Short answer: The live answering services based in North Carolina include CallNET (Wilmington), AnswerLive (Gastonia), Southern Voices (Winston-Salem), Brightbell (Asheville) and Answering Service Care (Rocky Mount office). Of the services in this comparison that publish full plan prices, CallNET costs the least per minute: about $251 a month for 250 minutes, against $329 to $505 at Answering Service Care, MAP Communications and AnswerFirst.
We are CallNET, so read this as a comparison written by one of the companies in it. Every price below comes from the company’s own website, checked November 9, 2026, except where we say otherwise. Check each company’s page yourself before you decide; prices change.
North Carolina answering services at a glance
| Service | Based in | Who answers | Published starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| CallNET Answering Service | Wilmington, since 1987 | Live people in the US; no AI | $75 per 28 days for 50 minutes |
| AnswerLive | Gastonia, plus offices in other states | Live answering | From $65 a month (minutes not listed) |
| Southern Voices | Winston-Salem | Live answering, including medical calls | Not published |
| Brightbell | Asheville | Live people, with technology and AI | From $50 a month (minutes not listed) |
| Answering Service Care | Rocky Mount office, plus New Jersey | Live answering; separate AI plans | $40 a month plus $1.75 a minute |
What 100 and 250 minutes a month cost
Of the services based in North Carolina, only CallNET and Answering Service Care publish full plan prices. We added two national services that publish North Carolina pages, MAP Communications and AnswerFirst, and priced 100 and 250 minutes a month on each, using the cheapest published plan for that volume.
| CallNET | Answering Service Care | MAP Communications | AnswerFirst | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 minutes a month | About $139 | $179 | $179 | $185 to $220 |
| 250 minutes a month | About $251 | $329 | $339 | $418 to $505 |
| Per minute at 250 | $1.00 | $1.32 | $1.36 | $1.67 to $2.02 |
| Billing | Every 28 days; 6-second increments | Monthly; annual saves up to 10% | Monthly | Monthly base plus per minute; 1-second increments |
| To start | $50 setup; refundable deposit of one plan rate | $50 setup | Free trial; no card to start | $30 a month base; rate set by usage |
CallNET Answering Service (Wilmington)
Family-owned and in Wilmington since 1987. Trained representatives answer from our call center on Eastwood Road, with US-based backup representatives for overflow and storms, in English and Spanish. We do not use AI to answer calls. Plans run from $75 for 50 minutes to $999 for 1,000 minutes every 28 days; the Business plan is $219 for 220 minutes, $0.995 per included minute.
Where we fall short: we bill every 28 days rather than monthly, the first bill carries a $50 setup fee and a refundable deposit, we publish no free trial, and we do not publish SOC 2 or HITRUST certifications. If those matter to you, MAP or Answering Service Care may fit better.
AnswerLive (Gastonia)
A North Carolina answering service with more than 30 years in the business and offices beyond the state. It offers a 14-day free trial, Spanish-speaking representatives and secure messaging, and says plans start at $65 a month. Reviewers on Clutch rate it 4.6 out of 5. Its full plan prices and included minutes are not on its website, so you will need a quote to compare.
Southern Voices (Winston-Salem)
A 24-hour answering service on Lyndhurst Avenue in Winston-Salem whose directory listing dates its opening to 1995. Its listed services include nurse triage, pager rental and appointment verification, a fit for medical practices. In 2023 it adopted an AI-assisted tool that guides its human operators on medical calls. We found no published pricing.
Brightbell (Asheville)
A woman-owned, third-generation virtual receptionist company in Asheville offering phone answering and live chat. During the COVID-19 vaccine rollout it staffed a phone line for Wake County with more than three dozen operators. It describes its service as combining technology and AI with live people, and says plans start at $50 a month. We did not find the minutes included on its website.
Answering Service Care (Rocky Mount office)
A long-running service with offices in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and in New Jersey. It publishes more of its pricing than most services: live plans from $40 a month with no minutes to $639 for 500 minutes, a $50 setup fee, monthly or annual billing, and every add-on priced. It also sells separate AI answering plans. At the same minutes, its live per-minute rates run higher than CallNET’s.
MAP Communications and AnswerFirst (national services)
Both publish pages for North Carolina cities. MAP, an employee-owned company in Chesapeake, Virginia, offers plans from $49 a month, a free trial without a credit card, Spanish on every plan, and published HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC 2 and PCI credentials, the most of any service here. AnswerFirst charges a $30 monthly base plus $1.55 to $1.90 a minute depending on usage, billed to the second, with no minute bundles to outgrow. For premium national brands such as Ruby and Smith.ai, see our Ruby, Smith.ai and PATLive comparison.
Seven questions to ask any answering service
- Where does the person answering my calls sit? A call center, home offices, or another country.
- Does AI answer any of my calls? Some services route calls to AI first, or offer AI plans beside live ones.
- What is the billing increment? One-second and six-second billing cost far less on short calls than rounding up to the minute.
- What will my first bill be? Setup fees, deposits and add-ons, written down.
- Will you sign our Business Associate Agreement? Required for any medical, dental or home health practice.
- What happens in a hurricane or a power outage? Ask where the phone system runs and who answers if the building goes dark.
- How do I leave? Notice period, minimum term and when a deposit comes back.
Questions
What is the best answering service in North Carolina?
It depends on what you need. Among the services compared here, for the lowest published per-minute price with live people only, CallNET (Wilmington). For a free trial and published security certifications, MAP Communications. For billing to the second with no plan to outgrow, AnswerFirst. For a North Carolina service with a free trial and a quote, AnswerLive.
How much does an answering service cost in North Carolina?
Live answering for a small business typically costs $140 to $505 a month for 100 to 250 minutes, based on published prices in November 2026. CallNET’s Business plan is $219 for 220 minutes every 28 days, about $237 a month.
Which answering services are based in North Carolina?
CallNET in Wilmington, AnswerLive in Gastonia, Southern Voices in Winston-Salem and Brightbell in Asheville. Answering Service Care has an office in Rocky Mount. Many national services, including MAP Communications and AnswerFirst, publish North Carolina pages but are based in other states.
Is per-minute or per-call billing cheaper?
For most small businesses, per-minute billing in small increments. Most calls take one to two minutes, and a per-call price is the same for a 20-second hang-up as for a long intake.
Sources
- CallNET pricing
- Answering Service Care plans and pricing
- MAP Communications pricing
- AnswerFirst rates (its own comparison page, updated August 18, 2026)
- AnswerLive and its Clutch profile
- Brightbell and a summary of its Wake County work with Bandwidth
- Southern Voices directory listing and 2023 press release
- AnswerLive company profile (Outsource Accelerator)