How much a receptionist costs vs. an AI phone: how to do the math right

"Do I hire someone to answer the phone or use an AI?" It's a question many small business owners ask when the phone starts ringing more than the team can handle. The answer depends on numbers only you have, and on understanding well what each option does.

This article doesn't provide a ready-made salary table, because salaries vary greatly by city, by collective bargaining agreement, and by experience. Instead, we show how to build the math with your own numbers and what to compare beyond price.

The cost of a receptionist goes beyond the salary

Anyone hiring under the CLT regime knows that the salary is only part of it. To estimate the real cost, add up:

• Salary: check the category's floor in your city's collective bargaining agreement and what the local market pays. Job sites and your accountant help you get a realistic range.
• Charges: FGTS (8% of salary), employer social security contribution (which varies according to the tax regime; under Simples Nacional, it depends on the annex), and others your accountant will point out.
• Provisions: 13th salary and vacation with the one-third additional, which must be set aside month by month.
• Benefits: transportation voucher (with the employee's permitted deduction), meal or food voucher, if applicable or if the collective agreement requires it.
• Indirect costs: workstation, computer, telephone, training, and the time spent on hiring and on replacement in case of departure.

In practice, the total cost to the company is usually well above the salary registered on the employment record. Ask your accountant for a simulation with the salary you intend to pay: it is the safest way to arrive at the right figure for your case.

The cost of the AI phone

Combot's AI Phone costs R$ 399 per month per number, with the number and 500 minutes per month included. To find out whether the 500 minutes are enough, estimate how many calls you receive and their average duration. An approximate calculation:

If you receive, for example, 10 calls per business day, at about 2 minutes each, that is roughly 20 minutes per day, or something close to 440 minutes over 22 business days. The numbers are illustrative only: use those from your own call history.

If your volume is much higher, check the pricing page for the conditions for those who exceed 500 minutes.

What to compare beyond price

Putting the two figures side by side is only the beginning. They do not do exactly the same thing.

Hours covered

A receptionist works one shift, with a lunch break, days off and vacation. To cover nights and weekends, more people would be needed. The AI answers 24 hours a day, including at lunch and on holidays, and you choose what it does outside business hours: take a message and send it on WhatsApp, just announce the opening hours, or not answer.

Simultaneous calls

A person handles one call at a time. At peak times (Monday morning, after a service outage, during a promotion), the others wait or drop. The AI handles several at once.

What each does better

A person does better:

• Welcoming those who arrive in person, looking after the waiting room, handling documents.
• Delicate situations, negotiation, a very upset customer.
• Varied tasks away from the phone: organizing the schedule, collecting payments, filing.
• Building relationships with long-standing customers.

The AI does better:

• Answering at all times, with no queue and no opening hours.
• Answering repeated questions with the same patience on the tenth time of the day.
• Taking complete orders and messages, following the script, and delivering them organized on WhatsApp.
• Booking appointments in the calendar and passing cases to the right person via WhatsApp.

It does not have to be one or the other

For many companies, the best answer is the combination:

• The receptionist handles in-person matters and cases that need a person, and the AI answers the phone when she is busy, at lunch and outside business hours.
• The AI does the triage and sends to the reception, via WhatsApp, only what needs a person.
• In companies without a reception, the AI covers the phone and the team receives the orders and messages on WhatsApp to answer between one service and another.

This way, the person you hire does higher-value work, and the phone stops being a constant interruption.

A script for deciding

1. Measure the volume: how many calls per day and at what times. Your carrier's or mobile phone's history helps.
2. Classify the subjects: how many are repetitive and how many require human judgment.
3. Count the missed ones: how many ring unanswered, within and outside business hours.
4. Ask your accountant for a simulation of the cost of a hire.
5. Compare it with the AI's monthly fee and with the value of the calls you miss today.
6. Test it for a period, with a well-written script, and see the real results.

Points to watch

• Do not treat the AI as a replacement for any role. It answers the phone; it does not receive packages at the door.
• A good script makes all the difference. See how to write the service script.
• Someone on the team needs to answer the orders and messages the AI sends on WhatsApp. Without that, neither option solves it.

Summary

The cost of a receptionist is the salary plus charges, provisions and benefits, and your accountant can simulate the exact amount. The AI phone has a fixed monthly cost and covers 24 hours, with several calls at the same time. Compare the two by what each delivers, not just by price. For many small companies, AI on the phone is what allows them to grow without any call going unanswered. To understand what an AI attendant does day to day, read virtual attendant by phone for small businesses.