--- title: "AI Receptionist for Service Businesses | Auto-Respond" description: "AI receptionist that answers every call 24/7, greets callers with your business details, books appointments and transfers the calls you want. $10/month per number." source: https://auto-respond.com/ai-receptionist/ last_updated: 2026-10-07 --- # AI Receptionist An AI receptionist answers your business calls 24/7: it greets callers with your business name, answers questions from the details you provide, collects their information and books appointments when scheduling is on. Auto-Respond's AI receptionist also transfers the calls you want to take yourself and logs every call, for $10 a month per number plus $1 per minute. ## A front desk that keeps up. Keep serving the customer in front of you while your next caller gets an answer. ### Answer around the clock Your AI front desk answers inbound calls 24/7, so callers reach a helpful voice instead of a full voicemail box. ### Greet callers with your business name It answers questions about your services, hours, and service area from the information you provide. ### Book the appointment When scheduling is enabled it offers open times from your calendar and confirms the booking. ## What does an AI receptionist do? An AI receptionist is your front desk on the phone. It does the same five jobs a receptionist does, using what you told it about your business rather than a generic script: 1. **Greets the caller** with your custom greeting and your business name. 2. **Finds out what they need,** using the opening question you choose, such as "what can we help you with today?" 3. **Answers questions** about services, prices, service area and hours from your knowledge base: the service lists, FAQs and policies you upload. 4. **Books the appointment** once it has the details you require, through your scheduling tool or Auto-Respond's own Jobs calendar. 5. **Routes what it should not handle:** transfers the call to you under your rules, or takes a message when transfer is off. ### For everyday questions Give callers useful answers about your services, coverage area, and hours. Update the business information when something changes. ### For appointment requests Enable scheduling and configure availability so the conversation can move toward a time that works. Your team can review the customer details afterward. ![Auto-Respond Connect Your Account screen with Yelp, Thumbtack, Meta, Google Local Ads and Voice Agent options for a demo business](https://auto-respond.com/assets/blog/yelp-auto-responder-source-connect.webp) The receptionist is a voice agent: the Voice Agent option on the Connect Your Account screen sets up the AI voice assistant, next to the lead sources you can connect. Connect screen from our demo business. ## AI receptionist vs virtual receptionist: which one fits? "Virtual receptionist" usually means a remote person, employed by a receptionist company, who answers your line from a script. An AI receptionist is software you set up yourself. The names get mixed up in search results, so here is how they actually differ for a small service business: | | Virtual receptionist (a person) | AI receptionist | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Hours | The plan's staffed hours | Any hours you set, up to 24/7 | | Who sets up what callers hear | You brief the provider; they train their staff | You write the greeting, questions and rules in the dashboard | | Booking | Depends on whether the provider can use your calendar | Books through your scheduling tool when you connect one | | After the call | A message or a call note | Recording, transcript, AI summary and the details collected | | Judgment | A person can improvise with a difficult caller | Follows your instructions; transfers the call when it meets your criteria | | Price model | Set by each provider | $10 a month per number plus $1 per minute | A person is the better choice when callers often need sympathy or a judgment call, such as upset customers or insurance claims, or when your brand depends on a familiar voice. For the call that just needs answers and a booking, an AI receptionist handles it at any hour you set. For a side-by-side of the two roles in more depth, read [receptionist vs AI voice agent](https://auto-respond.com/blog/receptionist-vs-ai-voice-agent/). ![Auto-Respond demo Jobs dashboard with a scheduled on-site estimate](https://auto-respond.com/assets/product/ai-lead-response-software-booked-job.webp) When scheduling is on, the receptionist can end the call with a booking: with Built-in Booking or Open Schedule, the confirmed appointment becomes a scheduled job. Jobs dashboard from our demo business. ## Choosing your AI front desk's voice, greeting and hours Three settings shape how your AI front desk sounds to a caller, and each takes a minute to change: - **Voice.** Pick from American voices (male and female, from warm to direct) and preview each one before you choose. - **Greeting.** Keep it short: your business name and one open question. A long greeting makes callers impatient before they have said why they called. - **Call hours and time zone.** The receptionist answers only inside the hours you set; outside them, callers hear your voicemail message. Set the time zone too, or the hours shift. Then call your own number and listen like a customer would. If an answer is wrong, the fix is almost always in the knowledge base, not the voice. ## Which businesses use an AI receptionist? Auto-Respond's AI receptionist is built for service businesses whose owners are on the job when the phone rings: plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians, roofers, cleaners, landscapers, movers and other contractors. What they have in common is that the next caller is often a new job, and the person who could answer is busy doing the last one. The same account also answers the leads that arrive as messages, from Yelp, Thumbtack, Facebook, Instagram and Google Local Services Ads, so the receptionist and the inbox follow the same instructions. If Thumbtack is a big source for you, see the [Thumbtack auto responder](https://auto-respond.com/thumbtack-auto-responder/). Trade guides: [electricians](https://auto-respond.com/blog/ai-receptionist-electricians/), [plumbers](https://auto-respond.com/blog/ai-receptionist-plumber/), and our guide to an [AI receptionist for a small business](https://auto-respond.com/blog/ai-receptionist-for-small-business/). ## From setup to first response. Watch the product walkthrough, then try it with your own business. Recorded with a demo business. A walkthrough of the product, not a customer result. ## How do you set up an AI receptionist? You do not need a new phone system. Get a number, give the receptionist your business details, forward your line and test it with a call of your own. The [voice agent getting-started guide](https://auto-respond.com/docs/voice-agent/getting-started/) shows each screen. [Set up my business](https://app.auto-respond.com/login) 1. ### Sign up at app.auto-respond.com Create your account. The 7-day free trial includes the voice agent. 