How pricing works · Sydney and Greater NSW
How much does an AI receptionist cost in Sydney?
The short answer
There is no fixed price for an AI receptionist in Sydney, because the cost depends on how many calls it handles, how many kinds of call it covers and what it connects to. Durbacti scopes every build on a free strategy call, proves it with a free proof of concept, and quotes a fixed price only after that.
A price list applies to nobody, because it was written before anyone asked about your calls. What follows is what moves the cost of a 24/7 AI phone receptionist up or down, the three ways to pay Durbacti for the work, and how a fixed quote is reached.
What decides what an AI receptionist costs?
| Factor | Keeps it down | Pushes it up |
|---|---|---|
| Call volume | A few dozen calls a week, most of them the same three questions. | Hundreds of calls a week, or sharp peaks the receptionist has to take all at once. |
| The kinds of call it handles | One job: take the caller’s details and book a time. | Bookings, quotes, cancellations, after-hours emergencies, and a transfer rule for each. |
| What it connects to | One calendar it can read and write. | A CRM, a booking platform and a phone system that each need their own connection built and tested. |
| Transfer and after-hours rules | One number to transfer to, one set of hours. | Different people by call type, by time of day, or by site. |
| What happens after go-live | A Project: built, handed over, yours to run, no ongoing fee. | A Retainer or Care plan: the receptionist kept tuned, patched and reported on each month, and priced monthly. |
Which of the three plans you take is the one decision that changes the shape of the price rather than the size of it. How we work sets out where each plan starts and where it ends.
Ways to work with us
No lock-in and no surprise invoices. Every engagement is scoped against the return on a free strategy call.
Project
A fixed-scope build
One system, built, integrated and handed over. Best when you know exactly which problem you want solved.
- Scope, outcome and timeline agreed up front
- Integrated with the tools you already use
- Your team trained on the finished system
- Full handover with documentation
Retainer
Ongoing partnership
We keep building, tuning and extending your automation month to month as your business grows.
- A rolling automation roadmap
- New systems shipped in phases
- Monthly performance reporting
- Priority support and strategy sessions
Care plan
Support for live systems
For receptionists, websites and automations in production that need to stay fast and reliable.
- Monitoring with proactive fixes
- Updates when connected tools change
- Guaranteed response times
- A monthly health report
Swipe to compare the three plans.
What are missed calls costing you now?
A separate question from what a receptionist costs, and worth answering first. The missed call calculator works it out from four numbers only you have, and shows every step.
How does the number get settled?
A free strategy call
30 minutes on how your calls run now and where they slip.
A free proof of concept
The receptionist handling your own call types, before you decide anything.
A fixed quote
Scope, price and start date agreed in writing, and only then anything built.
The figure you get is for your calls, your integrations and your plan, which is the only kind of figure worth having.
What we will not do
- Put a figure on this page. A number written before anyone has asked about your calls applies to nobody, and a number that applies to nobody is a way of getting you onto a call under false pretences.
- Charge for the first two steps. The strategy call and the proof of concept cost nothing, and no invoice arrives before scope, price and start date are agreed in writing.
- Treat the missed call calculator as a price. The calculator works out the most unanswered calls could be costing you. It says nothing about what a build costs, and nobody at Durbacti will quote from it.
What to ask any vendor about price
Take these to anyone quoting you, Durbacti included. A vendor who cannot answer each one in a sentence has a price that is going to move.
- Is the voice platform’s cost inside the monthly fee, or billed on top of it?
- What happens to the price when call volume doubles?
- Who owns the phone number and the platform account after handover?
- What does it cost to leave, and what do you take with you?
- What does the setup price include, and what counts as a change?
Durbacti’s own answers to the third and fourth are on How we work.
Pricing questions
Does the monthly price go up if we get more calls?
On a Retainer or Care plan where the voice platform account sits with Durbacti, the platform’s own charges are inside the monthly price, so a month with more call minutes costs more than a quiet one. On a Project the platform bills you directly in an account you own, and Durbacti charges no ongoing fee at all. Which arrangement you have is agreed on the scope call, not discovered on an invoice.
Which of the three plans costs the least?
A Project is the only one with no ongoing fee: a fixed price, agreed before the build, and then the receptionist is yours to run with documentation and training behind you. A Retainer and a Care plan are priced monthly, because the work continues each month. Whether a Project or a monthly plan costs less over a year depends on how much the receptionist changes after go-live, and Durbacti will not rank them without a figure in front of it.
What do I pay before go-live?
Nothing until scope, price and start date have been agreed in writing. The strategy call is free, and so is the proof of concept built on your own call types; both happen before any invoice. Once the scope is agreed, the timing of payment is settled at the same time as the price rather than after the work, so the first invoice is never a surprise.
Get a figure for your business
A free 30 minute call. Bring your calculator result if you have one. We work through how your calls run now and whether a receptionist would earn its keep, and you leave knowing whether it is worth a quote.
Book a free strategy callLast updated