What does it cost to answer calls 24/7? Four options, with a hotel example
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
Answering calls round the clock with people takes three shifts: keeping one seat staffed seven days a week needs about 1.4 people, and 24/7 needs at least 5. Night calls are usually few, so each one costs a lot. Cheaper options are forwarding to an on-call phone, outsourcing the night hours, or an AI operator. With an AI operator you pay only for talked minutes: for example, 750 two-minute night calls a month cost 1.2 million so‘m.
Why 24/7 is expensive
A week has 168 hours and one employee works about 40. To keep one seat staffed day and night you need three shifts plus cover for days off. That is how the calculator on our home page counts too: about 1.4 people per seat for seven days a week, and at least 5 people for 24/7.
The catch is that nights are quiet. By day the operator is busy; at night they wait for hours between calls, for the same pay. On public holidays staff want time off, and someone has to cover them as well.
Example: a hotel’s night calls
For example, the Bekat hotel gets 120 calls by day and 25 between 20:00 and 08:00, about 750 night calls a month. Four ways to cover the night hours, with every number only an example:
| Option | Per month, example | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Your own night shift | 1.4 people × 6.5 million ≈ 9.1 million so‘m | One night call ≈ 12,000 so‘m; sick days and holidays |
| An on-call employee’s mobile | no direct cost | A sleepless employee, missed calls, no records |
| An outsourced call center | ask for a quote | Minimum volume, night rate, language skills |
| AI operator | 750 × 2 minutes × 800 = 1.2 million so‘m | Complicated cases go to the on-call person |
If the AI operator takes the whole day and night: 145 calls a day × 2 minutes × 800 so‘m ≈ 232,000 so‘m, about 7 million so‘m a month. For comparison, a team of 5 earning, for example, 6 million so‘m each costs 30 million so‘m in salaries alone.
How to choose: step by step
- For two weeks, count calls by the hour: your PBX or telephony report has this.
- Write down what night callers want: prices, a booking, the address, check-in time, or an urgent problem.
- Decide when a person is needed even at night. In a hotel, for example, a guest who can’t get into their room.
- Choose an option for each block of hours: your own staff by day, the AI operator at night and at weekends.
- Write the rule down: which on-call phone an urgent call goes to, and which list the rest wait on until morning.
What the AI operator takes at night, and what a person does
- The AI operator: prices, questions about free dates, booking requests, the address, check-in and check-out times, payment methods, all from your information.
- A question it can’t answer: it doesn’t make things up; it says a manager will call back in the morning and creates a task.
- An urgent case: the call is transferred to the on-call employee’s phone by your rule.
- In the morning: the manager sees the night’s requests in the portal, with the recording and transcript.
24/7 with an AI operator
Sado answers every call in about a second and holds more than ten conversations at once: at night, at weekends and on holidays. The price is the same as by day, 800 so‘m per talked minute with no monthly fee: Sado pricing. You set the working hours, for example only 20:00–08:00 and Sundays.
Compared with a three-shift team: AI operator vs call center. Put your numbers into the calculator, or call 78 778 01 23 even in the middle of the night and try it live.
Questions
How many operators does 24/7 answering need?
At least 5: one per shift plus cover for days off. If daytime calls are heavy, you need more.
Are night calls dearer with an AI operator?
No. With Sado a minute costs 800 so‘m at night, at weekends and on holidays too.
Can the AI operator work only at night?
Yes. You set its hours, for example 20:00 to 08:00 and Sundays. Your staff answer the daytime calls.