AI receptionist
An AI receptionist for every call, at any hour.
An AI receptionist is an AI voice agent on your business phone line. It picks up on the first ring, says who it is and who it answers for, and handles the call the way your front desk would: it answers questions from your own information, books appointments, takes messages and puts urgent calls through to a person.
It works alongside your team, not instead of it. Most businesses start with the calls nobody can take: evenings, weekends, lunch breaks and the moments when every line is busy. Small businesses use it as the front desk they could not staff; agencies resell it under their own brand.
24 / 7 · 20+ languages · Google, Outlook & Calendly booking · Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho · Warm transfer · Numbers in 50+ countries
- AI agent00:00
Good morning, Harbour Physio. I am the clinic’s AI receptionist. How can I help?
- Caller00:04
Hi, I hurt my shoulder at the gym. Do you take walk-ins, or do I need an appointment?
- AI agent00:09
We see patients by appointment. Ana has a first assessment free tomorrow at 8:30, or Thursday at 17:15. Would either work?
- Caller00:16
Tomorrow at 8:30. Do I need to bring anything?
- AI agent00:19
Just comfortable clothes and any scan reports you have. You are booked in, and I am texting you the details now.
- System00:25
Appointment booked · SMS confirmation sent · caller and reason written to the CRM
What an AI receptionist does on a call.
The same tasks as a front desk, done the moment the phone rings. You decide which ones it handles on its own and which always go to a person.
- 01Greeting
Answers in your name
Greets callers with your business name, says it is an AI, and works from your hours, services, prices and policies.
- 02FAQ
Answers questions
Opening hours, directions, prices, what to bring: answered from the FAQs you write, the same way every time.
- 03Booking
Books appointments
Books, moves and cancels in Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, CalDAV or Calendly, with a confirmation by SMS or WhatsApp.
- 04Messages
Takes complete messages
Name, number, reason and urgency, captured as fields rather than a voicemail someone has to play back.
- 05Handoff
Puts calls through
Warm-transfers urgent or sensitive calls to the right person, with what the caller has already said attached.
- 06Records
Writes it all down
Every call lands in Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho or LeadSquared with its transcript, or reaches your own systems by webhook.
How a call reaches your AI receptionist.
Your number stays the same. Calls go to the receptionist when you choose: all the time, after hours, or when the front desk does not pick up.
- 01Customer dials youThe number on your website, signage and cards.
- 02Forwarding ruleAlways, after hours, or after a few unanswered rings.
- 03AI receptionist answersIn your business name, in the caller’s language.
- 04Resolves or routesAnswers, books or takes a message; urgent calls go to a person.
- 05Record and confirmationTranscript to your CRM, confirmation to the caller.
- Keep your number
- Forward your existing line, or route it over SIP if you run your own phone system.
- Choose the hours
- Full time, after hours only, or as overflow when everyone at the desk is on another call.
- No engaged tone
- The platform takes thousands of concurrent calls, so a busy Monday morning never rings out.
- Disclosed from the first line
- The receptionist says it is an AI when it answers. You control the wording.
An AI receptionist, a human one, or a live answering service.
| In-house receptionist | Live answering service | AI receptionist | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | Their shift, minus breaks and leave | Often 24 / 7, depending on the plan | 24 / 7, including holidays |
| Calls at once | One; the rest wait or ring out | As many as operators on shift | Thousands of concurrent calls |
| Knows your business | Learns it on the job | Follows a script you provide | Answers from your own FAQs, prices and policies |
| Bookings | Yes, in your calendar | Depends on the plan | Directly into Google, Outlook or Calendly |
| Languages | Whatever they speak | Depends on the provider | 20+ languages, with callers free to switch mid-sentence |
| Judgement calls | Yes | Escalated by script | Transferred to a person, with the context attached |
| After the call | Notes, if someone writes them | A message or email | Transcript and fields in your CRM |
Category-level comparison. Live services vary by provider and plan. For the cost side, see the virtual receptionist cost page.
AI receptionists by type of business.
The job changes with the business. These are the set-ups we see most often; each has its own page, linked at the foot of this one.
- 01Any business
After-hours cover
Evenings, weekends and holidays answered, emergencies sorted from routine calls and sent to whoever is on call.
- 02Dental
Dental practices
New patients booked, appointments moved and confirmed, connected to Dentrix or your calendar, with urgent cases sent to the dentist on call.
- 03Trades
Contractors and trades
Job calls answered while you are on site: emergencies to the on-call technician, estimates booked into the calendar.
- 04Property
Real estate
Listing calls qualified on property, timeline and financing, showings booked into the agent’s calendar, every lead written to the CRM.
- 05Small business
Small offices
Law, accounting and clinic front desks: consultations booked, messages taken, the right person reached when it matters.
- 06White-label
Agencies and resellers
Sell AI receptionists to your own clients under your brand, from a white-label console. More on that below.
Before you switch an AI receptionist on.
Five things to settle before the first customer calls. In the EU, one of them is now law: since 2 August 2026, AI systems that talk directly to people must be designed so those people are told they are talking to an AI, unless that is obvious.
| What to check | How the VocalLabs receptionist handles it | |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Do callers know they are talking to an AI? | It says so in its opening line. You control the wording. |
| Handoff | Which calls must always reach a person, and at which number? | Rules you write trigger a warm transfer with the conversation attached. |
| Your number | Do customers keep dialling the number they know? | Forward your line, or route it over SIP from your own phone system. |
| Data and security | Where do recordings and transcripts go, and who can see them? | AICPA SOC, ISO 27001:2022, HIPAA, GDPR and CCPA, with a published Data Protection Addendum. |
| Testing | Has anyone called it before your customers do? | Test sessions from the dashboard, with the transcript and tool calls to read before you publish. |
EU rule: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the AI Act), Article 50(1), applying from 2 August 2026, as of Nov 2026. Other countries set their own rules. Not legal advice. · Source: EU AI Act Service Desk, Article 50
Set up an AI receptionist in four steps.
- 01
Keep your number
Forward your line all the time, after hours, or when it rings out, to a number we provision. Teams with their own phone system can route calls over SIP instead.
- 02
Teach it your business
Hours, services, prices, the questions you are asked every week, and the rules for which calls must reach a person and where.
- 03
Connect your tools
Your calendar for bookings, your CRM for records, SMS or WhatsApp for confirmations, and webhooks for anything else.
- 04
Test it, then go live
Call it yourself and try the awkward cases. Read the transcripts, adjust the answers, then switch on forwarding.
Sell AI receptionists under your own brand.
Agencies, telecom resellers and software companies can offer the same receptionist to their own customers. Your name is on every screen; ours is on none.
Questions buyers ask first.
Give every caller a front desk.
Tell us your hours, the questions you get every week, where bookings go and who takes urgent calls. We will set up a receptionist that answers in your business name and let you call it before any customer does.
