Guide
What Is an AI Receptionist? How It Works
An AI receptionist is a voice AI that answers your business phone, greets callers with your company name, answers the questions you teach it and transfers callers to the right person. The Kall8 AI Receptionist does this on any Kall8 number for $55 a month plus a $10 setup fee, with 250 AI minutes included per account.
What does an AI receptionist do?
It does the first part of a receptionist's job on the phone: picking up, saying who you are, working out what the caller needs and getting them to the right person. Because it is software, it can do that at three in the morning as easily as at noon.
- Answers 24/7 with your company name and the receptionist name you choose.
- Answers common questions (hours, location, services, prices you publish) from instructions you write.
- Asks what the call is about, so it can route it.
- Transfers the caller to the phone number or hunt group you choose, and tells them it's putting them through.
- Leaves your voicemail in place: a phone-number transfer that isn't answered can go to voicemail when voicemail is on for your number; a hunt group follows its own end-of-hunt setting.
How does a call work?
- A caller dials your business number: toll-free, vanity or local.
- The AI receptionist answers with your greeting and your company name.
- It listens to what the caller wants, answers from your instructions, and asks what the call is about so it can route it.
- When the caller needs a person, it says it's putting them through and transfers the call.
- If nobody picks up, the caller can leave a voicemail when voicemail is on for your number (it's on when you add the AI Receptionist at signup).
What can it do, and what can't it do?
| It can | It can't |
|---|---|
| Answer 24/7 with your company name, in the voice you choose | Put appointments into a diary or a scheduling system |
| Answer common questions from instructions you write | Send texts or emails to the caller |
| Ask what the call is about, then transfer the caller | Give legal, medical or financial advice |
| Transfer to phone numbers and Kall8 hunt groups, announcing the transfer | Decide which technician goes to which job |
It doesn't record messages for you or pass caller details on: callers who need you are transferred, and when voicemail is on for your number, an unanswered transfer lets the caller leave a voicemail that Kall8 emails to you. Reports and notification emails show which calls the AI answered, and calls can be recorded under your number's recording settings.
Who is an AI receptionist for?
- Owner-operators who are on a job, with a client or driving when the phone rings.
- Small offices where one person answers the phone between everything else.
- Businesses with after-hours calls that want a live answer without staffing nights.
- Teams on Kall8 Phone or Microsoft Teams that want one main line answered and calls put through to the right person.
What does a Kall8 example look like?
Take a plumbing company with a toll-free number on its vans. Callers hear the company name and the receptionist's name. The receptionist asks what the call is about, answers whether the company works in the caller's town, then says it's putting the caller through and rings the owner's cell. If the owner can't pick up, the caller can leave a voicemail when voicemail is on for the number. In the evenings a Scheduled Forwarding rule sends calls straight to the receptionist, and the owner's phone stays quiet.
How much does an AI receptionist cost?
At Kall8, $55 a month plus a $10 setup fee, added to any Kall8 plan from $14.95 a month, plus taxes and fees. Each account includes 250 AI minutes a month, and AI minutes over that are $0.25 each, plus your standard per-minute rate. For a side-by-side with answering services and hiring, read AI receptionist cost vs answering service vs hiring.
Related: How to set up an AI receptionist on your number · After-hours call answering
AI receptionist questions
See the Kall8 AI Receptionist
It answers your Kall8 number 24/7 and puts callers through to you. $55 a month plus $10 setup, plus taxes and fees, on any Kall8 plan.