# Missed call statistics for small businesses (2026)

Every figure on this page names its publisher, year, sample and caveat, so you can check it before you quote it. We also list the popular statistics we couldn't trace to any source.

Recent data suggests that roughly a quarter to almost half of calls to businesses don't reach a person, depending on the data set. CallRail's platform data (July 2026) puts the average share of unanswered business calls at 28%, and Invoca's analysis of more than 70 million calls (July 2026) found that 56% of callers reached a person. Callers rarely wait: in CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 US consumers, 82% said they would call a competitor if a business didn't answer, and only 42% said they leave a voicemail.

## Key facts
- 28% of business calls go unanswered on average (CallRail platform data, 2026).
- 69% of missed business calls get no callback within 48 hours (Quo, 16.7 million missed calls, 2026).
- 82% of US consumers would call a competitor if a business doesn't answer (CallRail survey, n = 1,000, 2025).
- Only 19% of US adults generally answer calls from unknown numbers (Pew Research Center, n = 10,211, 2020).
- The often-quoted "62% of calls unanswered" comes from a 2016 study of 85 businesses and counts voicemail as unanswered.

## How many calls do businesses miss?

The two largest recent data sets, both published in July 2026, put the share of calls that don't reach a person at 28% (CallRail) and 44% (Invoca, the inverse of the 56% who reached someone). The 62% figure that many articles quote comes from a small 2016 study that counts voicemail as unanswered.

How many business calls go unanswered
| Statistic | Figure | Sample and publisher | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business calls unanswered on average | 28% | CallRail platform data, press release of July 28, 2026 | No sample size or period published |
| Callers who reach a person | 56% (65% for calls over 15 seconds, 71% for calls over 30 seconds) | More than 70 million calls across 10 industries; Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026 | Invoca's own data set; the inverse, 44%, did not reach a person |
| Calls answered, sent to voicemail, no response | 37.8%, 37.8%, 24.3% | 85 businesses in 58 industries over 30 days; 411 Locals, January 2016 | Small and old; the "62% unanswered" headline counts voicemail as unanswered |
| Law firms that answered a secret-shopper call | 40% in 2024, down from 56% in 2019 | Clio Legal Trends Report, October 2024 | Law firms only; Clio also found 48% "essentially unreachable by phone" |

Many 2025 and 2026 blog posts date the 62% figure to 2023 or 2024. It is from January 2016, and its own numbers say 37.8% of calls went to voicemail rather than ringing out. If you quote it, say "a 2016 study of 85 businesses."

## Do businesses call missed callers back?

Often not quickly. Quo found that 69% of missed business calls on its platform got no callback within 48 hours, in an analysis of 16.7 million missed calls over three months published on August 20, 2026.

Share of missed calls that got a callback, by sector (Quo, 2026)
| Sector | Callback rate |
|---|---|
| Healthcare | 41% |
| Professional services | 33% |
| Consumer goods | 22% |
| Nonprofits | 21% |

Caveat: the data comes from Quo's own customers, who are not a random sample of US businesses.

## What do callers do when nobody answers?

Most move on rather than leave a message. In CallRail's September 2025 survey of 1,000 US consumers, 42% said they leave a voicemail after no answer, 24% turn to online chat and 21% immediately call another business.

What callers say they do after an unanswered call
| Statistic | Figure | Sample and publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Have abandoned a business after an unanswered call | 78% | 1,000 US consumers; CallRail, September 2025 |
| Would call a competitor if a business doesn't answer | 82% | Same CallRail survey |
| Leave a voicemail after no answer | 42% | Same CallRail survey |
| Hang up within 1 to 2 minutes on hold | 41% | Same CallRail survey |
| Would switch to a competitor that responds faster | 79% | 693 US consumers, May 8 to 22, 2026; Invoca B2C Buyer Experience Report 2026 |
| Would leave a voicemail rather than wait (UK) | 6% | 2,046 UK adults, June 5 to 8, 2026; YouGov for Answer4u |
| Would abandon a call within 60 seconds (UK) | 37% | Same YouGov survey |

Caveats: these are surveys of what people say they do, not records of what they did. CallRail doesn't publish its survey dates. The YouGov survey covers UK adults and was commissioned by Answer4u, an answering service.

## Why calling back doesn't fix a missed call

Many people don't answer calls from numbers they don't recognize. Pew Research Center found in 2020 that only 19% of US adults generally answer calls from unknown numbers, and Hiya's State of the Call 2026 report says 86% of calls from unknown numbers go unanswered.
- **Pew Research Center, 2020:** 10,211 US adults surveyed July 13 to 19, 2020. 19% generally answer unknown numbers; 67% don't answer but check any voicemail left.
- **Hiya, 2026:** a survey of more than 12,000 consumers in 6 countries. 86% of calls from unknown numbers go unanswered.

