How the math works
Every line of the estimate is simple arithmetic on the published rates:
Monthly total = calling licenses × $99
+ connected minutes × $0.02
+ extra local numbers × $1
+ Agent Assist licenses × $49
+ Agent Assist packs × $15
Cost per calling license = monthly total ÷ calling licenses
Cost per connected minute = monthly total ÷ connected minutes
A CRM connection ($499 one time, included for teams of 10 or more licenses) isn't part of the monthly total.
The license is a fixed cost and minutes are variable, so your effective cost per minute falls as volume rises. It gets close to 2 cents but never reaches it:
| Connected minutes per license per month | Connected hours | Monthly cost per license | Effective cost per connected minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 16.7 | $119 | 11.90 cents |
| 2,500 | 41.7 | $149 | 5.96 cents |
| 5,000 | 83.3 | $199 | 3.98 cents |
| 7,000 | 116.7 | $239 | 3.41 cents |
| 10,000 | 166.7 | $299 | 2.99 cents |
| 15,000 | 250.0 | $399 | 2.66 cents |
What counts as a connected minute
Answered inbound and outbound US local and mobile calls count, including answered voicemail. Ringing and practice don't. In a transfer or conference, each answered external leg counts separately. Your written order confirms billing increments and rounding before activation (details).
How to estimate your minutes
The most accurate source is a recent month of talk time from your current dialer's reports or your carrier invoice. Include answered voicemail and answered inbound calls, and leave out ringing. If you don't have reports, multiply connected hours per caller per day by calling days by 60. For example, 4 connected hours a day over 21 calling days comes to 5,040 minutes per caller.
Per seat, per concurrent license and per minute
Dialer vendors price in three basic ways, and many quotes mix them:
| Pricing model | What you pay for | Tends to cost less when | Ask about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per named seat (flat) | Every user who can log in, at a fixed monthly price | Each seat dials most of the day and the seat price includes calling | Whether calling is really included, any fair-use limit, number and telecom fees, minimum seats, contract length |
| Per concurrent license | The most people dialing at the same moment | Agents work shifts or part time, so the roster is larger than the number dialing at once | What happens when every license is busy |
| Per minute (metered) | Connected or dialed time | Volume is low, seasonal or still ramping | What counts as a minute (ringing, unanswered attempts, voicemail, transfer legs) and the billing increment |
| EmberDial | $99 per concurrent calling license plus $0.02 per connected minute | Licenses are shared across shifts, or connected minutes per license stay below the break-even for your quote | Taxes and surcharges are extra. Your written order confirms billing increments and rounding. |
Swipe the table to see every column.
Flat per-seat pricing buys predictability: the bill doesn't move when your team talks more, which suits floors that dial all day. Metered pricing follows usage, so slow months and ramping teams cost less. Each EmberDial license includes the dialer (power and predictive campaigns plus dialpad calls), campaigns, contacts and callbacks, live call transcription, recordings, summaries and after-call reviews, scripts and an objection library, and team reporting. If every license is in use, the next agent waits in a queue until one frees up.
When a flat per-seat price is cheaper
At high volume, a flat seat wins. Suppose the quote covers as many seats as you have calling licenses, charges nothing for usage, and neither side has extras. Then the two prices are equal when:
Seat price = $99 + ($0.02 × connected minutes per seat)
Rearranged: break-even minutes per seat = (seat price minus $99) ÷ $0.02 = 50 × (seat price minus $99). If each seat is connected for more minutes than that, the flat seat is cheaper. If it's connected for fewer, EmberDial's metered price is lower.
| All-in seat price (illustrative, not any vendor's price) | Break-even connected minutes per seat | About this many connected hours |
|---|---|---|
| $125 | 1,300 | 21.7 |
| $150 | 2,550 | 42.5 |
| $200 | 5,050 | 84.2 |
| $250 | 7,550 | 125.8 |
| $300 | 10,050 | 167.5 |
| $350 | 12,550 | 209.2 |
If you add Agent Assist and the quote includes similar live guidance, use $148 instead of $99, which gives 50 × (seat price minus $148). That holds while assisted minutes stay within the pooled allowance of 3,000 per enabled license.