2. ### Provision a dedicated phone number Pick a local number for your service area. $10/month per number. 3. ### Paste in your business basics Services offered, pricing ranges, service area ZIP codes, hours, emergency policy. The AI grounds every answer in this. 4. ### Forward your existing business line Most carriers allow conditional forwarding - forward only when you do not pick up, or after 2 rings, or 24/7. Pick the rule that fits. 5. ### Set live-transfer rules Define which calls warm-transfer to your cell (emergency, high-value, caller request) and the destination numbers. 6. ### Test and go live Call your own number, test the flow, fix anything that feels off, then leave it running. Done. ## A call log your team can act on. After every call you see who called, what they asked, what the receptionist told them and whether a booking was made, with the recording and transcript one click away. These are real product screens from our demo business. ![Auto-Respond demo showing the customer conversation, job details, and voice call summary](https://auto-respond.com/assets/product/ai-lead-response-software-lead-call-summary.webp) Lead conversation and call summary from the demo business. ## How much does an AI receptionist cost? Auto-Respond's AI receptionist is $10 a month per phone number plus $1 per minute of talk time, with no setup fee or contract. See the [pricing page](https://auto-respond.com/pricing/) for every channel, or our breakdown of [what an AI receptionist costs](https://auto-respond.com/blog/ai-receptionist-cost-pricing-2026/) to compare price models. - Business-specific instructions - Inbound call answering - Call history and summaries AI receptionist $10/month per number Plus $1 per minute of talk time. ### Start with a 7-day free trial. See how it works for your business. [Start my free trial](https://app.auto-respond.com/login) ## AI receptionist questions Setup, calendars, transfers and what callers hear. [Explore the help center](https://auto-respond.com/docs/) What is an AI receptionist? An AI receptionist is a software phone agent that answers your business calls, qualifies the caller, and books appointments without a human picking up. It works 24/7 and talks with callers from the business details you provide, so callers reach a helpful voice instead of voicemail. How fast can I get an AI receptionist live on my line? On Auto-Respond, most service businesses go live the same day they sign up. Provision a number, paste in your services and pricing, set up call forwarding from your existing line, and the agent is answering in minutes. How is this different from a generic AI phone bot? Generic phone bots are trained on nothing in particular. Auto-Respond grounds every answer in your knowledge base - your services, your pricing, your service area, your emergency policy. Callers get accurate answers, not LLM hallucinations. What does it cost to run an AI receptionist? Pay-as-you-go: $10/month per dedicated phone number, $1/minute for actual call time. For example, 60 calls in a month at 90 seconds each is billed as 120 minutes (each call rounds up to 2), or $130 including the number. No setup fee, no per-call fee, no minimum. Will the AI book directly into my calendar? Yes. Auto-Respond connects to Google Calendar and Microsoft 365. The AI checks real-time availability, books the slot, and sends a confirmation text to the caller and a job summary to your phone. What happens if the call needs me personally? The agent live-transfers. You configure escalation triggers - emergency keywords, high-value job indicators, explicit caller request - and the agent warm-transfers to your cell with a quick spoken summary so you do not start cold. Can callers tell it is AI? Most do not realize. The voice sounds natural, responses are instant, and the agent handles interruptions and clarifying questions like a trained human. Where state law requires AI disclosure (California, Florida, others), the agent discloses up front. Will it work for after-hours calls? Yes - and after-hours is where the math gets compelling. A large share of service-business calls land outside 9-5. Without 24/7 coverage every one of those becomes a voicemail, then becomes a competitor booking. How does it handle voicemail-only callers? If a caller only wants to leave a message, the agent takes a structured voicemail with the caller details and immediately texts them a callback link. No "we will call you back" black hole. Does the AI receptionist integrate with Yelp and Thumbtack? Yes. The same Auto-Respond account that runs your AI receptionist also handles Yelp Request a Quote, Thumbtack messaging, Facebook Messenger, Facebook Lead Ads, Instagram DMs, and Google LSA leads. One platform, every supported channel. Can I keep my existing business phone number? Two options: port your number into Auto-Respond, or keep it where it is and forward calls to a new Auto-Respond number. Both work - most businesses start with forwarding because it requires zero downtime. How do I tell if it is doing a good job? Every call is recorded, transcribed, and dispositioned. The dashboard shows pickup rate, average call length, qualification accuracy, booking conversion, and live-transfer rate. You can listen to any recording and tweak the persona or knowledge base. ## Let your next customer reach you. [Start my 7-day free trial](https://app.auto-respond.com/login) Built around your business. Ready when your customers are. ## Want to go a little deeper? [Facebook and Instagram Auto Reply After Hours](https://auto-respond.com/blog/facebook-instagram-auto-reply-after-hours/)[Best AI Answering Service in 2026: A Buyer's Guide](https://auto-respond.com/blog/best-ai-answering-service/)[AI Voice Agent for HVAC Emergency Calls](https://auto-respond.com/blog/ai-voice-agent-hvac-emergency-calls/)