A missed call: voicemail, call screening, or an AI assistant?
Do you just need to know who called, catch the inquiry, or get the customer booked? Compare carrier voicemail, call screening on your phone, live answering services and AI receptionists by what each one has to solve. We are the operator of Lorela and wrote this from the services' public pages; it is not an independent test of call quality.
Updated Nov 9, 2026
Scroll the table sideways - Lorela is in the last column.
| Doing nothing | Carrier voicemail | Call screening on the phone | Live answering service | Lorela | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What happens to the call | It rings out. | A recorded greeting offers to take a message. | Your phone asks an unknown caller who they are and why they are calling, or shows a live transcript while they speak. | Human receptionists answer the calls you forward. | The AI assistant takes the call in English, recognizes regular customers from your contacts and greets them by name. |
| What you find out | A missed call with no context: just a number and a time. | A recorded message, if the caller leaves one. Visual voicemail apps list the messages; the features differ by carrier and plan. | You see the caller's answer on your screen and decide whether to pick up. Google says Call Screen runs on the device itself. | What you receive depends on the provider and the plan. | A summary by email or in the app: who called, what they needed and how urgent it is. |
| What the caller experiences | It rings and nobody answers. They may try again later or call someone else. | After the greeting they can leave a message or hang up. | Talks to an automated assistant on your phone, not to a person. | Talks to a person. | Talks to an assistant who introduces herself, asks what they need and says goodbye. If they ask whether she is a robot, she says so plainly. |
| Price | Free. | Usually part of your plan. Check with your carrier. | Included with the phone. | Smith.ai from $300 a month for 30 calls. Ruby from $250 a month for 50 minutes. Prices as listed on each provider's website on Nov 9, 2026. | $19 a month, or $189 a year ($15.75 a month). 60 minutes of calls a month. 7 days free. Prices in US dollars; sales tax may be added where it applies. |
| Where it works | Everywhere. | T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and most other US carriers; details vary by plan. | Pixel phones (automatic and manual screening in the US, per Google); manual screening on some other Android phones in the US. Apple lists its own call features by model and language. | Check each provider for coverage and for how forwarding works with your carrier. | US numbers whose carrier lets you forward unanswered calls to another number. |
What to choose, depending on what you need
If a number and a time are enough, your phone's call screening or your carrier's alerts may do. For a recorded message there is voicemail. If you want to learn why someone called and then call the customer back yourself, compare Lorela with AI receptionists such as Goodcall and Dialzara. They count different things: Goodcall plans by unique customers a month, Dialzara by minutes, and Lorela's base price includes 60 minutes a month. If you want a person on the line, look at live answering services such as Smith.ai and Ruby. That is a different scope of work from taking a message.
Apart from the call screening on your own phone, all of these need your carrier to forward the calls you do not answer to another number, and each provider tells you which number to use. Check the details with the provider before you buy: the prices above are the public list prices, and the limits are measured in different units (calls, unique customers, minutes).
AI receptionists and answering services in the US
The plans use different units: a call is not the same as a minute, and neither is a unique customer. For yearly billing we show the amount for the whole year and the monthly equivalent. Your carrier may also bill the forwarded part of a call under your plan. The features below describe each provider's own offer, not the result of our own testing.
Scroll the table sideways - Lorela is in the last column.
