Virtual Receptionist · Full-Time · Dedicated
A Virtual Receptionist Who Actually Knows Your Business
Per-minute answering services read a script and take a message. A dedicated GetGuru virtual receptionist works for you full-time — answering every call, booking appointments, updating your CRM, and chasing follow-ups — for a flat $1,275 bi-weekly. No per-minute meter, ever.
Why per-minute virtual receptionist services fall short
The meter changes how calls get handled
When you pay $1-2 per minute, every conversation is an expense. Per-minute services are built to end calls fast — take a name and number, promise a callback — not to answer questions, book the appointment, or actually win you the customer.
A stranger answers every call
Shared call-center agents cover dozens of businesses at once. They don't know your services, your prices, your service area, or your schedule — so callers hear 'someone will get back to you' instead of an answer, and many just dial your competitor.
The work after the call still lands on you
An answering service hands you a message. Someone still has to log the lead in the CRM, book the appointment, send the confirmation, and follow up. If that someone is you or your best tech, the receptionist 'savings' are costing you billable hours.
What your dedicated virtual receptionist handles
Every call, answered live
Your dedicated receptionist answers in your business name during your hours — greeting callers, answering real questions about your services and pricing, and handling overflow so nothing rolls to voicemail.
Appointment booking & scheduling
Not just messages — booked jobs. Your receptionist works directly in your calendar or field-service software, schedules and confirms appointments, and manages reschedules and cancellations.
CRM management
Every caller logged, tagged, and moved through your pipeline — GoHighLevel, HubSpot, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, or whatever you run. Your lead data stays clean without you touching it.
Email & inbox management
A full-time receptionist doesn't sit idle between calls. Yours triages your inbox, replies to routine inquiries, sends quotes and confirmations, and flags what genuinely needs you.
Follow-ups that close the loop
Missed-call text-backs, quote follow-ups, review requests, and reminder sequences — the persistent, unglamorous outreach that turns inquiries into booked revenue.
Admin & office support
Data entry, order tracking, vendor calls, basic invoicing support, and the recurring office tasks a great front-desk person absorbs — because you're paying for a person, not minutes.
Per-minute answering service vs. dedicated virtual receptionist
One takes messages by the minute. The other runs your front desk.
| Per-minute answering service | Dedicated GetGuru receptionist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $1-2 per minute; 200-300 minutes/month often runs $300-600, and busy months spike unpredictably | $1,275 bi-weekly flat — about $2,550/month, unlimited calls and unlimited minutes |
| Who answers | Whichever shared agent is free, covering dozens of companies | The same person every time — trained on your business, hired by you |
| Business knowledge | A script and an FAQ sheet | Your services, pricing, service area, team, and systems — knowledge that compounds |
| Appointment booking | Often a paid add-on, limited to basic slots | Included — books, confirms, and reschedules directly in your calendar or CRM |
| CRM, email & follow-ups | Not included; you get a message relay | Included — CRM updates, inbox management, quotes, and follow-up sequences |
| Between calls | Nothing — you only buy talk time | A full workday of admin, follow-ups, and pipeline work |
| Commitment | Monthly plans with overage fees | Bi-weekly billing, cancel anytime, free replacement |
Per-minute figures reflect typical published rates for US answering services. The structural difference: a service sells minutes; a dedicated receptionist gives you a full-time front desk.
One dedicated receptionist. Unlimited minutes. Flat rate.
About $2,550/month all-in — what many businesses spend on 300-400 answering-service minutes, for a full-time dedicated receptionist who also books, logs, and follows up.
- Pay nothing until you hire — the search and shortlist are free
- Hire in 14 days from your discovery call
- Free replacement if it's not working out
- Cancel anytime — bi-weekly billing, no annual contracts
- GetGuru is the employer of record — payroll, health + vision insurance, provident fund handled; you get one clean invoice
“We were paying an answering service almost $700 a month and still doing all the booking ourselves. Our GetGuru receptionist answers everything, books straight into Housecall Pro, and chases every estimate we send. Booked jobs are up and I haven't answered an unknown number in months.”
Anonymised at client request. Details available under NDA on discovery call.
Virtual receptionist pricing: what it really costs in 2026
Most 'virtual receptionist pricing' pages hide the numbers behind a quote form. Here they are, plainly.
How much does a virtual receptionist cost?
Virtual receptionist services in the US typically charge $1 to $2 per minute of talk time. Entry plans start around $100-150/month for roughly 50 minutes, mid-tier plans run $300-600/month for 200-300 minutes, and a business handling real call volume — 500+ minutes a month — can easily spend $700-1,200/month while still only getting message-taking. A traditional in-house receptionist costs $38,000-48,000/year plus payroll taxes and benefits, or roughly $3,800-4,600/month all-in.
A dedicated full-time GetGuru virtual receptionist is a flat $1,275 bi-weekly — about $2,550/month. There is no per-minute meter, no overage fee, and no cap: unlimited calls, plus appointment booking, CRM management, email, and follow-ups from one person working your business hours full-time. That's roughly 45% less than a US in-house hire, with GetGuru as the employer of record handling payroll, health and vision insurance, and a provident fund — you get one clean invoice.
Per-minute vs. dedicated: where the break-even sits
At $1.50/minute, $2,550/month buys about 1,700 minutes — roughly 28 hours of talk time. But minutes are the wrong unit. A dedicated receptionist gives you about 160 hours a month, and the hours between calls are where the money is: logging every lead in your CRM, sending the quote the same hour, texting back missed calls, confirming tomorrow's appointments, and following up on last week's estimates. Per-minute services do none of that.
The practical rule: if you get more than 10-15 calls a day, or if calls are worth real money when they convert (home services, medical, legal, agencies), a dedicated receptionist pays for itself in booked jobs a message-relay service would have dropped. If you get three calls a week, buy minutes.
The best virtual receptionist for a small business knows the business
For a small business, the receptionist often IS the customer experience — the first voice a caller hears decides whether they book or bounce. That's exactly what shared call centers can't deliver: their agent meets your business for the first time on every call. A dedicated receptionist learns your services, your regulars, your seasonal rushes, and your team's schedules within the first couple of weeks, then keeps compounding.
GetGuru receptionists are college-educated, C1/C2-fluent English speakers, vetted through role-specific assessments, reference checks, and live interviews — under 8% of applicants make it. You interview a shortlist and pick the person, they work your time zone, and if it's ever not working, replacement is free.
Virtual Receptionist — Frequently Asked Questions
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