Step 1
Tell it about your business
Your business name, the work you do and do not do, the areas you cover, your days and hours, and a name for your receptionist. Prices are optional.
How it works
What happens when a customer rings and you can't answer.
When you can't pick up, your phone diverts the call and an AI receptionist answers in your business name. It takes the caller's details and what the job is, books it into your diary if you've connected one, and texts and emails you a summary the moment the call ends. Here is each step as it actually happens.
14-day free trial. No charge today. Cancel anytime.
How do I set it up?
Step 2
Connect your diary, if you want bookings
Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook or Apple iCloud. Leave it unconnected and the receptionist takes the caller's preferred times instead.
Step 3
Divert the calls you miss
Keep your own number. On a UK mobile you dial one code, and from then on calls you cannot take go to your receptionist instead of voicemail.
A setup call is included to help with the divert. For the code on your network, see UK call divert codes.
What does the caller hear first?
Your business name, your receptionist's name and a recording notice, every time:
"Hello, this is [your business name], [receptionist's name] speaking. Calls are recorded. How can I help?"
The recording notice is there because the law requires callers to be told. The greeting does not announce that the receptionist is an AI, but it never claims to be a person, and if a caller asks, it says plainly that it is an AI receptionist.
It speaks with a British voice in British English: a diary, not a schedule; a job or a call-out, not an appointment.
What does the receptionist ask?
It works through the same details a good receptionist would, one question at a time, in whatever order fits the conversation:
- What the job is, in the caller's own words
- Their full name
- The best number to reach them on
- The address of the job, or at least the postcode
- How urgent it is: today, or can it wait
- Whether it is a home or a business, unless you only work on homes
- Which days or times suit them
It spells back anything easy to mishear, such as a name or a postcode, and checks it is right. If the job or the area is outside what you have told it you cover, it says so honestly, still takes the details, and tells the caller you will confirm whether you can help.
What happens in an emergency?
It listens for danger: a gas smell, carbon monoxide, a fire, flooding, a burst pipe, sparking, an electric shock, a power cut or no heating. On those calls it gets the name, address and number quickly, offers to put the caller straight through to you, and you get an urgent text and email as soon as the call ends.
It also gives the safety advice that matches the problem:
- For a gas smell, to open the windows, leave the switches alone, go outside and ring the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999.
- For a leak or flooding, to turn the water off at the stopcock if they can, and keep away from wet sockets.
- For sparking or a burning smell, to switch off at the fuse box if it is safe to.
It only tells a caller to ring 999 when they have clearly said someone is hurt, trapped or unwell, or that there is a fire. If an answer about danger is unclear, it checks before acting.
Problems that need doing today but are not dangerous, such as a broken boiler, no hot water, a blocked drain or toilet, or a tripped fuse box, are passed to you as same-day priorities and marked urgent.
Does it book the job?
If you have connected a diary, yes. It checks when you are actually free, offers the caller two times at most, books the one they choose with the job details in the entry, and sends them a confirmation text if they want one. It never offers a time it has not checked.
If you have not connected a diary, or you prefer to confirm every booking yourself, it asks which days and times suit the caller and tells them you will ring back to arrange it.
What about calls after hours?
It answers at any hour. Outside the hours you set, it gives your own after-hours message, still takes the full details, and tells the caller you will call back on your next working day. Anything that sounds like an emergency is handled as one, whatever the time.
What do I get after each call?
A text
Straight after the call: who rang, their number, what the job is, the postcode, how urgent it is, and a link to the lead in your dashboard. No text for sales calls.
An email
The same details plus a written summary, the full transcript, the call length and a link to the recording.
Your dashboard
Every call and lead in one place, with recordings you can play or download. Recordings are kept for 90 days, then deleted.
On an ordinary enquiry the caller gets a text too, confirming their details have been passed to you, so they know the call went somewhere. A caller who books gets a booking confirmation instead, if they asked for one.
Example call
What does a call sound like?
Written to show the flow, not a recording of a real customer. The business, names and postcode are made up.
Example call
No hot water on a weekday morning
Dan is on a job across town and has no diary connected, so the receptionist takes the details for a call back.
- ReceptionistHello, this is Hughes Plumbing and Heating, Amy speaking. Calls are recorded. How can I help?
- CallerHi, the boiler's stopped and we've got no hot water.
- ReceptionistOh no, that's something Dan treats as a same-day priority. Can I take your name?
- CallerIt's Sarah Morgan.
- ReceptionistThanks, Sarah. And what's the postcode there?
- CallerCH41 5LH.
- ReceptionistThat's C H four one, five L H. Have I got that right?
- CallerYes. Can he come today? I'm in all afternoon.
- ReceptionistI'll make sure this goes straight to Dan so he can sort a time with you. Is this the best number to reach you on?
- CallerYes, this one.
- ReceptionistBrilliant. That's everything I need. Thanks for calling Hughes Plumbing and Heating, you're all sorted.
- You getA text the moment the call ends, marked urgent: Sarah Morgan, her number, CH41 5LH, boiler stopped and no hot water. The email adds a summary (including that she is in all afternoon), the transcript and the recording.
What won't it do?
It will not diagnose a fault over the phone, promise a fixed price, or give a time you have not agreed. It will not make up availability, names or policies. When it does not know something, it takes the details so you can answer. That is deliberate: a receptionist that guesses creates jobs you then have to unpick.
Questions
Does the caller know they are talking to an AI?
The greeting does not say so, but the receptionist never pretends to be a person. If a caller asks whether they are speaking to a real person or an AI, it always tells them it is an AI receptionist and carries on helping.
What if it mishears something?
It reads back the things that are easy to mishear, such as a name or postcode, and asks the caller to confirm. If the line is too poor to follow, it takes a name and number for a call back rather than guessing.
Can I listen to the calls?
Yes. Every call is recorded, and you can play or download the recording from your dashboard, alongside the transcript and summary. Recordings are deleted after 90 days.
Will it give my customers a price?
Only if you have given it a price range, and then only the range, with a note that you will confirm a firm price once you have seen the job. Without a range it never guesses a figure.
What happens to sales calls?
It recognises cold calls, robocalls and sales pitches, politely says the line is for job enquiries only, and ends the call. You do not get a text about them.
Hear it answer your own phone.
Start the 14-day free trial, divert one missed call to it, and read the summary it sends you.
14-day free trial. No charge today. Cancel anytime.