One number, three departments, and the caller does not know which they want
A dealership's inbound line is a routing problem before it is anything else. Service, sales, parts, and a caller who says “I want to book my car in” without saying whether it is a recall, a warranty repair or an oil change. A general purpose AI receptionist books them all into the same slot type, and the service drive finds out at eight in the morning.
From $99 a month · Robocalls are never billed
Incoming callLorraine Prieto“I got a letter about a recall on my car, what do I do?”
VIN captured · Recall routed to service · Loaner requested
- Three departments
- Service, sales and parts routed on what the caller actually needs, not a menu
- VIN and mileage
- Captured on the call, because they decide the operation and the time
- $0
- billed for robocalls and sales calls, on every plan
The call that separates a dealership agent from a voice
Every AI receptionist on this results page books appointments and speaks well. This is the dealership service call where that stops being enough.
The caller says
“I need to book my car in. It's making a noise and I think it's still under warranty.”
What a generic AI receptionist does
A generic AI receptionist books an hour in the service diary. Nobody captured the VIN, so nobody knows whether the vehicle is in warranty, whether there is an open recall on it, or what the last service history says. The advisor spends the first twenty minutes of the appointment doing the work that should have happened on the phone, and the loaner nobody requested is gone.
What this one does
VIN or plate, mileage, whether it is warranty, recall, maintenance or a concern, and whether a loaner or a shuttle is needed. Those five answers set the operation code, the duration and the resource, and they are all phone questions. The appointment that lands in the diary is one the drive can actually run.
AI receptionist for car dealerships: what is actually configurable
Each of these is something the product does on a real call. Where it refuses to act, the refusal is the design rather than a limitation.
It routes before it books
Service, sales, parts, or an existing customer chasing a car that is already in. Each of those has a different destination and a different set of questions, and a phone menu is the worst possible way to sort them because most callers guess wrong and end up in the queue twice.
It captures the vehicle, which sets the appointment length
VIN or registration, mileage, and whether the visit is maintenance, a warranty concern, a recall or a diagnosis. An oil change and a drivability concern are not the same slot and booking them as though they were is how a service drive falls apart by ten in the morning.
It handles the loaner and transport question up front
Loaner, shuttle, waiting, or drop off. That is the constraint that decides whether an appointment is even possible on a given day, and it is currently discovered at the counter.
It absorbs the status calls
Is my car ready. That is a very large share of a service department's inbound and it interrupts advisors who are with customers. Answering it from the real record, on the first ring, is worth more than any other single automation in the building.
What it asks on a dealership service call
Not a name and a preferred time. Each of these has an operational reason behind it, and every one of them is yours to change.
“Is the check-engine light steady or flashing?”
A flashing light is a drive-it-no-further problem. It is the one question that changes whether this is an appointment or a tow, and it costs four seconds to ask.
“Year, model and roughly the mileage?”
The mileage decides which service interval is due, and it is what stops a booking arriving with nothing on it but a name.
“Waiting, dropping off, or do you need transport?”
A waiter and a drop-off take different slots and different bay time. Getting it wrong is a customer sitting in the lounge for four hours.
“Is this under warranty or a service plan?”
Asked and recorded, never answered — coverage decides who pays and that is the advisor's call, not the phone's.
“Has it been in for this before?”
A repeat visit for the same complaint is a comeback, and a comeback should reach a manager rather than join the queue as a fresh booking.
“Best number for the advisor to reach you on?”
The estimate call is the one the customer must not miss, and the number on the account is often the one nobody answers at work.
What it will never do on a dealership service call
You are handing your phone to software that talks to your customers when you cannot. These are the lines it does not cross, and the exact words it uses instead.
It never diagnoses the light
A check-engine light has hundreds of causes and a guess on the phone becomes an expectation at the counter. The agent records the symptom, says plainly that the technician will pull the codes, and books the visit.
What it actually says
“I'm not going to guess at what that light is — the technician will pull the codes and your advisor will call you with a price before anything is done.”
It never quotes a repair or promises warranty coverage
It states your posted diagnostic fee, which is a number you set, and nothing else. Whether a repair is covered is a decision about a contract it cannot read, and a wrong yes on the phone is an argument at the cashier.
What it actually says
“The diagnostic is $189 and it goes toward the repair if you go ahead. Whether it's covered is something your advisor will confirm once it's been looked at.”
It never sells a car, and it never calls anybody back unasked
This answers the service line. Sales inquiries are routed to sales rather than handled, and nothing here dials out — outbound is a different product with TCPA attached to it, and we do not do it.
What it actually says
“You want the sales team for that — let me put you through rather than take your details for someone to chase you.”
The four things it answers from
Configuration rather than something a model has been asked to remember. Change one at eight in the evening and the next call uses the new value.
Diagnostic fee
$189, applied to the repair
Waiter slots
Before 9am only
Transport
Shuttle radius, loaner by advisor
Hours
Service 7–6 weekdays, 8–2 Saturday
What dealership service departments say before they say yes
In the words they are usually put in. Where the objection is right, it says so.
“We have a BDC.”
Then this is what answers when the BDC is at capacity, on a Saturday morning, or after seven at night, which is when a meaningful share of service calls are made. It is not a replacement for the team; it is the reason no call reaches a hold queue.
“Manufacturer processes are strict.”
The agent captures facts and routes them. It does not authorise warranty work, does not diagnose, and does not commit the store to anything. Everything it collects is the same information the advisor would ask for, gathered before the appointment rather than during it.
“Our phone system already has a menu.”
A menu asks the caller to classify themselves, and they are bad at it. That is why service picks up sales calls all day. The agent works out where the call belongs from what the person actually said.
It books into the calendar you already keep
Google, Outlook, Apple, Exchange, CalDAV. An AI receptionist that emails you a summary has built a nicer voicemail; this one creates the appointment and texts the caller.
…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.
Can it route between service, sales and parts?
It works out the destination from what the caller says rather than making them choose from a menu, and routes with the context already captured.
What does it capture on a service booking?
VIN or plate, mileage, the type of visit, whether it is a recall or warranty, and the transport requirement. Those set the operation and the duration.
Can it answer status calls?
Where the record is available to it, yes, and that is one of the largest sources of interruption in a service department.
Does it work outside opening hours?
That is a meaningful share of when service calls are actually made. There is no out of hours mode to switch on.
What does it cost?
From $99 a month, flat, with unlimited call flows and a monthly talk time allowance. Robocalls are never billed, and there is a free tier for testing first.
Comparing against a human answering service instead?
That is a different question with a different answer, and it has its own page: the answering service for car dealerships, with a full dealership service call played second by second.
Trades that answer the phone the same way
The same archetype, which is what the product actually branches on. Every trade has one of these pages.