AI answering
service.
An AI answering service answers your business calls with a natural voice instead of a room of live operators. Voxgard picks up in about 0.3 seconds, 24/7, in 32 languages, and does more than take a message: it answers from your services, hours and prices, books the appointment into Google Calendar, texts the customer a confirmation from your number and, on Standard, writes the outcome into your CRM. When a caller asks for a person, it rings your managers in the order you set; if nobody picks up, your team gets a text with the caller’s number and a summary. Every call is recorded, transcribed and summarized. Plans start at $249 a month with 300 minutes included. A live receptionist service such as Ruby lists plans from $250 a month for 50 minutes. The first five days on your real calls are free, with no credit card.
Updated September 2026AI, live operators,
or voicemail.
Three ways to get a phone answered. Ruby’s facts come from its own website on 14 September 2026; we picked it because it is one of the best-known live services, not because it is the only one.
| Option | Who answers | Price | Calls at once | Languages | After the call | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voxgard AI answering service | An AI voice, configured on your script | $249/month for 300 minutes, then $0.55/minute | Several at once: 1 on Basic, 3 on Standard, unlimited on Enterprise | 32, detected from the first phrase | Recording, transcript and summary of every call | Free 5-day pilot, no card |
| Ruby Live answering service | Trained live receptionists | $250/month for 50 minutes; $720 for 200 (pricing) | Not listed | Spanish and bilingual call handling available | Voicemail and chat transcripts, shared dashboard | Not listed |
| Voicemail No service | A recording | Included with your phone line | — | Your greeting’s language | A message, if the caller leaves one | — |
Voicemail is the
expensive option.
It costs nothing on the invoice. None of these numbers are ours.
of business calls go unanswered during office hours.
Hiya · 2025average revenue value of a single missed inbound lead.
Forrester · 2024of callers who reach voicemail never call back.
BrightLocal · 2024What it does
on the call.
Configured on your services, your hours and your rules. Nothing is guessed.
Answers in about 0.3 seconds
With your business’s name, around the clock, and replies about 700 milliseconds after the caller finishes speaking.
Handles the question
Services, hours, location and prices come from what you loaded. When something is outside it, it says so instead of inventing an answer.
Books the appointment
Checks free and busy time in Google Calendar and books while the caller is on the line.
Texts the confirmation
From your business number, in the caller’s language. SMS $0.05, MMS $0.15, never from your minutes.
Hands off when asked
Rings managers in your priority order, moves past voicemail, and texts the team the summary if nobody answers.
Writes it all down
Recording, transcript, summary and extracted fields such as name, phone and service, plus a CRM update on Standard.
What $250 a month
buys.
Published prices only, worked for a normal month. The services are not identical: one is people, one is software.
100 minutes a month
Voxgard Basic: $249, inside the 300 included minutes. Ruby: $395 for its 100-minute plan.
200 minutes a month
Voxgard Basic: $249. Ruby: $720 for its 200-minute plan.
500 minutes a month
Voxgard Basic: $249 plus 200 minutes at $0.55, $359. Ruby: $1,725 for its 500-minute plan.
Ruby plans as listed on ruby.com/plans-and-pricing on 14 September 2026. Taxes, carrier fees and text messages are not included.
When a live service
is the better fit.
Said plainly, because the wrong service costs more than either invoice.
Every caller wants a person
If your customers expect a human voice on every call and will not talk to software, a live service is the honest answer.
Calls outside any script
Voxgard follows what you configured and hands off when a call goes beyond it. If most of your calls need judgement, staff them.
Most calls are routine
Booking, prices, hours, directions, address and callback details: here an AI answers faster, in parallel, in more languages, and costs less.
Answering service
questions.
It is software that answers your business calls with a natural voice instead of a team of live operators. Voxgard picks up in about 0.3 seconds, 24/7, answers from your services, hours and prices, books appointments, texts the customer a confirmation and records, transcribes and summarizes every call.
It depends on your calls. An AI service answers instantly, takes several calls at once, speaks many languages and costs less per minute. A live service puts a person on every call, which suits businesses whose callers need human judgement each time. Some businesses use AI for the everyday calls and hand the rest to their own staff.
Voxgard starts at $249 a month with 300 minutes, then $0.55 a minute; Standard is $549 with 1,000 minutes and three simultaneous calls. For comparison, Ruby’s live receptionist plans start at $250 a month for 50 minutes, according to its pricing page on 14 September 2026. Voxgard pricing.
Yes. When a caller asks for someone, it says it is connecting them and rings your managers in the order you set. If a manager’s phone goes to voicemail it moves to the next one; if nobody picks up, the caller is told they will be called back and your team gets a text with the caller’s number and a summary.
No. It answers questions from what you loaded, books into Google Calendar, quotes ranges from your own price rules, texts confirmations and, on Standard, updates HubSpot, GoHighLevel, Salesforce, Zoho CRM or Pipedrive while the call is running.
Yes. It detects the caller’s language from the first phrase and follows a switch mid-call. Voxgard speaks 32 languages. Bilingual answering.
Hear the AI answer
before you decide.
Call the live line at any hour, then run it on your real calls for five days, free, no card.