Two years ago I was talking with the owner of a hair salon in Brno. She had two receptionists, paid them a combined net salary of over fifty thousand crowns a month, and still missed calls every single day because both were busy serving customers. She asked me whether it made sense to hire a third. I started doing the math.
What I put down on paper surprised her. Because the real cost of a human receptionist isn't just the salary on the payslip. And the alternative — an AI phone assistant — doesn't cost what most people assume.
In this article I'll show you what both options actually look like from a cost perspective. No marketing spin, no hidden numbers.
What a Human Receptionist Actually Costs
When I say "costs," most business owners picture a gross salary. That's only part of the story.
Direct Payroll Costs
According to the Czech Statistical Office, the average gross salary for a receptionist in the Czech Republic is around 27,000–33,000 CZK per month, higher in Prague. Add employer contributions on top — health and social insurance together amount to an additional 33.8% of gross salary. So a receptionist with a gross salary of 30,000 CZK costs you as an employer over 40,000 CZK a month before she even walks in the door.
Annual direct costs for one receptionist: roughly 480,000 to 600,000 CZK.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About
Direct payroll is just the baseline. In practice, there are additional items that rarely get quantified explicitly:
- Sick leave: The average Czech employee is absent due to illness approximately 10–15 days per year. During that time, someone else has to answer the phones — or nobody does.
- Annual leave: 20 days guaranteed by law, 25 in practice. That's more than a month when the front desk is either unmanned or covered by someone else.
- Turnover and recruitment: Finding a new receptionist, onboarding her, and waiting until she fully handles the workload takes an average of 2–3 months. Job ads, interview time, onboarding — all of it has a cost.
- Overtime and weekends: If you want calls covered outside standard business hours, you pay supplements.
When you add these up, the real annual cost of one receptionist in practice is easily 20–30% higher than the salary alone.
Example: A business with one receptionist (gross salary 30,000 CZK) spends an average of 500,000–650,000 CZK per year once you include contributions, absence, and turnover costs.
What an AI Receptionist Costs
The AI phone assistant model works in a completely different way. You pay no flat fee, no employer contributions, no sick pay. You pay exclusively for what you use — the minutes of actual calls.
Transparent Per-Call Pricing
At VelixAI, pricing starts from 5 CZK per minute of call, billed per second. You pay exactly for the duration of the call — no rounding up to full minutes the way traditional carriers do.
The average inbound call (asking about opening hours, booking an appointment, basic information) lasts about 2 minutes. That's 10 CZK per call.
What does that look like in monthly costs?
Take a small business with 150 inbound calls per month, average duration 2 minutes:
- 150 calls × 2 minutes × 5 CZK = 1,500 CZK per month
For comparison: one human receptionist costs you 40,000+ CZK in that same month.
What's Included in the Price
- Free phone number: Assigned automatically during setup, no monthly fee. Customers call your existing number — call forwarding handles the rest.
- 24/7 availability: The AI answers a call on Saturday at 10 PM just like Wednesday morning. No night-shift premium.
- 5 languages: Czech, Slovak, English, Russian, and Ukrainian — the assistant automatically detects which language the caller speaks.
You can find a detailed overview of how it works on the services page or in the pricing section.
What an AI Receptionist Can't Do (and Why It Matters)
I'd like to be honest — because that matters more to me than overselling anything.
An AI phone assistant is not a replacement for human judgment in complex situations. There are things it handles excellently, and things where a person clearly leads.
Where AI Excels
- Routine inquiries: opening hours, location, onboarding process for new customers
- Collecting basic information from the caller (name, phone number, reason for calling)
- Calls outside business hours when no one would otherwise answer
- Situations where reception is busy and the customer would otherwise wait or call a competitor
Where a Human Receptionist Still Wins
- Complex situations requiring empathy and improvisation (an angry customer, an unusual request)
- Direct entry into internal systems without confirmation — the AI collects information, staff then enter it
- Very specific technical questions where the assistant lacks enough context
- Situations where the customer explicitly insists on speaking with a person
Note: The AI receptionist does not write appointments directly into your calendar without staff confirmation. It collects all the necessary information from the patient or customer and passes it to you — you then confirm the appointment. Know this upfront so there are no surprises.
When AI + Human Works Best
In my experience, what works best is a hybrid model — the AI assistant covers what the human can't get to or doesn't want to handle, while the human receptionist focuses on situations that require a personal touch.
Typical Hybrid Model Scenarios
Hair salons: The human receptionist serves customers in the salon and handles more complex bookings. The AI assistant takes calls when reception is busy (a customer is paying, a consultation is in progress) and after closing time.
Dental practices: The receptionist handles patients on-site and administrative work. The AI receptionist takes inbound calls 24/7, gathers appointment requests, and staff confirm them in the system the next day.
Auto and tire shops: Call volume is concentrated — mornings and evenings. The AI covers these peaks without the need to pay overtime.
In this model you're not investing in AI instead of people, but alongside them. The result: fewer missed calls, less stress for your receptionist, lower overall costs.
How to Calculate It for Your Own Business
You don't need to rely on general examples. Do your own comparison in three minutes.
Step 1: Find Out Your Call Volume and Duration
Look at the call log on your business phone for the past month. How many calls came in? What was the average duration?
If you don't have data, a reasonable estimate for a small business is 100–300 inbound calls per month, average duration 1.5–3 minutes.
Step 2: Calculate the AI Assistant Cost
Number of calls × average duration (min) × price per minute (5 CZK) = monthly cost
Examples:
- 100 calls × 2 min × 5 CZK = 1,000 CZK/month
- 200 calls × 2 min × 5 CZK = 2,000 CZK/month
- 300 calls × 3 min × 5 CZK = 4,500 CZK/month
Step 3: Compare to Payroll Costs
Take the total monthly cost of your receptionist (gross salary + contributions) and compare it to the number above. In the vast majority of cases the AI assistant comes out significantly cheaper — and that's before you count the saved calls outside business hours.
If you'd like a detailed pricing overview, check the pricing page or browse the FAQ, which covers the most common questions about costs and how it works.
Where to Start
Setting up VelixAI takes about 15 minutes. A guided wizard walks you through 10 steps where you configure the assistant exactly for your business. You don't need a credit card to start setup — you only enter payment details when you're ready to go live.
The wizard includes a test call — you call your own number and hear what the assistant sounds like. Only then do you decide whether to continue.
It's not about AI replacing the people you value. It's about making sure the calls you're missing today don't go unanswered.
Try VelixAI free — no commitment, no credit card, 15 minutes to set up.