| Smith.ai | Goodcall | Dialzara | Lorela | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price and included volume | Receptionist plans: $300 a month for 30 calls, $810 for 90 calls, $2,100 for 300 calls. Extra calls $11.50, $10.50 and $8.50 each. No free trial listed, but a 30-day money-back guarantee. The page links separate AI and hybrid plans that we did not check. | Starter $79 a month for 100 unique customers (about 150 calls), Growth $129 for 500, Scale $299 for 2,000. Extra customers cost 79 cents, 26 cents and 15 cents. You can build and test a demo agent for free and pay when you connect a phone number. | Business Lite $29 a month for 60 minutes, Pro $99 for 220, Plus $199 for 500, Elite $349 for 1,000. Extra minutes cost from $0.48 down to $0.35. A 7-day free trial on every plan. | $19 a month, or $189 a year ($15.75 a month). 60 minutes of calls a month. 7 days free. Prices in US dollars; sales tax may be added where it applies. |
| Who it is for | Businesses that want live-staffed receptionists; the plans are priced by the number of calls. | Small businesses; the plans scale with the number of unique customers a month. | Small businesses; the plans are priced by minutes. A done-for-you service starts at $1,500 a month on request. | Small businesses and independent professionals who miss calls. |
| What it does after the call | Not described on the pricing page; confirm it in the plan details. | Not described on the pricing page; confirm it in the plan details. | Not described on the pricing page; confirm it in the plan details. | A summary by email and in the app for iPhone and Android. |
| Language and recognizing the caller | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Speaks English, recognizes regular customers from your contacts and greets them by name. |
| Setup | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | The Goodcall FAQ says its numbers are local US numbers today; international numbers are not offered. | Not stated on the pricing page; ask before you buy. | Self-serve from your browser - you only forward unanswered calls, nothing to install. |
Sources for the compared services: public pricing pages and FAQs read on Nov 9, 2026. Where a page does not state a price, a limit or a feature, we say so. Prices and offers can change; if you spot a mistake, write to hello@lorela.ai.
- Smith.ai (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Goodcall (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Dialzara (verified Nov 9, 2026)
- Ruby (verified Nov 9, 2026)
What the phone can do by itself
Recent phones can do a lot without another service. Google's Call Screen on Pixel phones lets an assistant ask an unknown caller who they are and why they are calling, or shows you a live transcript when you tap Screen call. Google lists the US among the countries where both the automatic and the manual screening work, and says Call Screen runs on the device.
The iPhone has its own call features, such as Live Voicemail and Call Screening. Apple lists the countries, languages and iPhone models for each of them on its feature availability page, so check it for your model and language before you rely on them.
These features help you decide whether to pick up a call that is ringing. If you are busy and cannot pick up at all, something or someone still has to take the call, and that is where a receptionist service or Lorela comes in.
Common questions
Do I have to change my number because of the assistant?
No. Your number stays and people keep calling it. You only set up conditional call forwarding, and the calls you do not answer go to the assistant's number by themselves.
Does it work with every carrier?
For Lorela you need call forwarding to another number. T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and the brands on their networks offer it; if your plan does not, ask your carrier whether it can be switched on. Google Fi is not supported. You will find the steps for each carrier in our guides.
How many calls can Lorela handle?
Lorela can take several calls at the same time. A standard subscription includes 60 minutes of calls a month, on yearly billing too. Once the minutes run out she still takes a short name and message; longer conversations wait for the next period or for extra minutes you add.
What if I want to stop?
Dial ##004# on T-Mobile or AT&T, or *73 on Verizon, and the call forwarding you set up on your number is turned off. That does not cancel the subscription: switch off its renewal separately, where you took it out. The period you have already paid for runs out.
We read the pricing pages of Smith.ai, Goodcall, Dialzara and Ruby and Google's Call Screen page on Nov 9, 2026. Carrier fees depend on your plan and roaming. If you spot a mistake, we will gladly fix it - write to hello@lorela.ai.
Related guides
A sample call and summary
What happens when Lorela answers for you? Listen right here, without signing up or entering a phone number.
A sample call with Lorela
What the plumber learns after the call
His water heater is leaking onto the floor. He needs it fixed fast.
- Urgency: urgent
- Call back: tomorrow morning
The summary arrives in the app and by email. You decide when to call back.
Read the sample transcript
- Lorela: Hi, this is Lorela, Mike Carter's virtual assistant. How can I help you?
- Caller: Hi, this is Dan Brooks. My water heater is leaking, there's water all over the floor. I need it fixed fast.
- Lorela: Got it, I'll pass that on right away. How urgent is it?
- Caller: Pretty urgent, it's still leaking.
- Lorela: I'm passing your message to Mike right away. You'll get a call back as soon as possible. Have a good day.
Hear how Lorela talks
No comparison table tells you what two minutes on the phone does. Have a demo call with Lorela, then decide.