Audit invoices
- •Pull 6–12 months of answering service bills.
- •Separate base minutes, overages, bilingual surcharges, and connect fees.
- •Note where minutes expired unused but were billed anyway.
Coverage KPI•Coverage & demand
Answering Service Cost per Minute
Benchmarks what legacy answering services truly cost once you include overages, transfer fees, and minimums.
Bring this KPI to any discussion where leadership hesitates to sunset answering services. It exposes the $1.20–$1.80 per-minute rates plus hidden charges so AI coverage looks obvious.
Base package
$1.25/min
2,000-minute bundles most clinics buy.
Overage shock
$1.80/min+
Triggered during flu season or marketing pushes.
Cost breakdown
“Show your work” table
| Line item | Annual spend | Per-unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minute bundle | $18k | $1.25/min | 2,000 minutes per month required. |
| Overages | $6k | $1.80/min | Frequent during busy months. |
| Transfer fees | $3k | $2/call | Charged even when staff decline the call. |
Compare to AI coverage
- •Translate minutes into concurrency requirements.
- •Layer on the value of transcripts, QA, and escalation tracking AI includes.
Assumptions
What this KPI assumes
24/7 contract
Most clinics pay for full-day coverage even if they only need nights/weekends.
No transcripts
Legacy vendors rarely provide auditable call logs.
Supporting proofs
Share with finance + ops partners
Need ammunition for finance?
Send your invoices and we’ll build a side-by-side chart that proves AI coverage is cheaper and safer.