How do you charge for receptionist service?
Our fees are calculated on a monthly basis, and we charge two types of fees. First, we charge a fixed fee based on your plan, which is due in advance, on or before the first day of each monthly billing period. Second, we charge a variable overage fee if your usage exceeds the base receptionist minutes included with your plan, which is due in arrears on or around the first business day following each monthly billing period.
As an example, if you sign up for Call Ruby 200, you have up to 200 minutes to use for the duration of your billing cycle, and will pay the base monthly fee at the beginning of the billing cycle. Any minutes used in addition to the included 200 minutes will simply be billed at the plan’s overage minute rate, and will be included on your invoice for the subsequent bill cycle.
What is a "receptionist minute"?
Ruby only bills for receptionist time, whereas "call length" is an indication of how long the call lasted from start to finish.
- For inbound calls, receptionist time is calculated starting from the time the Receptionist receives the call and ends when a Receptionist transfers the call through to someone or to voicemail, or otherwise disconnects because the call is over, as well as any time a receptionist spends completing any information on your call after the caller has hung up. We include hold time and exclude the talk time once a call is transferred to you or your voicemail box.
- For outbound call assists, receptionist minutes are calculated by counting the time our outbound call specialist is on the call, as well as the time they spend sending a follow-up email to fill you in on the results of the call.
You are not billed for calls outside of your live answering hours, for calls made through the Ruby app, or for calls made to Customer Happiness.
Do you bill for calls by the second?
No. Receptionist minutes are billed in 30-second increments, and calls are rounded up to the next 30-second mark. As an example, if a call is ten-seconds long, it will be billed as 30-seconds (or half of a receptionist minute).
Do you charge for the time someone is on hold?
Yes. Receptionist minutes begin the moment a receptionist answers the call and includes time the caller is on hold.
How do you charge for chat service?
Our fees are calculated on a monthly basis, and we charge two types of fees. First, we charge a fixed fee based on your plan, which is due in advance, on or before the first day of each monthly billing period. Second, we charge a variable overage fee if your usage exceeds the base number of billable chats that are included with your plan, which is due in arrears on or around the first business day following each monthly billing period.
What is considered a billable chat?
A chat is an online interaction that starts when a website visitor engages a chat specialist and ends when a) the chat specialist determines the chat is not company-related, b) the visitor closes the chat window, or c) the chat specialist closes the chat window.
We measure usage of our chat services using the concept of engaged chats. All chats considered engaged chats are billed to our customers, including but not limited to those tagged as Leads, Actionable Support, Non-Actionable Support, and Recruitment. Chats that are not engaged are not billed to our customers and are defined as those that are initiated by a bot, contain nonsensical verbiage, or are ended by the website visitor after the initial hello.
How do upgrades and downgrades work?
New customers will have a three-billing-cycle calibration window during which we're happy to process upgrades and downgrades at any time and apply the change to your current monthly billing period.
Outside of your initial three-billing-cycle calibration window, plan upgrades may be requested at any time and are applicable to the then-current billing cycle. Plan downgrades are eligible after three consecutive billing periods on the same plan and are applicable to your next billing cycle.
What happens if I go over the minutes or chats in my plan? Do you automatically bump us to the next plan?
If you go over your monthly plan, any additional minutes/chats used are billed at your plan’s overage rate.
While you’re not automatically bumped up to the next plan based on your usage, you’re welcome to contact us to change your current or future plan at any time. An up-to-the-minute record of your usage is available in your Ruby account at my.call-ruby.com, so that you can easily track your activity. We'll also send you an email when you've reached the 85% and 100% threshold for your minutes for the month. Details on how to determine the best billing plan for your usage are available here.
If you receive your bill and it appears another plan is a better fit, we're happy to upgrade your billing plan effective the start of your current billing period! Details on how to determine the best billing plan for your usage are available here.
Do unused receptionist minutes and chats roll over?
No. Receptionist minutes and chats do not roll over to the next billing period if you don't use them. However, if you notice you’re not on the most cost-effective plan for your usage, let us know and we're happy to see if you meet the conditions for a downgrade. Details on how to determine the best billing plan for your usage are available here.
If you’re on the right plan but have extra receptionist minutes, we highly recommend taking advantage of our Call Assist feature, as receptionist minutes can be used for outbound calls as well. Learn more about Call Assists here.
When do I get my bill?
We’ll email you an invoice on the first day of your billing cycle. This invoice will include your base monthly fee for the current billing period and any minutes/chats used in addition to your plan in the previous billing period. You can find details on reading your invoice here.
How can I pay for my service?
We accept payments via credit card, debit card, ACH, and check. Please note that any payments made with a credit card will incur a 3% processing fee which you can see on your invoice. We are not able to provide our banking information so that you can making ACH deposits to our bank account.
If you'd like to update your credit or debit card on file, you can follow the steps here. If you'd like to set up ACH payments, you can follow the steps here. If you'd prefer to pay by check, please reach out to our Customer Happiness team at staff@ruby.com.