How many calls do small businesses miss? About 6 in 10 in a 2016 study
By Sharrk Team · October 24, 2026
In one widely cited study, small businesses missed about 6 in 10 calls: 411 Locals found 62% of calls to 85 small businesses went to voicemail or weren't answered at all (January 2016). Sharrk fixes this by answering every call 24/7 with an AI voice agent, and newer vendor data puts typical missed-call rates at roughly 30% to 48%, depending on the industry and who's counting.
That spread matters. The 62% figure is old, small and counts voicemail as "unanswered." The newer numbers come from call-tracking companies measuring their own customers. Below is what each study actually measured, what callers do when nobody picks up, and how to find your own number.
How many calls do small businesses miss?
| Study | Year | What it measured | Missed or unanswered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 411 Locals (SEO vendor) | Jan 2016 | 85 small businesses, 58 industries, 30 days | 62% (37.8% voicemail, 24.3% no response) |
| CallRail (call-tracking vendor) | Jan 2025 | 1.1 million conversations across seven industries | Home services 14%, real estate 9%, legal 28%, healthcare 32% |
| CallRail (call-tracking vendor) | Jul 2025 | Its customer base of 220,000+ businesses | 30% of calls go unanswered |
| Invoca (call-analytics vendor) | Jul 2026 | Home services calls on its platform, nine sub-industries | 48% not answered by a person (52% answered) |
A few things to read into that table:
- The 411 Locals study is the source of the "62%" stat you see everywhere. It covered 85 businesses over 30 days. It also found 37.8% of calls were answered and 70% of the businesses answered fewer than half their calls. It doesn't say how many calls were placed or when.
- Short calls drag the numbers down. Invoca found answer rates rise to 65% for calls longer than 15 seconds and 73% for calls longer than 30 seconds, because misdials and quick hang-ups count as unanswered.
- Industry swings are large. Invoca reports home services answer rates ranging from 32% to 74% by sub-industry.
- Vendor data describes vendor customers. Businesses that pay for call tracking may answer better or worse than average. Treat every figure here as a reference point, not a rule for your shop.
The honest answer: if you don't measure it, assume somewhere between 1 in 7 and 6 in 10 of your calls aren't reaching a person.
What do callers do when they reach voicemail?
Most don't leave a message. In a September 2025 CallRail survey of 1,000 US consumers (vendor data, self-reported, as summarized by a third-party roundup), 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer. Of the rest:
- 21% said they immediately call another business.
- 24% said they switch to online chat.
- 82% said they would call a competitor after an unanswered call.
These are stated intentions, not observed behavior, so treat them as directional. CallRail's January 2025 benchmark release also says up to 85% of customers whose calls go unanswered won't call back, but it attributes that figure to a separate blog post rather than to the report's own data.
Hold queues have the same problem. In Invoca's 2021 survey of 500 US consumers (vendor data), three in four said they hang up after being placed on hold.
If callers can't reach you because your number shows up as unknown or spam, see why people don't answer unknown numbers.
What does a missed call cost?
No study gives a reliable cost per missed call for your business, so use your own numbers. Here is a worked example. Every figure is a placeholder; swap in yours.
| Input | Example value | Where to find yours |
|---|---|---|
| Calls per month | 300 | Phone system or call-tracking report |
| Missed-call rate | 25% | Missed plus voicemail, divided by total calls |
| Missed calls per month | 75 | Calls times missed rate |
| Share of missed callers who were new customers | 40% | Sample 20 missed numbers and check |
| Booking rate on answered new-customer calls | 50% | Your booked jobs divided by new-customer calls |
| Average job value | $400 | Your invoices |
| Revenue at risk per month | $6,000 | 75 x 40% x 50% x $400 |
This is a ceiling, not a loss. Some callers will leave a message, call back or text. But it shows why a few points of missed-call rate can be worth more than the cost of fixing it.
One newer cost to watch if you run Google Local Services Ads: from October 1, 2026, an unanswered business-hours call where the caller stays on the line more than 20 seconds can be billed as a lead, according to PPC Land's October 2026 reporting. Missing those calls now means paying for leads you never spoke to.
How do you measure your own missed-call rate?
- Pull your call log. Most business phone systems and carrier portals show inbound calls with a status such as answered, missed or voicemail. Export 30 days.
- Define "missed" before you count. Count calls that went to voicemail plus calls with no answer. Report calls under about 15 seconds separately, since many are misdials.
- Split by time. Look at business hours, lunch, evenings and weekends separately. After-hours misses often need a different fix than daytime overflow.
- Use call tracking if you advertise. Tracking numbers on each ad or listing show which sources are sending calls you miss.
- Check missed numbers against your customer list. This tells you whether missed calls are new business, existing customers or spam.
Repeat monthly. A single number, missed calls divided by total calls, is enough to track whether a fix is working. If calls are ringing out because nobody picks up in time, our post on how many rings before answering covers the timing side.
