An AI voice agent answers every after-hours call in English or Spanish, handles routine questions, and passes anything complex to your staff with a transcript. A human answering service takes messages and follows a script you write. XyloDocs AI voice costs $0.15 a minute. The human services compared below list plans from $99 to $300 a month.
What an AI voice agent can and cannot do
XyloDocs's AI voice agent answers on the firm's XyloDocs phone number as a conversational agent, not a phone tree. Our guide to AI calling for tax firms covers setup in detail. The split below follows that guide and the bilingual page.
| The agent can | Leave to a person |
|---|---|
| Answer at any hour | Tax advice. XyloDocs's bilingual page says the platform does not replace licensed tax advice |
| Give return status from the statuses you allow it to share | IRS notices, unusual facts and upset callers, which our AI calling guide says belong with staff |
| Ask for a missing document and say how to send it | Advisory and relationship conversations, where you still want bilingual staff |
| Book or confirm an appointment | Questions outside the information you gave it |
| Detect English or Spanish, translate during the call and save transcripts in both languages | Judgment calls about what a caller's situation means for their return |
Alianza Tax, a bilingual Colorado practice with more than 1,000 clients, reported about 50% fewer inbound calls after adding automated status updates and an AI phone agent. The case study has the details.
What a human answering service offers
These four services publish prices on their own sites, so they are the ones compared here: Ruby, Smith.ai, Abby and PATLive (pricing pages read October 9, 2026). Their pages describe live receptionists, available around the clock, who answer calls by the instructions you set, take messages or collect intake answers, and transfer calls. Some also list appointment booking, call recording and transcription, and bilingual answering.
The line between the two options is blurring. Abby's page offers human answering, AI answering or both, Smith.ai's plan selector offers AI-first and human-first handling, and Ruby lists optional AI enhancements. Whether a service can see your clients' return status is a question for each one, so ask how it would answer "where is my return?" before you assume it can.
Handoff to your staff
In XyloDocs, the agent transfers complex calls to the right person with the conversation context attached. After hours, the call and a full transcript are saved to the client's record for your team to follow up on the next business day. Firms decide which statuses the agent may share and when it must transfer. Settle four questions before you switch it on.
- Which return statuses may the agent share?
- Which situations must always go to a person, such as an IRS notice, unusual facts or an upset caller?
- Which document requests are safe for the agent to make automatically?
- Who reads the transcripts each morning, and who handles the Spanish-language ones?
Also decide whether any after-hours call should reach a person right away, such as a caller who says an IRS deadline is tomorrow. Tell callers they have reached an automated assistant. Rules on recording calls and on disclosing automated assistants differ by state, so ask your attorney what your greeting should say.
English and Spanish calls
The XyloDocs agent detects whether the caller speaks English or Spanish, answers in that language, translates during the call and saves transcripts in both languages, so English-speaking staff can read a Spanish call the next morning. It is live translation, not a menu of recorded Spanish prompts.
Human services use bilingual receptionists, and they price Spanish in different ways. Abby lists English and Spanish answering as included in every plan. Smith.ai lists a dedicated Spanish line as a $1.00 per-call add-on. PATLive lists bilingual support among the services included with every plan. Ruby lists 24/7 Spanish and bilingual call handling as available, with no separate price on its pricing page. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information.
What each costs
Prices below are as listed on each company's public pricing page, read on October 9, 2026. Each service lists 24/7 coverage. The last column divides the monthly price by the included minutes (calls, for Smith.ai) and shows what one three-minute call costs if you use the whole allowance.
| Service | Entry plan as listed | Overage as listed | One 3-minute call |
|---|---|---|---|
| XyloDocs AI voice | $0.15 per minute from a prepaid balance ($50 minimum), on top of the $49 monthly platform base | None: you pay for minutes used | $0.45 |
| PATLive | 50 minutes for $99 a month. Pay as you go is $49 a month plus $2.99 per minute | $2.29 per added minute | $5.94 |
| Abby | 50 Abby Minutes for $165 a month. AI answering counts as half an Abby Minute | Billed at the plan's Abby Minute rate; the rate is not listed | $9.90 with a person, $4.95 with AI |
| Ruby | 50 minutes for $250 a month | Not listed publicly | $15.00 |
| Smith.ai | 30 calls for $300 a month. Billed per call, not per minute | $11.50 per call over 30 | $10.00 per call |
The $49 platform base covers far more than answering calls, and the XyloDocs row is usage only. As an illustration, 40 after-hours calls in a month at three minutes each is 120 minutes, or $18.00 of AI voice. A person can do things software should not, and the table does not price that. It does show the gap in what a routine call costs.
Whichever way you lean, put four questions to every option, human or AI.
- How is a minute or a call counted, and what happens once you pass the allowance?
- What do you receive after each call: a message, a recording, a transcript, or all three?
- Is Spanish answered at every hour, and does it cost extra?
- Can it answer a status question, or does it only take a message?
The pricing page lists every XyloDocs metered rate. Human service prices change, so open each linked page before you decide.
How to choose
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Most after-hours calls are clients asking for status or which document is missing | AI voice agent, because it can answer from the statuses you allow it to share |
| Many callers speak Spanish | Either. Compare the live translation and bilingual transcripts above with each service's Spanish option and price |
| Callers are often anxious about an IRS notice | A person, or the AI agent with strict transfer rules and a morning callback |
| You want a person's voice on every call | A human service, or a service that offers both |
| You want one system for calls, texts and client records | XyloDocs, where the call transcript lands in the client's record |
Try it
Trial seats are open for new firms: practice returns submitted to the IRS's Assurance Testing System (ATS) before the 2027 season. No real client returns are filed during the trial. To talk through how an AI voice agent would handle your after-hours calls, Request a trial seat and tell us your office hours and your top three caller questions.
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI answering service cost compared with a human one?
XyloDocs AI voice is $0.15 per minute from a prepaid balance, so a three-minute call is $0.45, on top of the $49 monthly platform base. The four human services compared here list plans from $99 to $300 a month with 30 calls or 50 minutes included, as read on October 9, 2026. Prices change, so check each pricing page.
Will an AI voice agent understand Spanish-speaking callers?
XyloDocs's agent detects whether the caller speaks English or Spanish, replies in that language, translates during the call and saves transcripts in both languages. Read early transcripts for misheard names, numbers and tax terms, and keep a bilingual person for advice, because the platform does not replace licensed tax advice.
What happens when the AI cannot answer a call?
It routes complex issues, such as IRS notices, unusual facts or upset callers, to your staff with context. Outside office hours, the call and a transcript wait in the client's record for your team to follow up the next business day. Settle your transfer rules and who reviews transcripts before you go live.
Do callers have to be told they are speaking with an AI?
Tell them. A plain greeting that names your firm and says the caller has reached an automated assistant sets expectations. Rules on recording calls and on disclosing automated assistants differ by state, so ask your attorney what your greeting must say before you switch the agent on.