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Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist vs. NetSys AI Phone Answering

Smith.ai answers calls with AI, live agents or a mix, and bills per call. NetSys builds and runs an AI voice agent that hands callers to your own staff.

How our AI phone answering works

The short answer

Smith.ai sells AI and human answering. Its AI Receptionist answers first; Smith.ai virtual receptionist plans put a live agent on every call. Both bill per call: AI plans start free for 25 calls a month, human plans at $300 for 30 calls. NetSys AI phone answering is a managed AI agent that hands callers to your staff.

Closest related page: AI phone answering, managed by NetSys. That page covers how we scope, pilot and quote the service. This one sets it beside Smith.ai's AI and live receptionist plans.

NetSys and Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist, side by side

Feature	NetSys AI phone answering	Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist
Who answers	An AI voice agent. Callers who need a person go to your own team.	Three options: AI Receptionist (AI first), Virtual Receptionists (a live person on every call, 24/7) or Hybrid, which splits calls between AI and North America-based live agents.
Pricing model	Typically $150 to $300 a month, quoted per business from a sample of your calls, month to month, naming each cost driver.	Per call, not per minute, with a monthly call allowance. Self-serve AI plans and the live plans are month to month, with longer terms offered at lower rates.
Published prices	None. Platform charges and usage allowances are set before the pilot.	AI: Free at $0 for 25 calls a month, Pro from $150 for 75, Enterprise from $500 for 300. Live: $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90, $2,100 for 300.
Calls over the allowance	Overage terms are part of the quote.	AI plans: $2.10 to $3.00 per extra call, by plan and volume. Live plans: $8.50 to $11.50.
Spam calls	Whether spam calls count is a question to settle in our quote, as with any vendor.	AI plans filter known spam numbers, count answered calls by default and let you remove up to 10% for spam each cycle. Live plans do not bill spam when lines pass Caller ID.
Setup	We review your call log, script the agent, connect your systems and run it in shadow mode first.	Self-serve AI setup in about 15 minutes. Pro adds dedicated onboarding; Enterprise adds full-service setup and ongoing optimization.
Testing before launch	A pilot on representative calls, with handoffs, unavailable staff and failed transfers tested separately.	Quality Studio: up to 50 simulated scenarios a month free, plus test calls and suggested fixes before going live.
Appointments	Books, reschedules and cancels in your calendar or scheduling system, and calls back about lapsed appointments.	AI Scheduling (Calendly and others) on every AI plan. On live plans, booking is a $1.50 per-call add-on.
Integrations	Calendar, CRM and intake connections on least-privilege access, so caller details land where your team works.	Native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Clio Grow and Clio Manage, plus 5,000+ apps natively or through Zapier and Make.
After launch	NetSys engineers monitor it and review real conversations with you in the first weeks.	Self-healing FAQs flag knowledge gaps, and quality scores (AQI) come with suggested fixes. Enterprise adds a dedicated success manager.

Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist details checked September 2026 against Smith.ai’s own public pages: AI Receptionist product page · AI Receptionist plans and pricing · Virtual Receptionists plans and pricing · Virtual Receptionists product page · Hybrid AI and human receptionists page. Vendors change plans and features often; check the current page before you decide.

An honest fit check

Which one fits your practice

When Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist is the better fit

You want a person to answer. Virtual Receptionist plans put a live agent on every call, 24/7; our agent passes callers to your staff.
You want AI first with the vendor's own live agents behind it, or a defined split through its Hybrid option.
You want to start free: the AI Receptionist takes 25 calls a month at $0, set up in about 15 minutes and tested in Quality Studio.
Callers need Spanish. AI plans include English and Spanish, and live plans offer a dedicated Spanish line.
Your law firm wants conflict checks, payment collection or collect calls handled on the call, each a per-call add-on on the live plans.

When NetSys is the better fit

Callers who need a person should reach your own staff, by warm transfer or a text or email alert.
The agent must book, reschedule and cancel in your own calendar system and follow up on lapsed appointments.
You want its calendar, CRM and intake connections built on least-privilege access and watched by engineers.
You want limits on what the agent may say or promise, reviewed with you after launch.
You want a month-to-month quote built from your own calls.

