There is no single UK price. Services are billed per call, per minute, as a prepaid bundle of minutes, as a flat monthly fee with an allowance, or per location, and some add a one-off setup fee. Compare quotes on the total over the minimum term, with and without VAT, and on the rate beyond any allowance.
The monthly price of an AI receptionist tells you less than it seems to. Two quotes with the same headline figure can cost very different amounts once setup, extra minutes, contract length and VAT are added.
This guide explains how UK services may be billed, how to estimate your own minutes and what to ask in writing. Apart from our own price, it names no supplier and quotes no supplier’s prices. As one example of the bundle model, Prime Assist starts at 500 minutes a month for £150 including VAT (£125 plus VAT) on a 12-month agreement: see what Prime Assist charges.
The billing models, and what to check in each
A quote may use one model or combine several, for example a monthly fee with an allowance, plus a rate for anything above it.
| Billing model | How it is charged | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Per call | A set price for each call answered, whatever its length. | What counts as a call: wrong numbers, silent calls, spam, callers who hang up at once, and calls passed to your team. |
| Per minute | A rate for each minute on the line, billed after the month. | Rounding on each call, any minimum charge per call, and different rates at night or at weekends. |
| Prepaid minute bundle | Minutes paid for in advance each month. | The rate beyond the bundle, whether unused minutes roll over or expire, and whether you can change bundle size. |
| Flat monthly fee with an allowance | A fixed fee that includes a number of calls or minutes. | The allowance against your call report, the rate above it, and whether it resets each month. |
| Per seat or per location | A charge for each site, number, user or agent, sometimes on top of usage. | How many you need as you grow, and whether answering more calls at once costs more. |
| Per outcome | A charge for each result, such as a booking made or an enquiry captured. | How an outcome is defined and recorded, who settles a dispute, and whether calls without one are charged. |
| Setup and integration fee | A one-off charge, alongside any model above. | What it covers, whether each system connection is extra, and what changes after go-live cost. |
Setup, extra minutes and rollover
Setup and integration. A setup fee may cover writing and testing the call scripts and connecting your diary or practice system. Ask for a written list of what it includes.
Extra minutes, or overage. On a bundle or an allowance, the rate above it matters as much as the monthly fee, because your busiest month is when you pay it. Ask whether you are told before it is charged.
Unused allowance. An allowance may reset each month or roll over for a set period. If your calls rise and fall through the year, rollover decides whether a quiet month’s minutes help pay for a busy one.
Contract length and minimum terms
Contracts may run month to month or for a fixed term. A fixed term commits you to every month in it, so compare the total over the minimum term, not the monthly price. Check whether the price can rise during the term. If you are switching, check the notice on your current service too.
VAT, and when a healthcare provider cannot reclaim it
Prices may be quoted with or without VAT, which is charged at the standard rate of 20% on most goods and services.Note 2: VAT sources Ask every supplier for both figures.
Whether you can reclaim it depends on what you sell. HMRC’s VAT Notice 701/57 says the services of registered health professionals are exempt when they fall within the profession they are registered in and their primary purpose is protecting, maintaining or restoring the person’s health (section 2.3). It also says a health professional “cannot normally deduct input tax that relates to your exempt supplies” (section 8.1). So for a GP practice, dental practice or clinic whose income is mainly exempt, the price including VAT is usually the real cost.
A practice that also makes taxable supplies is partly exempt and may recover a share (section 8.2). Purely cosmetic services are standard-rated (section 4.4), which can change the position for an aesthetic clinic, and the notice does not deal with veterinary practices. VAT on costs used to make taxable supplies can be deducted (section 8.1), so a VAT-registered business whose own sales are taxable normally pays the price before VAT. Your accountant can confirm where you stand.
Estimate your own minutes first
A rate only means something against your own usage, and your phone system’s call report has what you need.
- Take a recent month and note the inbound calls and the average call length: talk time, not ring time. If you only know a typical weekday’s calls, multiply them by 5, then by 52, and divide by 12.
- Keep only the calls the service would answer: every call, overflow only, or out of hours only.
- Calls a month × average call length = minutes a month.
- Repeat for your busiest month, which decides what you pay for extra minutes.
As a check on the arithmetic: at 2.5 to 3.5 minutes a call, 500 minutes is about 140 to 200 calls a month. The missed-call check does this from your own figures and prices the minutes at our published rate, with its method on our facts page. To put a value on the calls you miss, read the true cost of a missed call.
Questions to ask any supplier, in writing
Ask every supplier the same questions, with the answers in the written quote, so you can lay them side by side.
- What is the total cost over the minimum term for our expected usage, with and without VAT?
- How is a call or a minute counted, and is there a minimum charge per call?
- What do extra minutes or calls cost, and are we told before they are charged?
- What happens to the allowance we do not use?
- What does setup cover, and is connecting our systems charged separately?
- Is there a charge per location, phone number, user or agent?
- How many calls can it answer at the same time?
- What is the minimum term?
- Can the price rise during the term?
- Will our phone provider charge for forwarding calls? Ask your provider too.