evaluate the complete service.
Choose around the work you need done.
| What matters | AI receptionist | Human answering service |
|---|---|---|
| Common business questions | Uses the knowledge and boundaries you review. | Depends on the service’s agent training and available instructions. |
| A caller who needs judgment | Needs a tested escalation route and clear limits. | Ask what judgment the service can exercise and what it must escalate. |
| Transfer to your team | Confirm configured routing, availability and fallback. | Confirm transfer method, answer coverage and missed-transfer handling. |
| Busy periods | Compare purchased AI capacity, shared service capacity and fallback. | Ask how queues and staffing affect your callers. |
| The invoice | Compare subscription, included minutes, overage and phone charges. | Compare subscription, answered-call or minute charges and extras. |
Use the same test conversation for both.
Ask a specific business question
Choose something that should be covered by the knowledge you supplied. Listen for accuracy and clarity.
Ask for a human
Confirm what happens when the destination answers, is busy or does not answer.
Leave an actionable request
Check what your team receives and whether they can do the next step without asking the caller to repeat everything.
Hear Vocapable before you decide.
Listen to the actual sample voices, then review the full pricing breakdown.
Listen to the voicesYour phone service
One business number included with managed Receptionist
Get a supported US local business number without setting up your own Twilio account. Search by city, state or area code during paid setup; actual inventory, the number quote, accepted billing/funding and call qualification determine activation.
- Standard local numbers
- One included; $3/month per extra
- Non-AI incoming time
- $0.025 / started minute
- Connected outgoing transfer leg
- $0.03 / started minute
Managed AI minutes include their associated standard local inbound and streaming service. Those same AI seconds have no second carrier charge. Included AI minutes and capacity depend on the tier. New managed overage is $0.09/minute on every tier: $0.05 AI plus $0.04 associated carrier service. Extra numbers do not increase AI capacity.
How phone billing and setup work
New managed Receptionist tiers include one standard US local number funded by the paid subscription and the local inbound/streaming service associated with their AI minutes. Extra standard local numbers are $3/month from settled prepaid credit; AI overage also requires settled prepaid credit. Non-AI incoming time is $0.025 per started minute, and each connected standard US outgoing transfer leg is $0.03 per started minute, rounded separately under the accepted usage billing arrangement. Waiting, voicemail and human conversation add no conversational AI minutes. Accepted legacy supplier-cost-times-two agreements retain their original pricing.
The managed-number offer covers an AI receptionist, a bounded waiting queue with position announcements and optional hold music, standard closed-hours and fallback messages, optional consented voicemail, and an optional transfer to one eligible US telephone destination. Alaska and unpriced destinations are excluded. It does not include full-call recording, general phone menus, conferences, international numbers, or outbound campaigns.
Two AI minutes followed by a three-minute human transfer use two allowance minutes, plus $0.075 of non-AI incoming time and $0.09 of outgoing time: $0.165 before invoice rounding. If the new Business managed allowance is exhausted, those AI minutes add $0.18. Taxes and separately quoted optional services are additional.
Review the actual number quote and funding requirements before acquisition. Subscription payment alone does not reserve or activate a number. Applicable metered usage follows the accepted billing and funding arrangement. Number and caller readiness checks still apply.
Special numbers and unsupported destinations are not available under this standard local self-service offer. Any future supported optional service requires its own quote and acceptance. SMS is not included. Existing signed legacy managed-number agreements retain their accepted terms.
With your own Twilio account, your carrier bills its numbers and carrier minutes directly, with no Vocapable carrier markup. Vocapable does not charge managed-number rental or managed carrier rates for those BYO numbers; your subscription and AI usage beyond its included allowance still apply. Outbound plans also charge their published attempt fee. Accepted legacy contracts retain their original terms.
Engage, Workforce and Sales phone service
Supplied-phone outbound usage: actual supplier cost × 1.5
For Engage, Workforce and Sales with Vocapable-supplied phone service: Carrier usage is 1.5× actual attributable Twilio supplier cost, a 50% markup. Standard US local numbers are $3/month each; outbound plans do not include a number. The plan subscription, AI minutes and $0.005 per outbound attempt are separate.
The supplied-phone outbound offer is published for planning. Public acquisition and outbound activation are not open; use your verified Twilio account for current outbound setup or contact us to confirm a qualified arrangement before paying.
Confirmed incoming and outgoing call legs, Media Streams and supported recording/storage costs are combined for the complete call, multiplied by 1.5, then rounded up once to a whole cent. AI time is billed separately at the accepted outbound rate. These terms do not change accepted legacy supplier-cost-times-two agreements or the standalone Receptionist bundle.
With your own Twilio account, you pay your carrier directly at its rates, with no Vocapable carrier markup. Vocapable bills your plan, AI usage and outbound attempts separately. Standalone Receptionist has its own subscription, included AI minutes and phone tariffs.