How do you stop missing calls?
| Option | Covers after hours | Covers overflow (two calls at once) | Books jobs on the call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharrk AI voice agent | Yes, 24/7 | Yes | Yes, onto Sharrk's calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan |
| Answer live with staff | Only if staffed | Only with more staff | Yes |
| Live answering service | Depends on plan | Yes | Depends on service |
| Voicemail only | Takes messages | Takes messages | No |
Practical setups that work for small teams:
- Answer live during the day, forward overflow. Ring the office first, then forward unanswered or busy calls after a few rings to an AI receptionist or answering service.
- Forward everything after hours. Set a schedule so evenings and weekends go straight to your AI receptionist, with live transfer for real emergencies.
- Reply to web leads fast too. Calls aren't the only missed opportunity. Form and marketplace leads go cold quickly, so an instant reply matters there as well.
For a full walk-through of running without front-desk staff, see how to answer every call without a receptionist.
How Sharrk keeps you from missing calls
Sharrk's AI voice agents answer every call 24/7, qualify the caller, and book onto Sharrk's calendar, Calendly, Cal.com or ServiceTitan using real arrival windows. When a person is needed, the agent transfers live, cold or warm, with a private whisper brief or a three-way intro. Every call is logged with a transcript, recording and the details captured, and you get an email or text alert after each call.
New leads from web forms, Angi, Thumbtack, Networx, Jobber and webhooks get a reply in under 30 seconds by text, call or email, 24/7. Strikes then follow up across calls, texts and emails until the lead replies.
Mako, Sharrk's AI assistant, builds this from plain English. Tell it "answer my overflow and after-hours calls, book service visits, and transfer emergencies to my cell," and it sets up the agent, shows every change on an Apply card, and waits for your OK.
You can build and test it on Sharrk Free with 2,500 one-time credits and no card, or book a demo to see it on your own number. Paid plans start at $99/month; see pricing.
Related on Sharrk: AI receptionist · AI answering service · Answering service cost
Sources
- 411 Locals, "SMBs Don't Answer 62% Of Phone Calls," published January 18, 2016: https://411locals.us/small-business-owners-dont-answer-62-of-phone-calls/ (checked October 24, 2026)
- CallRail, "CallRail Releases Report Benchmarking Marketing Efforts for Small Businesses," Business Wire, January 14, 2025: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250114793850/en/CallRail-Releases-Report-Benchmarking-Marketing-Efforts-for-Small-Businesses (checked October 24, 2026)
- CallRail, "CallRail's Voice Assist Now Available to All Businesses," Business Wire, July 15, 2025: https://secure.businesswire.com/news/home/20250715240866/en/CallRails-Voice-Assist-Now-Available-to-All-Businesses (checked October 24, 2026)
- Invoca, "The Invoca Home Services Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report 2026," July 2026: https://invoca.com/reports/the-invoca-home-services-lead-conversion-benchmarks-report-2026 (checked October 24, 2026)
- Invoca, "Invoca Report Finds Most Consumers Want to Call Businesses, but Only Half are Satisfied with the Experience," June 7, 2021: https://www.invoca.com/press-release/invoca-report-finds-most-consumers-want-to-call-businesses-but-only-half-are-satisfied-with-the-experience (checked October 24, 2026)
- CallRail September 2025 consumer survey (1,000 US consumers), as summarized by SchedulingKit, "Missed Call Statistics": https://schedulingkit.com/statistics/missed-call-statistics (checked October 24, 2026)
- PPC Land, "Invoca packages AI agents as Google bills missed LSA calls over 20 seconds," October 6, 2026: https://ppc.land/invoca-packages-ai-agents-as-google-bills-missed-lsa-calls-over-20-seconds/ (checked October 24, 2026)
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of calls do small businesses miss?
About 62% in the most cited study, a January 2016 411 Locals test of 85 small businesses that counted voicemail as unanswered. Newer vendor data is lower: CallRail reported 30% of calls unanswered across its customers in July 2025, and Invoca reported 48% of home services calls not answered by a person in July 2026.
Is the 62% missed-call statistic still accurate?
It is dated and small, so treat it as a rough reference. It comes from a 2016 study of 85 businesses over 30 days by 411 Locals, an SEO vendor, and it counts calls sent to voicemail as unanswered.
Do callers leave voicemails for businesses?
Fewer than half say they do. In a September 2025 CallRail survey of 1,000 US consumers, 42% said they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer, and 21% said they immediately call another business.
How do I find my business's missed-call rate?
Divide missed and voicemail calls by total inbound calls from your phone system or carrier call log for the last 30 days. Split the result by business hours, evenings and weekends, and use call tracking if you want to see which ads or listings send the calls you miss.
What is the best way to stop missing calls?
Answer live when you can and forward overflow and after-hours calls to something that answers immediately. Sharrk's AI voice agent answers every call 24/7, books jobs onto your calendar and transfers urgent calls to a person.