This matters when you return a call from a cell phone the caller has never seen. Put together with Quo's finding that most missed calls get no callback within 48 hours, the evidence points to answering the call while the caller is still on the line.

## Do customers still prefer to call?

Yes. Calling is still the top channel when people need help: about 41% of US consumers prefer it, according to Invoca's B2C Buyer Experience Report 2026, down from 44% in 2025 and up from 32% in 2022.

For local businesses specifically, a 2019 BrightLocal survey of 500 US consumers found 60% would contact a local business by phone, ahead of email (16%), visiting in person (15%), an online form (4%), social media (3%) and a callback request (2%), according to reports in Search Engine Land and Small Business Trends. The original BrightLocal page could not be located, and the data is from 2019.

## How do callers feel about AI answering the phone?

Opinion is split. In CallRail's 2025 survey, 52% of US consumers said businesses using AI assistants after hours offer superior service and 50% said they would use AI to book an appointment, while 13% would not use AI for any task. Invoca's 2026 survey found nearly 60% prefer a human over AI when both are equally available.

Business adoption is still early, and the two main measures disagree because they ask different questions. The US Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey found 19.8% of US businesses using AI as of May 3, 2026, and fewer than 20% of firms with 4 or fewer employees. The US Chamber of Commerce reported in August 2025 that 58% of small businesses say they use generative AI, up from 40% in 2024; the release doesn't state its sample size.

## What does a receptionist cost?

Median pay for US receptionists was $38,010 a year, or $18.27 an hour, in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 947,500 receptionist jobs in 2025, and the BLS projects employment to fall 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 105,100 openings a year.

Wages were 68.7% of total compensation for private-industry office and administrative support workers in the BLS's June 2026 employer-cost data. On that basis a full-time receptionist costs about $55,300 a year with benefits (our calculation: $38,010 ÷ 0.687), before recruiting, training and cover for nights and weekends.

## Statistics you'll see quoted that we couldn't verify

Two of the most repeated missed-call figures have no traceable primary source, so we don't use them: "85% of callers whose calls go unanswered won't call back" and "80% of callers sent to voicemail don't leave a message."
- **"85% won't call back."** We found no study behind it. An audit of missed-call statistics by Carly traces it to an old PATLive blog post that no longer carries the figure.
- **"80% don't leave a voicemail."** The same audit traces it to a November 2014 CRM magazine item that credits "Forbes" without naming a study.
- **Market-size figures for AI receptionists.** These come from research publishers that don't disclose their methods, so we leave them out.

Sourced figures cover the same ground: 42% of US consumers say they leave a voicemail (CallRail, 2025), 6% of UK adults would leave a voicemail rather than wait (YouGov for Answer4u, 2026), and 69% of missed calls get no callback within 48 hours (Quo, 2026).

## What it means for your business

Assume a real share of your calls go unanswered, that most of those callers won't leave a message, and that calling back later often fails. The most reliable fix is answering more calls while the caller is still on the line.
- **Know your own numbers.** These statistics are ranges from other businesses; your call log tells you your actual missed-call rate.
- **Cover the gaps.** Find the times your calls go unanswered, such as busy hours, lunch, evenings or weekends. Staff them, or send unanswered calls to an answering service or an AI receptionist such as Julius Answer by DealsFlow.
- **Call back from your business number,** and leave a voicemail when nobody picks up.

## What do missed calls cost you? A worked example

Multiply your missed calls by the share that were new business, your usual win rate and your average job value. With the example numbers below, a business that misses 56 calls a month leaves about $2,350 a month at risk.

**Revenue at risk each month** = missed calls × share that are new-customer inquiries × share you would normally win × average job value.

Worked example (replace every assumption with your own numbers)
| Input | Example value | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Calls a month | 200 | Assumption: use your call log |
| Share missed | 28%, so 56 missed calls | CallRail's 2026 platform average: use your own rate |
| Missed calls that are new-customer inquiries | 30%, so 16.8 calls | Assumption |
| Of those, share you would normally win | 40%, so 6.72 jobs | Assumption |
| Average job value | $350 | Assumption |
| Revenue at risk | 6.72 × $350 = $2,352 a month | Calculation |

Treat the result as an order of magnitude. Some of those callers would leave a voicemail or answer your callback, which lowers the real loss; others would have become repeat customers, which raises it. Compare your figure with the monthly cost of answering those calls in [how much an AI receptionist costs](/guides/ai-receptionist-cost/).

