Google Voice forwards your calls, lets you set business hours, sends voicemails to email with AI transcription. Cost: $0 (personal) or $10-$30/user/month (Workspace). Works great for businesses where: (1) call volume is low (under 50 inbound/month), (2) your customers will tolerate a same-day callback, (3) you have time to actually call back each voicemail same day. For solo consultants, low-volume B2B service businesses, or businesses where the call is the start of a long sales cycle, Google Voice is fine.
Service businesses (dental, HVAC, real estate, med spa, legal, etc.) have customers in URGENT-now mindset: they need an appointment, an answer, or a callback within minutes — not 'when you get to it tomorrow.' Voicemail transcription doesn't change the lost-call math; it just gives you a transcript of the lost call. The customer still called your competitor 90 seconds later.
Google Voice: $0-$30/mo, lose 60-70% of inbound that hits voicemail. AI receptionist: $797/mo, recover 70-85% of inbound that would have hit voicemail. For a single-location service business missing $20-40K/mo in voicemail-killed revenue, the math is brutal in favor of AI. For a low-volume business missing 5-10 calls/month, Google Voice is good enough.
Some businesses run BOTH: Google Voice on the main line for during-business-hours overflow + AI receptionist for after-hours + weekends. Total cost: ~$30/mo Google + $797/mo AI = $827/mo. Coverage: business hours has live answer (you or front desk) → Google Voice catches overflow → AI catches everything else. Most service businesses don't need this complexity — AI alone covers all the scenarios — but it works for businesses transitioning gradually.
Three questions: (1) how many calls do you miss per month? (over 20 → AI), (2) what's your average customer LTV? (over $500 → AI math wins), (3) do you have after-hours/weekend calls coming in you're not capturing? (yes → AI). If all three lean AI, the math is clear. Test ours: +1 (877) 640-3761. Run your numbers: free 5-min audit.