A week has 168 hours. Customers can call during every one of them. You can answer during only some.
The rest of the time, the phone rings on a job site, in a meeting, at dinner, or at 7 a.m. on a Sunday. What happens to that call is the whole question behind 24/7 phone coverage.
I build Atlas, an AI receptionist for small businesses, so I will tell you where it fits and where it does not.
A week in hours
It helps to see the numbers. The table below is an illustrative example of a business open on weekdays only. Replace the figures with your own hours.
| Period | Hours in the week | Phone answered by you? |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays, 8 hours a day | 40 | Only when you are free to pick up |
| Weekday evenings and nights | 80 | Usually no |
| Weekend | 48 | Usually no |
| Total | 168 |
In this example, your opening hours cover 40 of the 168 hours. Even inside those 40 hours, you are not always free to pick up: you are on a job, in a meeting or with another customer. The other 128 hours are simply closed.
Where your calls actually go unanswered
Most missed calls are not random. They cluster in the same places:
- while your hands are busy on a job
- while you are driving or with another customer
- at lunch, in the evening and on weekends
- on holidays and sick days
For trades, this is built into the work. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says of plumbers, in its Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for plumbers: “Most plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters work full time, including nights and weekends. They are often on call to handle emergencies.” The customer’s problem does not wait for your opening hours.
Four ways to cover the hours
| Option | Hours covered | What the caller gets | What you get afterwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hire someone | The hours that person works, minus days off and sick days | A person, if they are at their desk | Whatever they write down |
| Human answering service | Depends on the provider: ask about nights, weekends and holidays | A person, usually following a script you supply | Usually a message. Ask what format |
| Voicemail | All hours | A beep. Many callers do not leave a message and try the next business instead | A recording to listen to and return |
| AI receptionist (Atlas) | All hours | A conversation: questions answered from your profile, and an appointment booked in your calendar | An email with the outcome, a summary and the full transcript |
None of these is right for everyone. A person is better for a complex conversation. Voicemail is enough if you almost never miss a call. The AI receptionist fits the gap in between: the calls you cannot take, at any hour, that mostly need the same handful of questions and a slot in your calendar.
If you consider a human answering service
A human service can be the right answer, especially for delicate calls. Before you sign, ask the provider for these answers in writing.
- Which hours are covered exactly: nights, weekends, public holidays?
- How is it billed: per call, per minute, or a monthly package? What happens above the package?
- What may the operator do for you: take a message only, or also book into your calendar?
- How do you receive the information afterwards, and how fast?
- Who writes and updates the script, and what happens when your services change?
- What is the notice period if you want to stop?
The same questions are worth asking of any AI provider, Atlas included.
What “24/7” means for Atlas, precisely
- It picks up at any hour, day or night.
- It only offers appointments that are actually free in your Google Calendar, inside your business hours.
- It takes the caller’s name, confirms the number and asks for the address if a visit is planned.
- Right after the call, you receive an email with the outcome, the length, the caller’s details, the request, the appointment, a summary and the full transcript. If Atlas handled a call badly, the subject line starts with [PROBLEME] so you see it without opening it.
- The caller gets a confirmation email only if they gave an address and an appointment was booked.
The step-by-step of a call is in How AI Handles Inbound Calls. To measure how many calls you really miss before deciding, use the method in this guide.
Three situations, illustrated
The situations below are illustrative. They describe how the service is designed to behave, not calls from named customers.
A call at 7 a.m. on a Sunday
A caller asks for an appointment early on a Sunday. Atlas picks up. If Sunday is outside your business hours, it does not book that day. It offers the next free slots within your hours, takes the name and number, and you read the summary when you wake up.
A call during a job
You are under a sink, or on a roof, and the phone rings. The call is handled without you. When you take a break, you open the email, read what the caller wanted and see the appointment already in your calendar.
A call about something you do not do
A caller asks for a service that is not in your profile. Atlas does not accept it on your behalf and does not invent an answer. It says the owner will call back, takes the details and flags the request in your summary.
What Atlas does not do
- It does not transfer calls to you or to a colleague. It can give out an emergency number if you provide one, but it never switches the line.
- It does not send text messages. The recap to you and the confirmation to the caller both go by email.
- It does not diagnose anything and does not promise an arrival time.
- It does not quote a price that is not in your profile, and the ones that are stay estimates.
- It speaks English and French, nothing else.
If a live person has to pick up urgent calls at all hours, an AI receptionist is not the right tool. Keep your own emergency line for that.
How to decide
- Count the hours you really answer. Not your opening hours, the hours you actually pick up.
- Look at what the missed calls ask. Mostly appointments and the same few questions points toward an AI receptionist. Mostly delicate, long conversations points toward a person.
- Put a figure on a lost job. Use your own average job value, and a cautious guess of how many missed calls would have booked.
- Compare with the monthly cost of each option, written down by the provider.
- Test before you commit. A 7-day trial exists for that.
What covering the hours costs
Atlas costs $49/month for the first 20 customers, a price you keep as long as your subscription stays active, then $99/month. On top of that, $0.25 per call minute, rounded up to the next minute, so a 70-second call counts as 2 minutes.
The formula: $49 + $0.25 × your minutes.
| Billed minutes in the month | Launch price ($49) | Regular price ($99) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | $61.50 | $111.50 |
| 100 | $74 | $124 |
| 200 | $99 | $149 |
| 300 | $124 | $174 |
The trial lasts 7 days with 100 free minutes, once. Minutes beyond them are billed, even during the trial. Full details are on the pricing page, and the comparison against other providers is in this pricing guide.
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If you would rather talk first, email me at [email protected] or call our US line at +1 302 947 8583.