If you are weighing up an AI receptionist against hiring a person, the answer is not automatic. Each does some things better. Here is the honest comparison.
The cost difference
A full-time receptionist in Perth costs roughly $55,000–$65,000 per year once you include superannuation, leave loading, workers compensation and payroll tax. That buys you about 38 hours a week, minus annual leave, sick days and public holidays.
An AI receptionist runs $300–$1,500 per month depending on the package, covers 168 hours a week, and does not take leave. On raw hourly coverage the difference is substantial.
But cost alone is the wrong way to decide.
What a human does better
Genuinely complex or emotional calls. An upset customer, a sensitive medical enquiry, a complaint that needs de-escalating — a person handles these far better than any current AI.
Judgment in unusual situations. When a call does not fit any pattern, a human works it out. AI follows its rules and escalates.
Relationship building. Regular customers who know your receptionist by name, and vice versa, are a real asset in a small business.
Everything else in the role. Most receptionists are not only answering phones — they handle walk-ins, filing, invoicing, ordering and a dozen other things. AI does not do those.
What AI does better
Availability. Nights, weekends, public holidays, lunch breaks. Most enquiries for trade and service businesses arrive outside standard hours.
Volume spikes. A human takes one call at a time. When a storm rolls through and thirty people ring your roofing business at once, AI takes all thirty simultaneously.
Consistency. The AI asks the same qualifying questions every time and never forgets to capture a phone number.
Documentation. Every call produces a written summary and a CRM record automatically.
Which should you choose?
Choose a human if your calls are complex, emotionally sensitive or relationship-driven, and you need someone for other duties beyond the phone.
Choose AI if your calls are mostly enquiries and bookings, you get significant after-hours volume, you are frequently unable to answer, or you cannot yet justify a $60,000 salary.
Choose both if you already have a receptionist who is drowning. AI handles overflow, after-hours and routine bookings so your person handles the calls that actually need a person.
The realistic middle ground
Most Perth businesses we work with are not choosing between AI and a receptionist. They have no receptionist at all, and the owner is answering the phone from a job site. For them the comparison is not AI versus a person — it is AI versus voicemail. And voicemail loses around 85% of callers.
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