Missed-Call ROI Calculator
Missed calls cost most small businesses thousands of dollars a month. To estimate yours, multiply your daily calls by the share you miss, your booked-conversion rate, and the average value of a new customer. A business taking 20 calls a day and missing a third can lose tens of thousands a year in unbooked work.
Updated:
This is a pure estimator. It does not capture or dial your phone number — enter your numbers, get a figure, and book a demo only if you want to.
Calculate what missed calls cost you
Move the sliders (or type a number) to match your business. Results update instantly and never leave your browser — we don’t ask for your phone number and we don’t call you.
Estimated revenue lost to missed calls
$0 /month
Roughly 0 missed new-customer calls a month · about $0 a year.
AI receptionist vs. hiring a receptionist
- Hire one in-house receptionist
- ~$3,100/mo
Median base wage only (24% week coverage). Add payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, and training. Covers business hours — not nights or weekends.
- Always-on AI front desk
- A fraction of one salary · 24/7 · no surge billing
Answers every call — nights, weekends, and while you’re on another line. Discloses itself as automated. We lock your exact number on the demo, based on your call volume.
Receptionist base wage: median $37,230/yr ($17.9/hr). Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2024 . We quote your specific number on the demo — typically a fraction of one receptionist's salary.
How we calculate it: missed calls per month = calls per day × business days (22) × percent missed. Lost monthly revenue = missed calls × booked-conversion rate × average value of a new customer. We assume a missed call converts at the same rate as an answered one — a conservative assumption, since a caller who reaches voicemail rarely calls back. Adjust the inputs to match your business; the result is an estimate, not a guarantee.
Why missed calls are the most expensive leak in your business
We call the new-customer calls a business loses to voicemail, after-hours gaps, and busy signals “the Front-Desk Leak.” This calculator puts a dollar figure on it: the leak is rarely a few dollars — for a service business it is usually the difference between a slow month and a booked one.
A 2024 study by 411 Locals found that only 37.8% of incoming small-business calls are answered by a live person — the rest hit voicemail or ring out. Every unanswered call is a prospective customer who may simply dial the next business on their list.
24/7
calls answered by the AI — nights, weekends, holidays
0
new-customer calls sent to voicemail
How the missed-call cost is calculated
The formula
- Calls per day × 22 business days = monthly call volume.
- × percent of calls you miss = missed calls per month.
- × your booked-conversion rate = lost bookings.
- × average value of a new customer = revenue lost per month.
Why it’s conservative
The calculator assumes a missed call would have converted at the same rate as an answered one. In reality, a caller who hits voicemail usually dials a competitor and never calls back — so the true cost is often higher than the estimate. It also counts only base wages for the in-house comparison, not payroll taxes, benefits, or training.
Want the calls answered instead of counted? See our answering service and virtual receptionist hubs, or the version built for law firms.
Frequently asked questions
How much do missed calls actually cost a small business?
It depends on your call volume and what a new customer is worth, but it is usually thousands of dollars a month. A 2024 study by 411 Locals found only 37.8% of small-business calls are answered live. Use the calculator above with your own numbers to estimate your figure.
Is it cheaper to hire a receptionist or use an AI answering service?
A single in-house receptionist earns a median of $37,230 a year, about $3,100 a month before payroll taxes, benefits, and training (BLS, May 2024) — and covers only about 40 of the 168 hours in a week. An AI receptionist answers every call 24/7 for a fraction of one salary. Book a demo for a quote.
Does the calculator call my phone or store my number?
No. This is a pure calculator. It runs entirely in your browser, never asks for your phone number, and never dials you. We do not auto-dial visitors. If you want to talk, you book a demo on your own terms.
What is a realistic booked-conversion rate to enter?
For most service businesses, 25–50% of answered new-customer calls turn into a booked job or appointment. If you track it, use your real number. If you don't, 35% is a reasonable starting point and you can adjust the slider to see the range.
How does an AI receptionist capture the calls I'm missing today?
The AI answers every call 24/7 — nights, weekends, and while you're on another line — greets the caller as your receptionist, runs your intake questions, books the appointment, and sends you a structured summary. It discloses that it is an automated assistant at the start of every call.