# Virtuelle Sekretärin

> Virtual secretary, answering service or AI phone agent? Costs, services, privacy and how to decide, for practices, law firms and trades.

- [Virtual Receptionist Cost: Pricing Models Compared](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/phone-answering/virtual-receptionist-cost/): A live virtual receptionist costs roughly $3.45 to $5.00 per minute on US minute bundles, while German services charge €0.54 to €1.39 per minute or about €1.40 to €1.70 per call. AI receptionists run at about $0.08 to $0.13 per minute in usage fees. Your call length and volume decide which model is cheapest.
- [Answering Service for Contractors: Setup and Costs](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/phone-answering/answering-service-contractors/): An answering service for contractors picks up when your crew can't, records the job address, the problem and how urgent it is, and texts or emails you the details straight away. True emergencies get patched through to whoever is on call. Expect a few hundred dollars a month for live agents, or far less for an AI agent.
- [Legal Answering Service: Confidentiality and Intake Rules](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/phone-answering/legal-answering-service/): Law firms can use an outside answering service, but the lawyer stays responsible for confidentiality. In the US, ABA Model Rules 1.6(c) and 5.3 require reasonable safeguards and supervision of non-lawyer providers; in England and Wales the SRA Code requires client affairs to be kept confidential. That means a written confidentiality agreement, minimal intake and clear escalation rules.
- [Forward Calls to an Answering Service: Codes and Setup](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/phone-answering/forward-calls-answering-service/): Most mobile networks accept standard codes: dial **61*number**20# to forward unanswered calls after 20 seconds, **67*number# when busy and **62*number# when your phone is off. **21*number# forwards everything, ##002# cancels all. Verizon uses its own codes, and desk phone systems have a call forwarding menu.
- [AI Receptionist: How It Works and Where It Fails](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/ai-phone-agents/ai-receptionist-how-it-works/): An AI receptionist answers calls, transcribes what the caller says, has a large language model decide on a reply and speaks it with a synthetic voice. It can answer routine questions, book into a connected calendar and take structured messages around the clock. It struggles with names, heavy accents, emergencies and upset callers.
- [AI Receptionist Pricing: Per-Minute Costs and Extras](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/ai-phone-agents/ai-receptionist-pricing/): On developer platforms such as Vapi or Retell, an AI receptionist costs roughly $0.08 to $0.13 per minute once speech recognition, the language model, the voice and telephony are added up. Packaged services in Germany charge €0.18 to €0.50 per minute or €9.99 to €1,299 a month, plus up to €799 setup. Integration and upkeep come on top.
- [AI Receptionist and GDPR: What You Must Do in 2026](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/ai-phone-agents/ai-receptionist-gdpr/): An AI receptionist can run lawfully under the GDPR and UK GDPR if you have a processing agreement with the vendor under Article 28, tell callers how their data is used, have a valid basis for any transfer outside Europe and keep recordings under control. In the EU, Article 50 of the AI Act has also required an up-front AI disclosure since 2 August 2026.
- [AI Medical Receptionist: Safe Uses and Hard Limits](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/ai-phone-agents/ai-medical-receptionist/): An AI medical receptionist can book and move appointments, take prescription refill and referral requests and answer practical questions. It must not give medical advice, and it has to route callers with warning signs to staff or emergency services immediately. US practices need a business associate agreement under HIPAA; EU and UK practices need GDPR safeguards for health data.
- [Virtual Secretary: Tasks, Rates and Contract Pitfalls](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/office-admin/virtual-secretary/): A virtual secretary works remotely for your office: answering calls, managing your diary, triaging email, drafting correspondence and preparing invoices. You can hire one through an agency, which bills by minute or hour, or as a freelancer on a monthly block of hours. Get a data processing agreement in place and structure the work so the freelancer is genuinely self-employed.
- [Online Booking System for Small Business: Setup Guide](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/office-admin/online-booking-system-small-business/): An online booking system for a small business needs a booking page linked to your calendar, clear rules for duration, buffers and lead time, and automatic reminders. Many offices already pay for one: Microsoft Bookings is included in several Microsoft 365 plans and Google Calendar offers booking pages in Workspace. Dedicated tools such as Calendly start at about $10 per user a month.
- [Virtual Mailbox for Business: How It Works and Risks](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/office-admin/virtual-mailbox-business/): A virtual mailbox receives your business post at a staffed address, scans the envelope, opens and scans the contents on request and shows everything in an app. In the US the provider is a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency and you must file USPS Form 1583 with two IDs. Pricing is usually a monthly fee with included items plus a charge per extra letter.
- [Phone Message Template: 9 Fields Every Note Needs](https://virtuelle-sekretaerin.de/en/office-admin/phone-message-template/): A useful phone message records the date and time, who it's for, the caller's name and company, a callback number that was read back, the reason for the call in one sentence, how urgent it is, a callback deadline, the initials of whoever took it and a space to mark it done. Below is a template you can copy for paper, email or chat.

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