## Find out how many calls you miss

Start a 7-day free trial of Julius Answer, forward only unanswered calls, and read a summary of every call you would have missed.

[Start free trial](/signup/) [See pricing](/pricing/)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is an AI receptionist a good idea?

For a business that misses calls, usually yes. Most callers who reach nobody don't leave a message (only 42% said they do in CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 US consumers), so answering the call live is worth more than getting better at callbacks. It is a weaker fit if most of your calls need a person's judgment or empathy.

### Can I use AI to answer calls?

Yes. An AI receptionist answers your business calls in a natural voice, answers questions from your information, books appointments, takes messages and transfers callers to your team. You can send it all calls or only the ones you don't pick up; see [how to forward your business calls](/guides/how-to-forward-business-calls/).

### Where does the 62% missed call statistic come from?

From a January 2016 study by 411 Locals of 85 businesses across 58 industries over 30 days. It found 37.8% of calls answered, 37.8% sent to voicemail and 24.3% with no response, and it counted voicemail as unanswered. Articles that date it to 2023 or 2024 are wrong.

### How do I find out how many calls my business misses?

Pull a month of call records from your phone system or carrier account and count calls answered, sent to voicemail and missed. If you forward only unanswered calls to an AI receptionist for a week, its call summaries also show you how many calls you would have missed.

### What is the best way to call back a missed caller?

Call back quickly from the number they called, so it shows as a business they know, and leave a voicemail if they don't pick up. Pew Research Center found in 2020 that only 19% of US adults generally answer calls from unknown numbers, but 67% check any voicemail left.

### Can I quote these missed call statistics?

Yes. Quote the original publisher, year and sample shown for each figure, and link to the original source in the Sources list below rather than to this page, so readers can check it themselves.

## Sources
1. [CallRail opens Voice Assist to every business, now with contextual AI texting](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/callrail-opens-voice-assist-to-every-business-now-with-contextual-ai-texting-302835822.html), CallRail via PR Newswire, July 28, 2026
1. [The Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026](https://www.invoca.com/reports/the-invoca-lead-conversion-benchmarks-report-2026), Invoca, July 2026
1. [Small business owners don't answer 62% of phone calls](https://411locals.us/small-business-owners-dont-answer-62-of-phone-calls/), 411 Locals, January 18, 2016
1. [Clio's latest Legal Trends Report (press release)](https://www.clio.com/about/press/clio-latest-legal-trends-report/), Clio, October 7, 2024
1. [Small business callback statistics](https://www.quo.com/blog/small-business-callback-statistics/), Quo, August 20, 2026
1. [Missed calls cost businesses more than ever (survey of 1,000 US consumers)](https://www.callrail.com/blog/missed-calls-cost-businesses-more-than-ever), CallRail, September 25, 2025
1. [B2C Buyer Experience Report 2026](https://www.invoca.com/reports/b2c-buyer-experience-report-2026), Invoca, 2026
1. [How long will customers wait on the phone? (YouGov survey of 2,046 UK adults)](https://www.answer-4u.com/how-long-will-customers-wait-on-the-phone), Answer4u, June 2026
1. [Most Americans don't answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/12/14/most-americans-dont-answer-cellphone-calls-from-unknown-numbers/), Pew Research Center, December 14, 2020
1. [State of the Call 2026](https://www.hiya.com/state-of-the-call), Hiya, 2026
1. [Survey: More consumers trust accuracy of SMB websites over Google My Business (BrightLocal survey)](https://searchengineland.com/survey-more-consumers-trust-accuracy-of-smb-websites-over-google-my-business-316363), Search Engine Land, 2019
1. [Customer contact statistics](https://smallbiztrends.com/customer-contact-statistics/), Small Business Trends, accessed October 19, 2026
1. [AI use among US businesses](https://census.gov/library/stories/2026/05/ai-use-businesses.html), U.S. Census Bureau, May 26, 2026
1. [Empowering Small Business, 4th edition](https://www.uschamber.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/u-s-chambers-latest-empowering-small-business-report-shows-majority-of-businesses-in-all-50-states-are-embracing-ai), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, August 18, 2025
1. [Occupational Outlook Handbook: Receptionists](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/receptionists.htm), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified August 27, 2026
1. [Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, Table 4 (June 2026)](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.t04.htm), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 9, 2026
1. [Missed call statistics (source audit)](https://www.usecarly.com/blog/missed-call-statistics/), Carly, accessed October 19, 2026

Checked 2026-10-19. Third-party prices and features change; check the vendor before you buy.

---
Source: https://julius.dealsflow.ai/guides/missed-call-statistics/
Updated: 2026-10-19