An AI receptionist that stops at the transcript has done the easy half
Answering a call with a synthetic voice stopped being difficult about two years ago, which is why there are now dozens of them. What almost none of them do is the part a receptionist is actually for: knowing what your business charges, what it will not do, and what is left in the diary on Thursday.
From $99 a month · Robocalls are never billed
Incoming callPeter Lindqvist“Can you actually book me in, or are you just taking a message?”
Booked into the calendar on the call · Confirmation texted
- Books
- Into Google, Outlook, Apple or CalDAV: the calendar you already keep, not a request form
- Refuses
- It will not diagnose, will not price what it has not seen, and says so in your words
- Flat
- No per-minute billing. Plans are sized on unique customers, not on how long people talk
Not a message. A booking
Every one of these is something the product does on a real call, not a capability statement. Where it refuses to act, that refusal is the design.
It knows the four things about your business that matter on a call
Your working hours, the services you actually offer, the prices you have set, and where you will travel. That is what separates a receptionist from a voice: a voice can greet anyone, and only something configured can tell a caller you do not do commercial work, or that they are outside your radius, before either of you wastes a visit.
It writes into the calendar, not into a summary
The common shape of an AI receptionist is answer, capture, email you a transcript. That is a nicer voicemail. This one reads the capacity remaining in each window and creates the appointment, then texts the caller a confirmation before they hang up.
The refusals are the product, not a limitation
It does not diagnose. It does not quote a repair nobody has seen. It does not give professional advice. Each refusal has a sentence it actually says, configured per trade, so the caller gets a reason rather than a loop. An AI receptionist with no floor under it is a liability wearing your business's name.
It hands over to you rather than replacing you
The escalation ladder tries you first, each leg accepted by a keypress so a voicemail cannot answer for you, and whoever accepts hears a one-line brief before being connected. Full automation is a choice you make per classification, not a condition of using it.
It bills like software, not like a phone company
Per-minute pricing makes your bill a function of how talkative your customers are, which is the one variable you cannot manage. Plans here are flat, with unlimited call flows and a monthly talk-time allowance, and differ only in how many unique customers you answer for.
You can hear it before you buy it
Build the agent, give it your services and your prices, and talk to it in the browser on the free tier before any number points at it. Nobody should hand their phone to something they have not argued with first.
What people say before they say yes
In the words they are usually put in. Where the objection is right, it says so.
“I tried one of these and it hallucinated a price.”
That is the failure mode of an AI receptionist built as a chatbot with a phone number, and it is why the prices here are configuration rather than something the model is trusted to remember. It states what you set, and where you have set nothing it says it will have to check, which is the answer a good employee gives.
“It'll sound like a robot and my customers will hang up.”
Some will hang up, and there is no honest way to tell you otherwise. The number that matters is not how many hang up on the agent; it is how many hang up compared with how many hang up on your voicemail, and voicemail loses that comparison in every measurement anyone has published.
“Small business means I need to change things constantly.”
Which is exactly why hours, services, prices and escalation rules are settings rather than a script somebody else maintains. You change a price at 8pm and the next call quotes the new one. A human answering service would take a support ticket.
What it will never do
You are handing your phone to something that talks to your customers when you cannot. These are the lines it does not cross, and the words it uses instead.
It never invents a price
It states the call-out fee and the rates you configured, and nothing else. Where it does not know, it says so and brings it to you rather than guessing — a number said on the phone is a number you are held to at the door.
What it actually says
“I'm not going to guess at the repair before someone's seen it — you'd only be annoyed if I got it wrong.”
It never promises an hour it cannot keep
Work in the field is booked in windows, because a specific time is a promise the traffic breaks. It offers the window that actually has capacity left, and it will not invent one to end the call politely.
What it actually says
“I can do Tuesday morning, between eight and twelve — I won't give you an exact hour and have you waiting in all day.”
It never sends anyone to voicemail
If the transfer ladder runs out and nobody accepts, it takes the details, commits to a specific callback window and flags it. A beep is the one outcome worse than not answering at all.
What it actually says
“I can't reach anyone this minute, so let me take the details and someone will call you back before nine tomorrow.”
The job lands where you already work
Google, Outlook, Apple, Exchange, CalDAV — whichever calendar you already keep. Then your payments, your CRM, and whatever you automate with.
…and a lot more besides
- Warm transfersWarm transfersAnnounced — who is calling and why, before you take the line.
- Spam never billedSpam never billedRobocalls are spotted, zero-rated, and never become a customer.
- A number per sourceA number per sourceVan, yard sign, Google listing — see which line brings the work.
- Team & on-callTeam & on-callTries you, then a second number, then whoever is on call.
- Run it by textRun it by textReply to a text to move a job, block a morning, clear a day.
- Clear a day, everyone toldClear a day, everyone toldCall off a wet Tuesday; every customer is told and re-offered.
- Never invents an answerNever invents an answerNo price or slot it was not given. It takes a message instead.
- Any trade, no codeAny trade, no codeGoal, questions and guardrails are settings, not a rebuild.
What is the difference between an AI receptionist and an answering service?
An answering service is people taking messages, priced per call or per minute. An AI receptionist answers with software. The distinction that actually decides anything is neither of those: it is whether the thing on the phone can see your calendar and book. Most of both categories cannot.
Can it transfer to me?
Yes, and it tries you first by default. Each leg of the ladder rings about fifteen seconds and has to be accepted by pressing 1, so a phone that is off or set to send unknown numbers to voicemail does not silently absorb the call.
Does it work with my calendar?
Google, Outlook, Apple and any CalDAV calendar. It reads your working hours and the capacity left in each window, which is what lets it offer a real slot rather than a request.
What happens to calls it cannot handle?
It says so, takes the details, commits to a specific callback window, and notifies you. The one thing it will not do is improvise. A confident wrong answer costs more than an admitted gap.
Does it speak Spanish?
English and Spanish on the same number, switching mid-call when the caller does, with the confirmation text going out in the language they spoke.
What does an AI receptionist cost here?
From $99 a month, flat, with unlimited call flows and a talk-time allowance. There is a free tier for building and testing the agent in the browser before you point a number at it.
Who it is for
Sized by the business rather than the trade — because a two-van shop and a twelve-crew company buy this for different reasons.
Answered for your trade, in your words
The questions, urgency rules and escalations are configuration. 31 trades have their own page.