AnswerConnect has picked a side, and its pricing guide says so plainly: "No AI agents. Just friendly voices, ready to help 24/7, 365." Its receptionists answer as an extension of your business, capture leads and pass urgent calls along, at any hour. We went the other way. VettedCalls uses AI to ask each unknown caller who they are and why they're calling, before your phone rings. Both are reasonable answers to a busy phone, and they fit different owners.
What does AnswerConnect cost?
AnswerConnect's plans and pricing page asks for your name, company email and phone number before it shows any plans, so the prices aren't published there. Its pricing guide, a PDF on AnswerConnect's own site, lists these monthly plans:
- Entry: 200 minutes for $350, plus a $49.99 setup fee, then $2.50 a minute
- Growth: 300 minutes for $395, no setup fee, then $1.85 a minute
- Standard: 400 minutes for $575, plus a $49.99 setup fee, then $1.85 a minute
Bigger plans run from 550 minutes a month up to 100,000. There's no contract, and you can cancel at any time.
How are the minutes counted?
AnswerConnect rounds every interaction up to the next minute and bills in one-minute steps. The first 30 interactions under 30 seconds in each billing cycle are free. After those 30, a quick hang-up counts as a full minute.
We round up too: every call we answer counts as at least one minute, and longer calls go up to the next whole minute. We don't have a free allowance for short calls, so spam we block and callers who hang up during screening count as well, usually at one minute each. Pro's $29.99 a month includes 800 voice minutes, and each one past that is $0.07.
What's included, and what costs extra?
AnswerConnect's guide lists these at no extra charge: appointment scheduling into your calendar, up to three dedicated business numbers, CRM integration, call recordings, notifications in its app and by email and text, and spam call blocking. Call transcriptions and Spanish call answering are listed as paid add-ons.
Every VettedCalls plan includes screening, the shared spam registry, Priority Passthrough, voicemail with transcripts, and missed-call texts to callers who pressed 1. Receptionist adds the AI receptionist and recorded calls with a transcript and a short summary.
What happens to a call with VettedCalls?
- Your cell forwards it to us. You keep your number, and setup is the Cloud Softphone app, the Activate button in your welcome email, and one forwarding code.
- Saved contacts and recent callers go straight through. Anyone else hears a greeting in your business name asking who's calling and how we can help.
- The caller presses 1 or 2 to connect. With no key press, the call ends with a message that the number doesn't accept unsolicited calls.
- Your phone rings in Cloud Softphone with the caller's number. Answer, and you hear their name and reason, then a beep, then the caller.
- If you don't answer, Pro sends the caller to voicemail and emails you the transcript. On Receptionist, the AI receptionist answers after 12 seconds during business hours, and priority calls and saved contacts go to voicemail.
Priority calls get their own path. Priority Passthrough lets customers who say one of your selected priority words ring straight through to you, regardless of the time of day. The call skips the press 1 step and rings you for up to 40 seconds.
Side by side
| AnswerConnect | VettedCalls | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers | A live receptionist, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. No AI agents. | A greeting in your business name, then you. An AI receptionist on Receptionist. |
| Starting price | $350 a month for 200 minutes, plus a $49.99 setup fee. | $29.99 a month for 800 voice minutes. |
| Past the plan | $1.85 to $2.50 a minute. | $0.07 a voice minute, $0.25 an AI minute. |
| Spam | Spam call blocking included. | A press 1 step and a shared registry. Blocked calls still count, usually as one minute. |
| Appointments | Scheduled into your calendar. | The AI takes details and the days that work; you confirm. |
| Transcripts | Call transcriptions are a paid add-on. | Voicemail transcripts on every plan; call transcripts on Receptionist. |
| Canceling | No contract; cancel any time. | Cancel any time and keep access to the end of the paid period. |
Which one should you pick?
AnswerConnect makes sense when a person has to answer every call, when you want receptionists taking all your calls, some of them or just the overflow, and when your volume fits a block of a few hundred minutes a month.
VettedCalls makes sense when you're the one who should talk to your customers and you'd like robocalls stopped at a press 1 step before your phone rings. It also fits when you'd rather have an AI receptionist pick up the calls you miss, at $99.99 a month on Receptionist (coming soon); priority calls and saved contacts you miss still go to voicemail. Check that your carrier allows forwarding first: setup covers 16 carriers, and if yours can't forward, you get a full refund within the first 14 days.
Our answering service guide compares live, AI and screening services in one place, and the pricing page and features page have the rest.
AnswerConnect questions
Does AnswerConnect publish its prices?
Its pricing page asks for your name, company email and phone number before showing plans. A pricing guide PDF on AnswerConnect's own site lists plans from $350 a month for 200 minutes.
Does AnswerConnect use AI to answer calls?
Its pricing guide says no: "No AI agents. Just friendly voices, ready to help 24/7, 365."
What if my carrier can't forward calls?
Then VettedCalls can't work on your line, and you get a full refund within the first 14 days. Setup covers 16 carriers, but some prepaid and MVNO plans can't forward.