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Local Voice research
62% of Calls to Small Businesses Go Unanswered: How That Compares With Newer Data
A 2016 study found small businesses missed 62% of calls. Newer data puts miss rates at 18% to 48%, depending on the business. Every figure checked.
By Adam Brewer, founder of Local Voice. Figures checked October 10, 2026.
62% of calls to small businesses went unanswered in a 2016 study by 411 Locals, which tracked calls to 85 businesses in 58 industries for 30 days. 37.8% of calls went to voicemail and 24.3% got no response at all.
Treat that number with care. The sample was small and the data is a decade old. 411 Locals, which ran the study, is a local SEO company. Newer figures run lower: ServiceTitan reported in 2023 that home service businesses miss 18% of weekday calls and 41% of weekend calls.
Every figure was checked at its source on October 10, 2026. Derived figures are marked as Local Voice calculations, with the math shown in the methodology.
Key findings
62% of calls to small businesses went unanswered in a 2016 411 Locals study of 85 businesses in 58 industries, tracked for 30 days.
In 411 Locals' 2016 study, 37.8% of calls to small businesses went to voicemail and 24.3% got no response. Only 37.8% reached a person.
70% of the small businesses in 411 Locals' 2016 study answered fewer than half of their calls.
Home service businesses miss 18% of calls on weekdays and 41% on weekends, according to figures ServiceTitan reported in 2023.
In Invoca's July 2026 benchmarks, 48% of calls to home services businesses weren't answered by a person. Across 10 industries, 44% weren't (Local Voice calculation).
About 43 of every 100 calls to a small business are missed and not returned within 48 hours (Local Voice calculation). That pairs 411 Locals' 2016 miss rate with Quo's 2026 callback data, two studies of different businesses.
How many calls do small businesses miss?
62%, in the one study we could verify that tracked calls across many kinds of small businesses. 411 Locals monitored calls to 85 businesses in 58 industries for 30 days. It published the results on January 18, 2016.
The 62% has two parts. 37.8% of calls went to voicemail. Another 24.3% got no response at all, with no person and no voicemail. Only 37.8% reached a person.
Figure 1. Only 37.8% of calls to small businesses reached a person in 411 Locals' 2016 study
Outcome of calls to 85 small businesses in 58 industries over 30 days.
- Reached a person37.8%
- Went to voicemail37.8%
- No response24.3%
Voicemail and no response add to 62.1%, which 411 Locals reports as 62%. The three parts add to 99.9% because of rounding in the published figures.
Source: 411 Locals, 2016. Calls to 85 small businesses in 58 industries, monitored for 30 days.
Most businesses in the sample missed more calls than they caught. 70% of them answered fewer than half of their calls.
Read the study with its limits in mind. The page doesn't explain how the calls were tracked or how the 85 businesses were chosen. It gives no study dates either. 411 Locals is a local SEO company, and the data is a decade old.
How does 62% compare with newer data?
Newer data puts the miss rate lower, between 18% and 48% (the 48% is a Local Voice calculation from Invoca). None of those studies measured exactly what 411 Locals did, so Figure 2 shows each rate next to who was measured.
Figure 2. Every verified unanswered-call rate we found falls between 18% and 62%
Share of calls that went unanswered or weren't answered by a person, by study. Each study measured different businesses at different times.
- Small businesses, all calls411 Locals 2016, 85 businesses in 58 industries62%
- Home services, calls not answered by a personInvoca 2026, home services, Invoca customers48%
- All industries, calls not answered by a personInvoca 2026, 70M+ calls in 10 industries44%
- Home services, weekend callsServiceTitan 2023, dataset not named41%
- Home services, weekday callsServiceTitan 2023, dataset not named18%
Invoca's 48% and 44% are 100% minus the 52% and 56% of calls answered by a person (Local Voice calculation). Invoca labels these figures as all inbound calls. Its 15-second filter is what removes misdials and quick hang-ups.
Source: 411 Locals (2016); ServiceTitan (2023); Invoca (2026). Compiled by Local Voice.
The home service figures come from an August 2023 ServiceTitan post. A ServiceTitan solutions engineer said recent data shows 18% of home service calls go unanswered on weekdays and 41% on weekends. The post doesn't name the dataset. Invoca's March 2025 stats page lists the same two numbers and credits Invoca.