When the seat count, usage charges or fees differ, the calculator uses the general form:
Break-even total minutes = (seat price × seats quoted + the quote's other monthly charges minus EmberDial's fixed cost) ÷ ($0.02 minus the quote's per-minute charge)
Here, EmberDial's fixed cost = licenses × $99 + extra numbers × $1 + Agent Assist licenses × $49.
- If the quote charges 2 cents or more per minute, higher volume never makes it cheaper, so compare the totals directly.
- If the result is zero or less, the quote costs the same or less at every volume.
- Agent Assist packs add cost in steps, so the calculator works out the exact crossing point. With packs, the break-even can be a little lower than the formula shows.
Worked examples
- One caller, 7,000 connected minutes. $99 + (7,000 × $0.02) = $239 a month. With Agent Assist & coaching it's $348: 3,000 assisted minutes included plus 4 extra 1,000-minute packs at $15. This matches the bill example on the pricing page.
- Five callers, 2,000 minutes each. $495 + $200 = $695 a month, or $940 with Agent Assist & coaching on all five. Both totals include 50 pooled local numbers, and the Agent Assist total includes 15,000 pooled assisted minutes.
- A shift team. Eight agents work two part-time shifts and share four licenses, for 12,000 connected minutes in total. The cost is $396 + $240 = $636 a month, which is $159 per license or 5.30 cents per connected minute. An all-in per-seat quote with no other charges that bills all eight agents has to be under $79.50 a seat to cost less. One that bills only four simultaneous seats has to be under $159.
- A high-volume floor. Ten licenses are each connected for 10,000 minutes a month. The cost is $990 + $2,000 = $2,990 a month: $299 per license, or 2.99 cents per minute. An all-in quote at an illustrative $250 a seat for ten seats comes to $2,500, which is $490 less than EmberDial; at that seat price the break-even is 7,550 minutes per seat. If Agent Assist runs on all ten licenses for every connected minute, that's about 100,000 assisted minutes against 30,000 included, so 70 packs ($1,050) bring the total to $4,530. Without packs it's $3,480, and guidance pauses at 30,000 assisted minutes while calling continues.
What belongs in a total cost comparison
A headline seat price may not be the whole invoice. Compare full monthly totals at your own volume, and include:
- Calling capacity. Licenses or seats. Check whether a seat means a named user or a simultaneous caller.
- Calling usage. The per-minute rate, what counts as a minute, and the billing increment. EmberDial charges 2 cents per connected minute and includes no minutes.
- Phone numbers. EmberDial includes 10 US local numbers per license, pooled across your agency. Each extra number is $1 a month.
- Add-ons. Agent Assist is $49 per enabled license per month with 3,000 assisted minutes, and extra minutes come in $15 packs of 1,000 (usage and limits). Practice, the optional voice roleplay, is available separately, and its pricing is still to be confirmed.
- Setup. Self-service has no setup fee. Optional guided setup is $499 one-time for up to two staff hours: one CSV and campaign, one existing script and objection set, and one team handoff.
- Taxes and regulatory fees. Voice providers may add a Universal Service line item to recover what they pay into the federal Universal Service Fund. The FCC doesn't require providers to pass this charge on, and a provider that does can't collect more than it contributes (FCC guide). Providers contribute a percentage of their interstate and international end-user telecom revenue, and that percentage changes every quarter (USAC contribution factors). EmberDial's prices exclude taxes and surcharges, and your written order confirms any that apply before activation (details).
- Compliance data you buy yourself. Under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule, a seller must pay the annual fee for National Do Not Call Registry access before calling numbers in an area code. The rule has a narrow exception for a seller that calls only people who agreed in writing to its calls or have an established business relationship with it, and that doesn't access the registry for any other purpose. The FTC also says some exempt organizations, such as some charities and political callers, can get the list free. The FTC sets the fee for each fiscal year (16 CFR 310.8). EmberDial can screen numbers through your own DNC.com account, which you subscribe to directly. You can also attest that you screen elsewhere. Either way, those data costs are separate from EmberDial's price. See compliance tools.
- Routes outside standard US calling. EmberDial quotes international, premium, toll-free inbound and other high-cost routes separately.
