Answering services take messages, and some book appointments on your calendar. Aida can book into your practice software. Here are published prices, a cost per answered call, and the calls where a person still wins.
Aida makes no clinical decisions. Urgent and transfer calls follow the path your clinic approves, and your team receives the result of each call.
By David Cyrus, Attainment ·
How we decide whether the service fits
Start with the calls your front desk misses: after hours, at lunch, or while staff are with patients. Then compare what each option does with them.
We first check how the practice handles missed, after-hours, overflow, and away-from-desk calls. Then we decide whether an AI dental receptionist or traditional answering service solves the problem.
Use this comparison when you know which calls go unanswered today and what your staff need after each one.
Skip the labels. Compare what each option does with your own missed, after-hours and urgent calls.
Clinical judgment, scheduling rules, patient records and urgent-call instructions stay with your practice.
Answering services take messages and some book on a calendar. Aida answers the call and can book into your practice software or prepare a request.
A traditional answering service uses live operators who answer your calls, follow a script you provide, take messages and transfer urgent calls. The three services priced below also list appointment scheduling, and charge by the minute or by the call.
Aida answers calls for your practice using the answers and rules your clinic approves. It can book into your practice software once your system is confirmed, or prepare a request for staff. Staff receive the result of each call.
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| Decision area | AI dental receptionist | Traditional answering service | What the practice should verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who answers | Aida, using the answers your clinic approves. | A live operator following your script. | Listen to a sample call from each. |
| Booking | Books into your practice software once your system is confirmed, or prepares a request for staff. | Takes a message, or books where the plan includes it. Smith.ai lists $1.50 per booking. | Ask for a booking shown start to finish. |
| Hours covered | The hours your clinic sets, including after hours and overflow. | The hours in your plan. | Evenings, weekends, holidays and lunch. |
| Urgent calls | Follows your clinic's approved urgent path. Makes no clinical decisions. | The operator follows your escalation script. | Who is called, how fast, and what happens if no one answers. |
| Complex or emotional calls | Moves the call to the path your clinic approves. | A person talks with the caller, then follows your script. | Whether a live person is reachable when needed. |
| Questions about your office | Answers from the information your clinic approves. | Answers from the script and notes you provide. | Test five common questions and one unusual one. |
| What staff receive | The result of the call. | A message, a transfer, or a booking where the plan includes it. | How fast it arrives and who owns it. |
| How you pay | CA$500 a month per location, or CA$400 per month, billed annually (CA$4,800 per year), including tax. Unlimited calls, no setup fee. | By the minute or by the call on published plans, or by quote. | The total at your own call count. |
| Quality checks | Check call results against what callers asked for. | Check messages and transfers against what callers said. | Review a sample of calls with the provider. |
Both can answer after hours and when the desk is busy. Compare what staff receive afterward: a message, a booking, or the full call result.
A call is not complete because someone answered it. For each call type, ask who picks it up, what staff receive, and what happens if the handoff fails.
| Call type | First response | Handoff owner | What to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missed or overflow call | The call is answered and the caller's need is noted. | Front desk staff, with the call result. | Peak hours, and what happens when lines are busy. |
| After-hours appointment request | Aida collects the details and books, or prepares a request. An operator takes a message, or books if your plan includes it. | Staff confirm a request, unless your clinic has chosen to have Aida book. | Which appointment types can be booked. |
| Complex or emotional call | A person is the better listener here. Aida moves the call to your approved path. | Your designated staff member. | Who is reachable, and what happens if no one picks up. |
| Urgent or clinical language | Aida follows the urgent path your clinic approved and makes no clinical decisions. An operator follows your escalation script. | Your designated urgent-call contact. | Test it with your own urgent scenarios. |
Aida can book into your practice software once your system is confirmed. Some answering services book too, often on a calendar or as an add-on.
Some answering services book appointments: PATLive and Abby list appointment scheduling, and Smith.ai lists booking at $1.50 per appointment on a calendar. Ask whether they can book in your dental practice software or only on a separate calendar. Aida can check open times and book, and a booking counts as confirmed once it is read back from the schedule. If it cannot be confirmed, staff receive a request to follow up. You choose whether Aida books or prepares a request.
See how a dental AI receptionist handles calls, then review the practice software workflow directory to find your system.
The plans shown run $759 to $1,499 a month at PATLive, $810 to $2,100 at Smith.ai, and $165 to $1,380 at Abby. Some providers only quote.
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| Provider and plan | Included | Monthly price | Beyond the plan | How it is billed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PATLive, 500 minutes | About 200 calls (PATLive's estimate) | $759 a month | $1.79 per extra minute | Per minute of live time with callers. No contracts. Currency not stated. |
| PATLive, 1,000 minutes | About 400 calls (PATLive's estimate) | $1,499 a month | $1.69 per extra minute | Per minute of live time with callers. No contracts. Currency not stated. |
| Smith.ai, Basic | 90 calls | $810 a month | $10.50 per call over 90 | Per call. Booking appointments is $1.50 each. USD. |
| Smith.ai, Pro | 300 calls | $2,100 a month | $8.50 per call over 300 | Per call. Booking appointments is $1.50 each. USD. |
| Abby, Starter | 50 Abby Minutes | $165 a month | Billed at the plan's minute rate | Per Abby Minute. A minute with a person is one Abby Minute; an AI minute counts half. Currency not stated. |
| Abby, Essential | 100 Abby Minutes | $329 a month | Billed at the plan's minute rate | Per Abby Minute. A minute with a person is one Abby Minute; an AI minute counts half. Currency not stated. |
| Abby, Professional | 200 Abby Minutes | $599 a month | Billed at the plan's minute rate | Per Abby Minute. A minute with a person is one Abby Minute; an AI minute counts half. Currency not stated. |
| Abby, Growth | 500 Abby Minutes | $1,380 a month | Billed at the plan's minute rate | Per Abby Minute. A minute with a person is one Abby Minute; an AI minute counts half. Currency not stated. |
AnswerPlus and AnswerConnect, two providers serving Canada, showed no prices on the pages we checked and asked for a quote request. Abby and Smith.ai also sell AI answering; Abby counts an AI minute as half an Abby Minute. Aida is CA$500 a month per location, or CA$400 per month, billed annually (CA$4,800 per year), including tax, with unlimited calls and no setup fee.