A weekend call was about 2.3 times as likely to go unanswered (41% ÷ 18%, Local Voice calculation). Our weekend missed-call breakdown covers it in depth.
Invoca's 2026 benchmarks, published in July, cover more than 70 million calls in 10 industries. Across all of them, 56% of calls were answered by a person, so 44% weren't. In home services, 52% were answered and 48% weren't (Local Voice calculation).
Invoca labels those figures as all inbound calls. Its 15-second filter removes misdials and quick hang-ups, and for home services calls past that mark the answer rate rises to 65%, so 35% still went unanswered. Invoca's 2025 edition reported 61% of callers reaching a person, across 9 industries.
For a home service business, Invoca's 2026 figure is the most current: about half of calls didn't reach a person. Even the lowest rate, ServiceTitan's 18% on weekdays, means nearly 1 call in 5 goes unanswered.
What 62% looks like in a month of calls
At 100 calls a month, a 62% miss rate means 62 missed calls: 38 that go to voicemail and 24 that get no response. Table 1 applies the 411 Locals split at three call volumes.
Table 1. Where a month of calls goes at 411 Locals' 2016 rates (Local Voice calculation)
Example call volumes. Use your own numbers. Outcomes: 411 Locals (2016) shares of 37.8%, 37.8% and 24.3%. Missed, no callback: calls × 62% missed × 69% with no callback within 48 hours (Quo, 2026). Rounded to whole calls, so a row may not add to its total.
The last column brings in a second study. Quo analyzed 16.7 million missed calls from its customers and reported in August 2026 that 69% got no callback within 48 hours. The two studies measured different businesses a decade apart, so read the result as a rough guide.
Calls a month × 62% missed × 69% not returned within 48 hours = callers who get no answer and no callback
A shop gets 100 calls this month.
100 × 62% = 62 missed calls (411 Locals, 2016).
62 × 69% = 43 not returned within 48 hours (42.78, rounded; Quo, 2026).
43 of 100 callers get no answer and no callback within 48 hours.
Quo's industries ranged from 59% to 79% unreturned. At those rates, the same 62 missed calls leave 37 to 49 callers with no callback.
To put a dollar figure on those calls, see what one missed call is worth by trade.
How to measure your own miss rate
Pull 30 days of call logs and sort every inbound call into the groups 411 Locals used. Your carrier's dashboard or your call-tracking tool has the data.
Reached a person. Someone at the business picked up.
Went to voicemail. The caller heard your greeting. Note whether they left a message.
No response. The call rang out or hit a full mailbox.
Called back. For each missed call, look for an outbound call to that number within 48 hours. That's how Quo defined a callback.
Missed calls ÷ total inbound calls = your miss rate
Then split the misses into weekdays and weekends. In ServiceTitan's 2023 figures, the weekend rate was more than twice the weekday rate. If yours looks like that, you know which hours to cover first.
Count voicemails too. CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers found 42% say they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer. For the rest, your call log may be the only record. See how many callers leave a voicemail.
What to do this week
Count last month's calls. Sort them into the groups 411 Locals used. Compare your miss rate with the 18% to 62% range in Figure 2.
Close the no-response gap. In the 2016 study, 24.3% of calls got no response and no voicemail. Check that your mailbox is set up and has room.
Start with weekends. ServiceTitan's 2023 figures put the weekend miss rate for home services at 41%, against 18% on weekdays.
Return every missed number the same day. Quo found 69% of missed business calls got no callback within 48 hours in 2026. A daily callback habit beats that.
Cover the hours you can't staff. Your call log shows when misses happen. Put coverage there first, with a cell phone on rotation or an outside answering option. Local Voice sells AI phone agents, which is worth knowing as you compare.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of calls do small businesses miss?
In a 2016 study of 85 small businesses, 411 Locals found 62% of calls went unanswered: 37.8% went to voicemail and 24.3% got no response. Newer data is lower. ServiceTitan reported in 2023 that home service businesses miss 18% of weekday calls and 41% of weekend calls. In Invoca's 2026 benchmarks, 48% of calls to home services businesses weren't answered by a person (100% minus 52%, a Local Voice calculation).
Is the 62% missed-call statistic reliable?
