Answering service quote request: the email that gets the hidden terms in writing

Ask for the terms the pricing pages leave out

A pricing page gives you the plan price. The terms that decide your bill are often somewhere else. We read the pricing pages and terms of six services contractors shortlist, and every gap below turned up at least once.

What we looked for	Where it was missing or buried
Any published price	AnswerConnect’s pricing link is a contact form (AnswerConnect)
Overage rate	Not listed on Ruby’s or Sameday’s pricing pages (Ruby, Sameday)
What happens at the limit	Rosie’s terms auto-upgrade you to a higher plan (Rosie terms)
Minimum term	AnswerConnect’s FAQ says no lock-in; its terms set 90 days (AnswerConnect terms)
Cancellation notice	Smith.ai AI needs 30 days; its live service bills to the end of the cycle (Smith.ai AI, Smith.ai)
Add-on price	Smith.ai’s live-agent add-on on AI plans has no listed price (Smith.ai AI Receptionist)

Key takeaway: Read the terms of service, not just the plan cards. Two of the six gaps above, the auto-upgrade and the 90-day minimum, were only in the terms.

Know what “a minute” and “a call” mean before you compare

Billing units hide the biggest differences, so the email asks each vendor to define theirs. Ruby bills in 60-second increments rounded up, includes hold time, and stops counting once a call is transferred to you or your voicemail (Ruby terms). AnswerConnect also rounds up to whole minutes but counts hold time and time spent patching a call forward (AnswerConnect terms).

Per-call pricing has its own fine print. Smith.ai’s live service does not count spam or wrong numbers if your lines pass caller ID (Smith.ai pricing). Its AI plan counts every answered call by default, with an allowance to remove up to 10% as spam (Smith.ai AI pricing). Goodcall counts unique callers, not calls, and says robocalls and silent callers never count (Goodcall pricing).

Watch out: Money-back guarantees have limits too. Smith.ai excludes overage from its refund (Smith.ai pricing). Ruby’s refund window closes at 21 days or 500 receptionist minutes, whichever comes first (Ruby FAQs).

Copy this quote request

Fill in the brackets from last month’s phone report, then send the same email to every vendor. Keep the numbering so the replies line up.

Subject: Quote request – call answering for [Business name], [trade], [city]

Hi,

We are comparing call-answering services and are asking every vendor the
same questions. Please answer in writing, in the numbered order below.

Our numbers (last month, [measured / estimated]):
- Inbound calls: [___] per month, of which about [___]% spam or robocalls
- Total talk minutes: [___]; average call about [___] minutes
- Coverage needed: [all calls / overflow / after hours only],
  [hours and days], [time zone], including holidays: [yes/no]
- Calls to transfer to our on-call tech: about [___] per month
- Booking needed into: [scheduling software and plan]
- Busy season runs [months] at roughly [2x] normal volume

Please quote:
1. Billing unit: per call, per minute, or per unique caller. How are
   partial minutes rounded? Do hold time and transfer or patch time count?
2. Included volume and overage rate per unit on the plan you recommend.
3. What happens when we exceed the plan: overage, automatic upgrade to a
   higher plan, or something else? If upgraded, when can we move back down?
4. How spam, wrong numbers, hang-ups and repeat callers are counted.
5. Setup, onboarding, number porting and integration fees, one-time or monthly.
6. Price of every add-on we would need: appointment booking, transfer
   alerts, extra transfer numbers, Spanish, after-hours routing rules,
   and (for AI plans) a live person taking over a call.
7. Any different rate or rule for nights, weekends or holidays, and any
   service that is only available during business hours.
8. Minimum term, auto-renewal, cancellation notice, refund or guarantee
   limits, and whether you can change our price during the term.

Please also price two months for us: a normal month at the numbers above,
and a busy month at double.

Finally, tell us what happens when a transfer to our tech is not
answered, and what call records we can export if we leave.

Thanks,
[Name], [phone]

Score the replies line by line

Move every answer into a grid before you look at the totals. The vendor with the lowest plan price can lose once overage, add-ons and minimum term are counted.

Example: Ruby’s 100-minute plan is $395 a month (Ruby pricing). A busy month at double that usage runs past the plan, and the page lists no overage rate. Without question 2 answered, you cannot budget that month at all.

Your quote-comparison checklist

1. Every vendor received the same email on the same day.
2. Each reply names its billing unit and rounding rule.
3. Each reply gives an overage rate, or says in writing that it auto-upgrades.
4. Setup, porting and integration fees are listed, or confirmed as zero in writing.
5. Every add-on you need has a price.
6. Minimum term and cancellation notice are stated, and match the terms of service.
7. Normal and busy-month totals are computed with the cost guide method.
8. Unanswered questions are marked unknown, not zero.

Then check the monthly total against the jobs you need to win with our missed-call calculator. If a vendor’s quote only covers AI, read AI vs a live answering service to decide which calls still need a person, and our after-hours routing plan for the night and weekend rules. The shortlist of AI products is in best AI receptionist for contractors. If you just want callers texted back when you miss them, HighLevel’s missed-call text-back is covered in our HighLevel review.

What we couldn’t verify: AnswerConnect’s prices and overage rate, Ruby’s and Sameday’s overage rates, and the price of Smith.ai’s live-agent add-on; the template asks for each, and we have not requested quotes ourselves.

Turn the reply into a complete quote

Under the returned email, keep a four-column ledger: missing field, vendor response, financial consequence and person/date for follow-up. Use separate rows for billable unit, rounding, included allowance, extra usage, failed transfers, setup and cancellation. An unanswered overage question stays “not quoted”; do not enter zero to make the comparison spreadsheet work.

For example, Ruby’s published packages, rechecked October 19, 2026, establish minute allowances but do not establish a universal overage price. A plan can include its listed features while still needing a volume-specific quote. Ask the same follow-up of every vendor using the call/minute assumptions in the cost guide. This page’s distinct output is a copyable request and a completeness check, not another list of headline prices.