Comparison
Hiring another CSR vs Relay: a salary, or fewer keystrokes for the team you have
When the service queue backs up, the reflex is to hire another CSR. It is the fix every owner knows. Another licensed person takes calls, services accounts, and clears the paperwork. It also costs a salary, payroll taxes, benefits, a seat, and weeks to months of ramp before they carry their own weight.
There is a second question hiding inside the first: are you short on people, or short on the hours those people spend on real work? A CSR buys human capacity. Automation buys back the hours your current team loses to typing. This page is honest about which one your agency actually needs.
Side by side
How the two paths compare
| Hiring another CSR | Relay | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A licensed person for calls, service, advice, and judgment | Automation that removes the typing: inbox triage, document parsing, ACORD drafting |
| Typical cost | BLS puts the national CSR median at $20.59/hr (about $42,827/yr at full time); licensed insurance CSRs run higher | Seat-based, month to month |
| The full cost | Base pay plus payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, a seat, and the manager hours to recruit and train | The seat price. No benefits, no recruiting, no desk |
| Ramp time | Weeks to months learning your carriers, your AMS, and your workflows | Guided setup; your team reviews the output from day one |
| Phone and client conversations | Yes | No. Relay does not take calls or talk to clients |
| Coverage judgment | Yes, that is the job | No. Relay drafts and prepares; a licensed person decides |
| Parallel work | One person, one task at a time | Inbox, documents, and portal workflows run in parallel |
| Turnover risk | Training and relationships walk out when they leave | Configured workflows persist |
Where each fits
When Hiring another CSR fits
You need more human capacity: phone coverage, client conversations, coverage advice, escalations. Software does not do those.
Your growth is relationship-limited, not paperwork-limited. More accounts serviced well means more licensed people.
You want someone who can own accounts end to end, not just clear a queue. A good CSR is one of the best hires an agency makes.
You have the runway to carry a salary through weeks or months of ramp before the hire is pulling their weight.
Where Relay fits
You are about to hire mainly to keep up with paperwork volume: portal entry, re-keying dec pages and loss runs, sorting the inbox. That is the work Relay removes, so the hire may not be needed.
You want the licensed people you already have to carry more book without drowning in typing. Clear the keystrokes and the same person services more accounts.
You want the work prepared in parallel and reviewed, not queued behind one new person while they learn your carriers.
Be clear on the boundary. Relay is not a CSR. If your gap is human judgment and client conversations, hire the person and hand them Relay.
Other paths
Alternatives worth weighing
Hire a CSR and give them Relay
The common real answer: add the person you need, then remove the typing so they cover more book.
Best for: Agencies that genuinely need more human capacity and also have a paperwork bottleneck.
Offshore VA
Lower-cost hands for phone and manual tasks, around $6/hr, one person at a time.
Best for: Shops whose gap is inexpensive human hours rather than licensed judgment. See the offshore VA comparison.
Cross-train existing staff
Spread the load across the team you have before adding a salary.
Best for: Shops not yet at the volume that justifies either a new hire or new software.
The honest take
What we would tell a friend who runs an agency
Relay is not a CSR, and this page will not pretend it is. It does not take calls, advise on coverage, or own client relationships. It reads the inbox, parses documents, and drafts ACORD forms, all live today, with a licensed person reviewing everything. AI Quoting, which runs carrier portal workflows for human review, is a Research Preview, so treat it as early.
So the honest split is this. If the reason you are hiring is paperwork volume, automation may remove the need, or at least push the hire out a quarter. If the reason is human capacity, phone hours, and relationships, hire the CSR, and hand them Relay so one licensed person carries more book instead of half a day of typing.
FAQ
Common questions
Will Relay replace a CSR?+
No. It replaces the typing part of the job, not the person. Relay does not take calls, advise on coverage, or own relationships. If you are hiring mainly to keep up with paperwork, automation may cover that work. If you need human capacity, hire the person and give them Relay so they carry more book.
What does a CSR actually cost?+
BLS puts the national median for customer service reps at $20.59 an hour, about $42,827 a year at full time, as of May 2024. Licensed insurance CSRs run higher. And base pay is not the full cost once you add payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, a seat, and the manager hours to recruit and train. Relay's cost math uses $25+ per hour for an in-house CSR.
Can one CSR handle more book with Relay?+
That is the intent. When Relay clears inbox triage, document parsing, and ACORD drafting, a licensed CSR spends the day on advice and service instead of re-keying. The same person carries more accounts, and you delay or avoid the next hire.
We need someone on the phones. Does Relay help?+
Not directly. Relay does not make or take calls. If phone coverage is the gap, hire a person or an offshore VA for that. Relay's job is to make sure that person is not also buried in typing.
Sources
Part of the Relay comparison library. Updated 2026-07-11.
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