- Contract terms. EmberDial's prices are monthly. Sales quotes annual plans separately, and no team discount is promised.
Regulatory items on this page are general information, not legal advice. Check your obligations with counsel.
Questions to ask about any per-seat quote
- Does the seat price include calling minutes? If it does, is there a fair-use limit?
- Is a seat a named user or a simultaneous caller?
- What counts as a billable minute, and what is the billing increment?
- How many phone numbers are included, and what does each extra one cost?
- Are AI guidance or coaching features included, or are they add-ons?
- Which taxes, regulatory fees and surcharges will appear on the invoice?
- Is there a setup fee, a minimum seat count or an annual commitment?
The FCC suggests checking that the rates and line items on a phone bill match what the company quoted (FCC guide), and the same check works for a dialer invoice.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a dialer cost per month?
EmberDial costs $99 per concurrent calling license per month plus $0.02 per connected minute, with no minutes included. One license costs $199 a month at 5,000 connected minutes and $239 at 7,000. Other dialers price per named seat, per concurrent seat, per minute or by quote, so compare full monthly totals at your own volume.
Is per-seat or per-minute dialer pricing cheaper?
Per-seat pricing is cheaper when each seat carries a lot of connected time, and metered pricing is cheaper when it doesn't. Against EmberDial, an all-in seat price wins once connected minutes per seat go above 50 × (seat price minus $99), assuming the same seat count and no other fees. Sharing licenses across shifts favors concurrent licensing over named seats, because a quote that bills every named agent grows with your roster.
What counts as a connected minute?
Answered inbound and outbound calls to US local and mobile numbers count, including calls answered by voicemail. Ringing and practice sessions don't count. During a transfer or conference, each answered external call leg counts for its own duration. International, premium, toll-free inbound and other high-cost routes need a separate quote.
How many calling licenses does my team need?
You need one license for each person dialing at the same moment, not one for every agent on your roster. Agents keep their own logins and share licenses across shifts, so six agents with three dialing at once need three licenses. If every license is in use, the next agent waits in a queue until one frees up (license rules).
How does Agent Assist change the total?
Agent Assist & coaching adds $49 per enabled license per month and includes 3,000 assisted minutes per enabled license, pooled across the enabled licenses in your agency. Allowances reset monthly without rollover. Extra assisted minutes come in prepaid packs of 1,000 for $15, which you buy manually, with no automatic top-ups. When the allowance runs out, live guidance pauses while calling, transcripts, summaries and coach reviews continue. Guidance resumes after you buy a pack or at the next monthly reset. Agent Assist shows suggestions on screen and doesn't speak on the call (usage and limits).
Is there a setup fee?
Self-service setup has no fee. Teams of 10 or more licenses get onboarding and one CRM connection included, with a 3-month minimum; smaller teams can add a CRM connection for $499 one-time. Major cleanup and white-label work are quoted separately (details).
Are there volume or annual discounts?
The calculator uses standard monthly rates, and no separate team discount is promised. For an annual plan, talk to sales: annual pricing, payment terms and commitment are confirmed separately in writing.
How accurate is this estimate?
The arithmetic is exact for the inputs you enter, but your real bill depends on the minutes your team actually connects. Taxes, surcharges, billing increments and rounding aren't in the estimate, and your written order confirms them before activation (what's confirmed before you start). Existing customers keep their current agreements.
Check the numbers with your own call data
If you have a current invoice or a competitor quote, a demo is a good place to test this estimate against how your team actually calls.
Reviewed October 2026. Prices are EmberDial's standard advertised monthly rates in USD. Existing customers keep their current agreements, and new terms apply only through an approved written order.
Sources
- EmberDial pricing and terms: emberdial.com/pricing
- Federal Trade Commission, "FTC Announces 2027 Telemarketer Fees to Access the National Do Not Call Registry", August 26, 2026
- 16 CFR 310.8, Fee for access to the National Do Not Call Registry (eCFR, current text, checked October 7, 2026)
- Federal Communications Commission, "Universal Service Support Mechanisms" consumer guide
- Universal Service Administrative Company, Contribution Factors
- Federal Communications Commission, "Understanding Your Telephone Bill" consumer guide