How do you set up an AI receptionist for a small business?

What does an AI receptionist actually do?

It picks up your business phone when you can’t, in your business’s name. It answers the usual questions (are you open, do you do this, how much, do you come to my area), books the job on your calendar and texts you a summary of the call. The setup is mostly writing: what it knows, what it must never say, and when it should hand the call to you.

Step 1: When should it answer?

• After hours only. The gentlest start. You still answer every call in the day, and nobody gets voicemail at night.
• When you don’t pick up. Your phone rings first; if you don’t answer in a few rings, it takes the call. This suits most trades, salons and shops.
• Every call. For a busy front desk. It answers, books and puts through only the calls that need you.

Most businesses start with one of the first two and widen it once they trust it.

Step 2: What should it know?

• Your hours, including holidays and any seasonal changes.
• Your services, and the common ones you don’t do, so it can say no politely.
• The area you cover, by town or zip code.
• “From” prices for your usual jobs, and what changes the price.
• How booking works: how long each job takes, how much notice you need, and whether you take a deposit.
• The questions you get most: parking, warranties, whether you bring materials, how payment works.

The quickest way to write this: open your recent texts and emails and copy the questions customers actually ask. Use the same hours and services as your Google listing, so callers never hear two different answers.

Step 3: What must it never say?

• A price for a job it hasn’t seen. “From” prices are fine; quotes come from you.
• A time that isn’t free on your calendar, or a promise like “we can be there in an hour”.
• Advice it isn’t qualified to give: medical, legal, or whether something is safe to use.
• That it is a person. It should always say it is your assistant.
• Anything about card numbers. It should never take them over the phone; it can text a secure payment link instead.

Step 4: Which calls should come straight to you?

• Emergencies, by the words callers use: leak, flooding, no heat, locked out, sparks.
• Anyone who asks for a person. Never make them argue with it.
• A problem with a job you already did, which deserves you, not a form.
• Numbers you always want: family, your biggest customers, your suppliers.

Decide what happens when you can’t pick up those either: usually it takes the details, tells the caller when you’ll call back, and texts you straight away.

Step 5: How do you keep your business number?

With call forwarding. Your number and your phone company stay the same; calls forward to the assistant only when you choose: when you don’t answer, when the line is busy, after hours, or always. Most mobile carriers and business phone apps can do this, though each sets it up differently. Afterwards, check that calls you answer still ring through exactly as before.

Step 6: What should the greeting say?

Three things, in a few seconds: your business name, that it is your assistant, and that the call may be recorded. For example: “Thanks for calling Sunrise Plumbing, this is the Sunrise assistant. Calls may be recorded. How can I help?”

Saying it is recorded matters. Kansas and Missouri let one side of a call record it, but about a dozen states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, require everyone on the call to agree, and your caller could be anywhere. Saying it in the greeting covers you. And keep it answering calls only: since a February 2024 FCC ruling, using an AI voice to call people who didn’t call you first needs their permission in advance.

Step 7: How do you test it?

Before any customer hears it, call it yourself from another phone and try:

• Booking an ordinary job, then checking it landed on your calendar
• Asking the price of something unusual (it should say you’ll quote it)
• Asking for a service you don’t offer
• Calling after hours, and on a holiday
• An emergency, and asking for a person (both should reach you)
• Talking over background noise, or changing your mind halfway

After each one, check the summary text arrived and says what really happened.

What should you do in the first month?

Read every call summary for the first two weeks and listen to any call that looks odd. Most fixes are one line: a service it didn’t know, a town it should cover, a question it answered too vaguely. After that, a few calls a month is enough, plus an update whenever your hours, prices or services change. An assistant that is never updated is the one that starts giving wrong answers.

Should you set it up yourself or have it done?

Do-it-yourself apps start at about $29 to $95 a month (see what an AI receptionist costs), and setting one up well takes an afternoon or two, plus the monthly upkeep. Ours is $79 a month including up to 100 minutes, with no setup fee: we write it in your words, you approve every line, we test it with you, and every call is checked automatically, so any that look wrong get listened to and fixed. It also comes in our Launch and Grow packages, from $249 a month.