Per-minute vs. per-call virtual receptionist pricing 

That’s just the beginning. Plenty of companies layer different kinds of pricing over each other. Maybe you pay for a monthly plan but are charged by the minute on top of that.  

And then there may be overages, weekend fees, holiday fees, fees for additional lines, fees for access to certain features like scheduling and bilingual answering, payment processing fees… The charges can seriously add up.  

This brings us back to the initial topic: per-minute versus per-call pricing. The difference may sound straightforward, but some virtual receptionist providers use broad terminology to hide extra fees.   

Ruby has been an active member of the virtual receptionist industry for over 20 years (fun fact: we popularized the term “virtual receptionists”) and we’ve unfortunately seen countless businesses fall prey to deceptive pricing structures and end up paying much more than they expected to. So, in the interest of transparency and helping you make an informed decision, let’s untangle the marketing terms and clarify what you’re really buying. 

Per-minute pricing tends to be inclusive. Providers who charge by the minute are usually using the model to cover the features most of their customers use. In other words, you’re paying for time using the service, not individual aspects of the service. 

Per-call pricing tends to be misleading. This is the “too good to be true” option. It might sound like you’re paying for everything involved in a call, but in reality, you’re often paying for just the call and nothing else. Services such as intake, call routing, number hosting, and integrations likely come with additional charges.