How much does an after hours answering service cost?
On the Yes AI Professional plan, after hours answering costs $599 per month plus a one-off $999 setup fee, ex GST, with 1,500 minutes of talk time a month covering nights and weekends. Staffed answering services in Australia often charge per call, per minute or for a monthly bundle of calls.
What pricing models do Australian answering services use?
Answering services price their work in four main ways, and many providers mix two of them. Published price lists, such as the one from Virtual Headquarters, show several of these models on the same page.
| Pricing model | What you pay for | What to check before signing |
|---|---|---|
| Pay per call | A monthly base fee plus a charge for each call answered | Whether wrong numbers, hang-ups and sales calls are charged as calls |
| Call bundle | A monthly fee that includes a set number of calls, then a charge for each extra call | What happens in a busy month, and whether unused calls carry over |
| Per minute | Talk time, either pay as you go or as a monthly block of included minutes | How minutes are rounded and when the clock starts |
| Monthly plan with included minutes | A fixed fee covering a set allowance, with a per-minute rate above it | Which hours the plan covers, and the rate for extra minutes |
Setup fees vary as well. Virtual Headquarters, for example, lists no setup fee on its pay-as-you-go message plans and a setup fee on its per-minute assistant and diary plans, where the operator has more to learn about your business.
Two items are easy to miss on any price list. Ask each provider, in writing, whether calls at night, on weekends or on public holidays are charged at a different rate from weekday calls, and whether there is a minimum monthly charge even in a quiet month.
What does Yes AI charge?
Yes AI publishes three plans on its pricing page. All prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. Every plan is month to month, with no lock-in contract and 30 days notice to cancel.
| Starter | Professional | Custom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits | 1 to 5 staff | 5 to 20 staff | 20 or more staff |
| Monthly fee | $299 per month | $599 per month | Quoted |
| One-off setup | $499 | $999 | Quoted |
| Included minutes | 500 a month | 1,500 a month | Set in the quote |
| Hours covered | Business hours | Business hours, after hours and weekends | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
| Notifications | Email and SMS | Email and SMS, plus call recording and transcripts |
Starter is the cheapest plan, but it covers business hours only. It suits a business that wants daytime calls picked up when the team is busy and is content for night calls to go to voicemail. For calls in the evening and on weekends, Professional is the entry point. It also includes appointment booking, a custom greeting and CRM integration with Cliniko and Xero.
Custom is the plan the price list shows with 24 hour coverage. It adds call recording and transcripts, a custom AI voice, more than one agent and a service level agreement, and it is quoted for each business.
The setup fee pays for configuring the agent, connecting it to your phone system and software, writing the greeting and call flows, testing and training. The timing is confirmed in a written quote.
What counts as a minute?
A minute is connected talk time on a call the AI agent handles, measured from the moment it answers to the moment the call ends. Calls that are never answered, or that fail to connect, are not counted. When the agent transfers a caller to one of your staff, only the part of the call the agent handled comes off your allowance. Minutes beyond the allowance are billed at the per-minute rate shown for your plan.
How many minutes would a typical business use?
A worked example shows how to size a plan. The numbers below are an illustration for a dental practice with three dentists, not data from a real practice.
| Call type | Calls per week | Average length | Minutes per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeknight bookings and cancellations, 6pm to 9pm | 15 | 3 minutes | 45 |
| Overnight messages about dental pain | 3 | 4 minutes | 12 |
| Saturday and Sunday calls | 14 | 3 minutes | 42 |
| Weekday overflow while the front desk is busy | 25 | 2 minutes | 50 |
| Total | 57 | 149 |
At 149 minutes a week, and about 4.33 weeks in a month (52 weeks divided by 12), this practice would use roughly 645 minutes a month. That is under half of the Professional allowance of 1,500 minutes, which leaves room for the rush of rebookings after a public holiday. Even if every call ran twice as long, the total would stay just under 1,300 minutes.
To size a plan for your own business:
- Export four weeks of call records from your phone system or carrier portal, including calls that were missed.
- Count the calls that arrived outside business hours and the calls that rang out during them.
- Multiply each group by an average call length. If your records do not show length, time ten of your own calls next week and use the average.
- Divide the four-week total by 4, then multiply by 4.33 for a monthly figure.
- Compare the result with the 500 and 1,500 minute allowances, leaving headroom for busy months.
How do the options compare?
| Option | Hours covered | Consistency | How it is paid for | Main limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicemail | Whenever the phone is not answered | Depends on what each caller chooses to say | Usually part of your phone plan | Callers decide whether to leave a message; nothing urgent reaches you until someone listens |
| A mobile diverted to a staff member | Whenever that person can answer | Depends on the person, the hour and how tired they are | Staff time, plus any allowances and penalty rates the award sets | Calls are missed while driving, on a job or asleep |
| Human answering service | The hours the provider staffs | Follows a script; quality varies between operators | Per call, per minute or call bundles | Calls can queue at busy times; check for extra charges outside business hours |
| AI answering agent | The hours your plan covers | Asks the same questions on every call | Monthly fee with included minutes | Cannot judge unusual situations; distressed callers need a person |
If you roster your own staff to take calls after hours, count their cost too. The Fair Work Ombudsman explains that penalty rates can apply for weekends, public holidays, overtime, late nights and early mornings, depending on the award. That cost never appears on an answering service invoice, but it belongs in the comparison.
What sits outside the monthly fee?
- Carrier charges for diverted calls. Some phone plans bill a forwarded call as an outgoing call, so check yours before you switch the divert on.
- Staff time on urgent calls. Calls transferred to your on-call person still take their time, and possibly a penalty rate.
- Software outside the standard list. Connecting to a system that is not on a provider’s integration list may need custom work.
- Porting fees. If you move your number to a new carrier, the ACMA notes that the old telco may charge a fee. Most answering setups divert calls instead, so the number stays where it is.
How do you work out whether it pays for itself?
Divide the monthly fee by the gross profit on one typical job. The answer is the number of extra jobs a month the service has to win, or keep, to cover its cost. Run it with your own figures before you buy. If you rarely get calls outside business hours, voicemail may be the better choice, and the voicemail comparison explains when.
For how a single call is handled from greeting to summary, read about the after hours answering service. For the trade-offs between operators and AI, see AI answering vs a human answering service. To hear the agent answer a call like yours, ask for a demo through the enquiry form.
Frequently asked questions
- Are the Yes AI plan prices shown with or without GST?
Without. All three published plans are quoted in Australian dollars excluding GST, so GST is added on top. That applies to the monthly fee and to the one-off setup fee.
- Can I begin on Starter and move up to Professional later?
Yes. An upgrade takes effect straight away, and a downgrade applies from the next billing cycle. Starter only answers during business hours, though, so if the reason you are buying is night and weekend calls, you need Professional or Custom from day one.
- Do calls on public holidays or overnight cost more?
The Yes AI price list shows no separate night, weekend or public holiday rate. A minute of talk time is counted the same way whenever it happens. What differs between plans is which hours are covered, so confirm that your schedule includes the public holidays you need.
- What happens if I use more than my included minutes?
Minutes beyond the monthly allowance are charged at the per-minute rate listed for your plan on the Yes AI pricing page. If that happens most months, compare what the extra minutes cost you with the monthly fee of the next plan up, which also comes with a larger allowance.
- Is there a minimum term or exit fee?
No. The plans run month to month, there is no lock-in contract and no penalty for leaving. You give 30 days notice. The setup fee is a one-off charge that covers configuring, connecting and testing your agent.