Business phone system for temporary help services

Temporary help services in the United States

County Business Patterns counted 38,254 temporary help services in the U.S. in 2023 (NAICS 561320, Temporary Help Services). They employed 3,645,678 people in mid-March and paid $177.3 billion in annual payroll. The average establishment has 95.3 employees. That is 11.2 establishments for every 100,000 residents.

California has the most (3,939), followed by Texas (3,393), Michigan (2,780), and Florida (2,147). Relative to population, Michigan leads with 27.4 per 100,000 residents, and South Dakota has the fewest at 6.4.

Why the phone matters for temporary help services

Staffing agencies fill shifts on short notice, so the phone is constantly in use with workers and clients. Early-morning call-outs require quick action.

Calls temporary help services commonly handle:

• A worker calls out sick before a shift.
• A client calls for extra workers tomorrow.
• A worker calls about a paycheck.
• The agency calls workers about open shifts.
• A client calls about a timesheet.

Texting and after-hours calls

Agencies text shift offers and confirmations to workers who opted in.

Call-outs and shift requests arrive early and late, so after-hours routing matters.

How big temporary help services are

37.2% of U.S. temporary help services with employees had fewer than five people in March 2023. 45.9% had fewer than ten. Most phone decisions in this industry are made for small teams, where one shared number and sensible routing matter more than a desk phone per person.

Temporary help services by state

Establishment counts for the 51 states (and DC) where Census published a figure, with the rate per 100,000 residents.

Largest metro areas for temporary help services

Census published temporary staffing agency counts for 637 metro and micropolitan areas. The 25 largest:

Phone system pricing for a 95-person temporary staffing agency

The average U.S. temporary staffing agency has 95.3 employees, so the comparison uses a 95-person team. On a per-user plan that headcount sets the bill: $2,370.25 a month on Ooma Office Pro or $2,850.00 on RingCentral RingEX Core at list price (checked September 28, 2026). On Callata the same 95 people cost $1,899.00 a month, less than either per-seat plan.

The annual difference against RingCentral's monthly list price comes to $11,412. Some vendors discount annual contracts; the table shows month-to-month prices.

How Callata works for temporary help services

Callata Office costs $99 per month for up to 5 people, and each additional user is $20 a month. That covers up to 3 local numbers, calling from a browser or your cell, transcribed voicemail, recorded calls with AI summaries, after-hours routing and E911 on each number.

Existing numbers can be ported at no charge, and team texting turns on after the one-time $49 carrier registration (10DLC) is approved.

Optional AI agents (receptionist, sales, support or scheduler) can answer calls after hours or when nobody picks up, take messages, text, email and transfer to your team. They are billed from prepaid AI minutes at $0.25 per minute, identify themselves as AI, and may only place outbound calls to people who consented, between 8am and 9pm.