Use it with care. It comes from one 2016 study of 85 businesses in 58 industries, run by 411 Locals, a local SEO company. The page doesn't explain how calls were tracked or how businesses were chosen. The figure is real and traceable. Newer studies put miss rates between 18% and 48% (the 48% is a Local Voice calculation from Invoca's 2026 data).
How many calls to a small business go to voicemail?
37.8% of calls went to voicemail in 411 Locals' 2016 study of 85 small businesses. Another 24.3% got no response at all. Whether callers leave a message is a separate question. CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers found 42% say they leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer.
Do home service businesses miss more calls on weekends?
Yes. ServiceTitan reported in 2023 that 18% of home service calls go unanswered on weekdays and 41% on weekends. That makes a weekend call about 2.3 times as likely to go unanswered (Local Voice calculation). ServiceTitan didn't name the dataset behind the figures.
How many missed calls get returned?
31%, in Quo's 2026 analysis of 16.7 million missed calls from its customers. The other 69% got no callback within 48 hours. Applied to 411 Locals' 62% miss rate, that leaves about 43 of every 100 calls missed and not returned within 48 hours. The two studies measured different businesses a decade apart.
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Open the calculatorMethodology
411 Locals study
Calls to 85 small businesses in 58 industries, monitored for 30 days. Published January 18, 2016, and updated January 25, 2022. The page gives no study dates. It doesn't explain how calls were tracked or how the businesses were chosen. 411 Locals is a local SEO company.
ServiceTitan figures
18% of home service calls unanswered on weekdays and 41% on weekends, from ServiceTitan's August 18, 2023 webinar recap. Jeff Martin, a ServiceTitan solutions engineer for Scheduling Pro, cited "recent data" without naming it. Invoca's March 4, 2025 stats page lists the same figures and credits Invoca. We cite them as ServiceTitan-reported data.
Invoca figures
From Invoca's 2026 Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report and its Home Services edition, both published July 2026. Invoca tracked more than 70 million calls and 600 million minutes of conversation across 10 industries on its platform. All figures are averages across Invoca's customer base. 56% of calls across all industries and 52% of home services calls were answered by a person. For home services, the answer rate is 65% for calls over 15 seconds and 73% over 30 seconds. Invoca doesn't publish the period covered or the number of home services calls.
Quo callback data
69% of 16.7 million missed calls logged by Quo customers over three months got no callback within 48 hours. Quo counted any outbound call to the caller's number as a callback. Published August 20, 2026. The 59% to 79% range is the spread across the industries Quo reported.
Formulas
Reached a person, voicemail and no response = monthly calls × 37.8%, × 37.8% and × 24.3%. Never returned = monthly calls × 62% × 69%. Invoca calls not answered by a person = 100% minus 56% (all industries) and 100% minus 52% (home services). Home services calls over 15 seconds not answered = 100% minus 65%. Weekend ratio = 41% ÷ 18% = 2.2778, shown as 2.3.
Combining studies
Table 1 and the worked example pair a 2016 study of 85 small businesses with 2026 data from Quo customers. They measured different businesses a decade apart. Read the result as a rough guide to scale.
Rounding
Each figure is computed at full precision and rounded half up to whole calls. Rows in Table 1 may not add to the total because each cell is rounded on its own. The worked example rounds each step, as shown. The weekend ratio is rounded to one decimal.
When we checked
The 411 Locals, ServiceTitan, Invoca, Quo and CallRail pages were checked at the source on October 10, 2026.
Sources
411 Locals. Small Business Owners Don't Answer 62% Of Phone Calls. Published January 18, 2016; updated January 25, 2022. Accessed October 10, 2026.
ServiceTitan. Mastering 24/7 Customer Service with Scheduling Pro's Live Services. August 18, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. The Invoca Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report (2026). July 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. The Invoca Home Services Lead Conversion Benchmarks Report (2026). July 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. Invoca Releases Definitive Cross-Channel and Cross-Industry Buyer Conversion Benchmark Report. Press release via PR Newswire, June 10, 2025. Cited only for the 2025 comparison. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. 40+ Statistics Home Services Marketers Need to Know in 2025. Owen Ray, March 4, 2025. Cited for how it attributes the 18% and 41% figures. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Quo. Small business callback statistics in 2026: Data from 16M+ calls. Rachel Bicha, August 20, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.
CallRail. Why businesses can't afford to miss calls. Danielle Wood, September 25, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
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