At PATLive's own estimate of 400 calls, $1,499 is about $3.75 a call. Smith.ai Pro, $2,100 for 300 calls, is $7.00. An example, not a quote.
PATLive estimates that 1,000 minutes is about 400 calls. $1,499 divided by 400 calls is about $3.75 per answered call. Smith.ai Pro is $2,100 for 300 calls, which is $7.00 per answered call.
| Plan | Monthly price | Calls | Per answered call |
|---|---|---|---|
| PATLive, 1,000 minutes | $1,499 | About 400 (PATLive's estimate) | About $3.75 |
| Smith.ai Pro | $2,100 | 300 | $7.00 |
This is an example from published list prices, not a quote. Redo it with your own call count and average call length, because PATLive bills by the minute and a longer call uses more of the plan. Then add after-hours charges, setup and the staff time spent on follow-up. Compare Aida the same way: its monthly price, divided by the calls it answers.
A monthly fee is only the start. Add setup, overage, after-hours charges, schedule access, changes, and the staff time spent on follow-up.
Ask each provider to quote your own call volume, hours and locations, and put the same eight questions to each.
| Cost to compare | What to ask |
|---|---|
| Coverage window | Which hours and days are covered, and what costs extra? |
| Call volume | How many calls or minutes are included, and what is the price beyond that? |
| Billing unit | Is it billed by the minute or by the call, and what is your average call length? |
| Setup | What is the setup fee, and what does it cover? |
| System access | Can it see your schedule and book, and in which software and version? |
| Support | Who fixes a failed call or a wrong answer, and how fast? |
| Changes | What does it cost to change hours, services or scripts? |
| Staff follow-up | How many messages still need a staff callback? |
Use AI receptionist pricing for dental practices to see how Aida is scoped and quoted.
Hear a configured dental call flow, then decide whether the handoff fits your practice.
When calls are complex, emotional or hard to predict, or your office wants a live voice on each call, an answering service is the better fit.
A mix can also work: Aida for routine calls, and a person for the calls that need one.
Check six things with the same written scenarios: coverage, booking, urgent calls, total cost, reporting, and who fixes mistakes.
Run the same scenarios through both options. The AI receptionist test plan for dental offices is a starting point.
Answers to six questions dental owners and office managers ask when they compare these options: booking, cost, urgent calls, and front-desk roles.
A dental answering service uses live operators who take messages, transfer calls and, on some plans, book appointments. An AI dental receptionist such as Aida answers calls using rules your clinic approves, and can book into your practice software or prepare requests for staff.
Yes. Aida can check open times in your schedule and book into your practice management software. A booking counts as confirmed once it is read back from the schedule, and if it cannot be confirmed, staff receive a request to follow up. We confirm your system and version during setup, and you choose whether Aida books or prepares a request.
Some can. PATLive and Abby list appointment scheduling, and Smith.ai lists booking at $1.50 per appointment. Ask whether they book in your dental practice software or on a separate calendar your staff must copy over. Ask the provider to show a booking from start to finish, including what happens when the requested time is taken.
The published plans in this guide run from $165 to $2,100 a month, in each provider's listed currency, billed by the minute or by the call. Aida is CA$500 a month per location, or CA$400 per month, billed annually (CA$4,800 per year), including tax, with unlimited calls and no setup fee. Compare both at your own call count.
Aida makes no clinical decisions. The call follows the urgent and transfer path your clinic approved, and staff receive the call result. Test that path with your own scenarios first. For calls that need real conversation, a live person can still be the better choice.
No. Aida answers calls and passes the result to staff, who handle patients in the office and the calls that need a person. Clinical judgment and scheduling rules stay with your practice.
Prices come from each provider's own pricing page, read on October 14, 2026. Claims about Aida come from Attainment. None of it is a quote.
We read the pricing pages of PATLive, Smith.ai and Abby on October 14, 2026, and recorded plan sizes and prices as shown. Providers that publish no prices are not in the table. List prices change, so confirm with the provider.
This page covers operational call handling for Canadian dental offices. It is not clinical, diagnostic, treatment, privacy, or legal advice. Review the actual workflow against the requirements that apply to your practice.
Continue with the main dental AI receptionist guide, or review the dental answering service shortlist.
Written by David Cyrus, Attainment. Attainment builds AI receptionist and front-desk AI automation for healthcare practices.
Call the live demo or request a tailored demo, then compare the booking, the staff handoff and the price with your current answering service.