AI Phone Answering vs. Hiring a Receptionist: The Real Cost Difference

AI phone and voice assistants have become a genuinely competitive category in Canada, with several companies now building specifically for small businesses that need calls answered but can't justify — or can't find — a full-time hire. Here's an honest breakdown of what each option actually costs.

Hiring a receptionist

A full-time receptionist in Canada typically costs $35,000 or more a year in salary alone, before benefits, training, sick days, and the time it takes to hire and replace one when they move on. That's a real, ongoing cost that doesn't flex down during slow weeks and doesn't cover you at 7pm or on a Sunday when a call still comes in.

An AI phone/voice assistant

An AI assistant answers calls, handles basic questions, and books or forwards the ones that need a real person — running around the clock, not just during business hours. It's not trying to replace the judgment of a great employee on complex situations; it's covering the volume of routine calls that don't need one. Priced as a monthly package rather than a salary, it's a fraction of the cost of a hire, which makes it realistic for a business that's never been able to justify front-desk staffing at all.

The honest framing

This isn't a hard sell for replacing people who are working well already — it's pointing out an option a lot of small businesses haven't priced out. If you're currently missing calls because there's no one to answer, the comparison isn't "AI vs. a great receptionist," it's "AI vs. no one answering at all." Loqify's phone/voice assistant is included in the Autopilot package ($1,999+ setup, $549/mo), alongside missed-call text-back, booking, and review automation.