AI, human or hybrid: what Smith.ai sells

Smith.ai offers three ways to staff the phone. AI Receptionist is AI-first: it answers, qualifies leads, books appointments and routes calls, and can pass complex calls to a live North America-based receptionist at any hour. Virtual Receptionists puts a real person on every call, 24/7. Hybrid splits calls between the two, with the mix set at onboarding.

That range is the biggest difference from NetSys: our service is an AI voice agent, and callers who need a person reach your own team.

Smith.ai receptionist pricing, plan by plan

Smith.ai bills per call, and each plan includes a monthly call allowance. Its AI Receptionist pricing page, checked September 2026, lists Free at $0 for 25 calls ($3.00 for each call after), Pro from $150 a month for 75 calls and Enterprise from $500 for 300, with lower rates at higher volumes and a 6-month plan that adds rollover calls.

Live Virtual Receptionist plans run $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90 and $2,100 for 300. Some work costs extra per call on those plans, such as $1.50 to book an appointment. Because per-call billing counts answered calls, check how spam is treated before you compare.

How a managed AI agent works instead

We scope NetSys AI phone answering around the calls you get. A week of call records shows which questions the agent can answer (hours, services, directions, what to bring), what a booking needs and which callers must reach a person. The agent connects to your calendar, CRM and intake systems with only the access it needs.

Before it takes your main line, we test representative calls, including an unavailable staff member and a failed transfer. After go-live, NetSys engineers monitor it and review transcripts with you, on a month-to-month agreement.

Choosing on your own call mix

Sort a week of calls into routine calls and judgment calls. Opening hours, directions and booking requests suit an AI agent from either company. Distressed callers and complex new matters need a person. If your team can take those calls, a managed AI agent may be enough; if nobody is free, a live or hybrid plan fills the gap.

Keep reading: How much an AI receptionist costs, and why · AI receptionist vs live answering service · AI phone answering for medical practices · AI phone answering for dental offices · AI legal intake for law firms · NetSys vs. RingCentral AI Receptionist

Common Questions

NetSys vs Smith.ai: FAQs

Is Smith.ai an AI or a human answering service?

Both. Smith.ai sells an AI Receptionist, human Virtual Receptionists who answer every call live, and a Hybrid option that splits calls between AI and live agents. On AI plans, calls can be passed to Smith.ai's North America-based live agents, with live-agent involvement offered as a per-call add-on.

How much does Smith.ai cost?

Smith.ai's published plans start at $0 a month for 25 AI-answered calls and $300 a month for 30 live-answered calls. AI Receptionist Pro starts at $150 for 75 calls and Enterprise at $500 for 300; live plans rise to $2,100 for 300 calls. Calls over the allowance are billed per call. Checked September 2026.

What is a cheaper alternative to Smith.ai?

It depends on your call count and call length, so compare the same month of calls. Within Smith.ai, AI plans cost less per call than live ones. Per-minute products such as RingCentral AI Receptionist suit short calls. A NetSys AI receptionist typically costs $150 to $300 a month; we quote after reviewing a sample of your calls.

What does a Smith.ai receptionist do on a call?

It answers with your greeting, screens and qualifies the caller against your criteria, books appointments and routes or transfers the call with a summary. Live receptionists can also run conflict checks, take payments and accept collect calls as per-call add-ons. The AI version speaks English and Spanish.

How does NetSys handle calls that need a person?

They go to your own team. NetSys AI phone answering warm-transfers the caller or alerts staff by text or email, on rules and thresholds you set. We test what happens when staff are unavailable or a transfer fails before go-live. If nobody on your team can take those calls, Smith.ai's live or hybrid plans cover that gap.

Sources

Smith.ai and Smith.ai Virtual Receptionist are trademarks of their owner, used here only to identify the product. If anything on this page is out of date, tell us at info@netsysgroup.com and we will correct it.

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